A shorter version of the article in Icelandic can be found here.
In celebration of International Mother Language Day on February 21, the search for children’s linguistic resources in Iceland was launched for the third time. Staff in preschools, primary schools, and secondary schools across the country were encouraged to talk with children and ask them about their languages. The goal was to map all the languages spoken by children and young people in Icelandic preschools and primary schools—and for the first time, also in secondary schools. The purpose was to foster positive discussions about languages and multilingualism and to highlight how having multiple languages can enhance the quality of life and emotional well-being. Increased language awareness in the society boosts children’s and young people’s confidence and positive self-image and can also support schools in implementing plurilingualism and strengthening language skills among all students.
The project was a collaboration between the Center for Education and School Services (Icel. MIðstöð menntunar og skólaþjónustu), the School of Education at the University of Iceland, the coordination team for Education, Reception, and Culture (Icel. Menntun, móttaka og menning, MEMM), Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism, Menningarmót – Flying Carpet project, and the Association of Language Teachers in Iceland (STÍL). The initiative is rooted, among others, in the speech by Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Languages from 2014.
The project builds on previous language mapping efforts in Icelandic preschools and primary schools from 2014 when 93 languages were recorded, and 2021, when 95 languages were found. The analysis of the submitted data was conducted using the well-known Ethnologue website, which provides accessible information about the world’s languages. Additionally, the perspective of language users was considered in cases where it was unclear whether a variety was a dialect or a distinct language. Information about the previous searches can be found here.
In February 2025, 242 responses were received from 79 preschools, 78 primary schools, and 19 secondary, along with a few other institutions and individuals. There are in total 253 preschools, 174 primary schools, and 36 secondary schools Iceland, meaning that slightly more than one-third of all schools in the country took part in the project. Specifically, at least one department, class, or group from each participating school contributed.
This year, 102 languages were recorded. Additionally, 16 languages found in 2014 and 2021 were not recorded this year (Abi, Benga, Berber, Chichewa, Dagbani, Fijian, Ga, Cambodian, Konkani, Krio, Namibian, Nyiha, Susu, Tajik, Tigrinya, Uzbek), meaning that at least 118 have been present in Iceland over the past ten years. It is also noteworthy that children in Iceland speak four different sign languages: Icelandic, Irish, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian sign languages.
Here is the complete list of languages recorded in the 2025 language survey:
Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Bisaya, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Cebuano, Creole, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, Edo, Estonian, English, Ewe, Fante-Akan, Farsi, Filipino, Finnish, Flemish-Dutch, French, Faroese, German, Georgian, Greenlandic, Greek, Gujarati, Haitian, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Belarusian, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Irish Sign Language, Icelandic, Icelandic Sign Language, Italian, Japanese, Chinese-Cantonese, Chinese-Mandarin, Korean, Kurdish, Kurdish-Behdini, Kurdish-Sorani, Latvian, Lithuanian, Lithuanian Sign Language, Luganda, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Maltese, Malay, Malayalam, Moldovan, Mongolian, Moroccan, Nepali, Nigerian, Norwegian, Pampango-Kapampangan, Punjabi, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Rhaeto-Romance, Romani, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhalese, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Spanish Sign Language, Swahili, Syrian, Swedish, Thai, Taiwanese, Tagalog, Tamazight, Tamil, Telugu, Twi, Tunisian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Ukrainian Sign Language, Hungarian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Wolof, Yoruba.
Top 10 Most Common Languages (besides Icelandic):
Icelandic was the most recorded language, as expected, followed by, Polish (194 responses), English (168 responses), Spanish (154 responses), Russian (110 responses), Ukrainian (110 responses), Arabic (106 responses), Lithuanian (106 responses), German (98 responses), Filipino (95 responses), and Danish (88 responses). The total number of languages in the country has slightly increased since 2021, and many preschools, primary schools, and secondary schools reported over 20 languages.
Several preschools, compulsory schools, and upper secondary schools reported over 30 languages: Among preschools were Álftaborg (30 languages), Miðborg (32), Vesturborg (31), Klömbrar (34), among compulsory schools were Álftamýraskóli (32), Álfhólsskóli (40), Breiðholtsskóli (33), Kárnesskóli (32), Laugarnesskóli (32), Melaskóli (35), Snælandsskóli (31), and Vallaskóli in Selfoss (33), and among upper-secondary schools were Kvennaskóli in Reykjavík (31), Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð (32), Tækniskólinn (38), and Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurnesja (40)
Secondary schools have shown strong participation, and it is clear that linguistic diversity thrives in these institutions as much as in the younger school levels.
The languages were captured in the Language Map 2025 and individual schools can be found there along with the information about their languages spoken by the students. Here are some ideas (in Icelandic) how to use the interactive language map pedagogically in schools.
By participating in this project, schools work toward the goals of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Reykjavik’s Education Policy, and policies regarding the education of children and youth from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
Guidelines on the support of mother tongues and active plurilingualism in schools and afterschool programs provide various ideas for promoting multilingualism, which is used in preschools and primary schools for educational purposes. It includes useful links with information and projects, along with concise explanations of key concepts.
Additionally, the Icelandic Language Map 2025 includes new teaching guidelines for educators, The Magic Language Toolbox, helping them to positively highlight and integrate students’ diverse languages into learning and teaching. These teaching guidelines are available on the website of the Center for Education and School Services.
References:
Ethnologue | Languages of the world
Grunnskólar á Íslandi – Wikipedia, frjálsa alfræðiritið
Leikskólar 2017 – Hagstofa Íslands
Listi yfir íslenska framhaldsskóla – Wikipedia, frjálsa alfræðiritið
Móðurmál – The Association on Bilingualism
Text by: Renata Emilsson Peskova