[kd5bjo]

If you're interested in learning the language, you may want to look at HÍ's Icelandic as a Second Language programs. As a side benefit, they're officially full-time university study, which makes you eligible for a student resident permit(1).

This is the route I took last year, for similiar reasons as yourself. I'm now pursuing my Master's in CS there and having a great time.

(1) Assuming you also meet all of ÚTL's general requirements.

[sheepstrat]

This is really interesting. Does the program require an actual full-time amount of study, or does it just meet the legal classification?

[kd5bjo]

For the practical diploma (1-year course) 10 of the 30 credits each semester are an online self-study course. Classroom time is 4 100-minute sessions per week, and the overall study load was definitely lower in that program than I have now with a 30-credit engineering program. The actual amount of study time you’ll need will be highly variable depending on your own language learning aptitude.

There’s also a full Bachelor’s program for people who have gotten the basics already. Because the baseline admission requirements are higher, I imagine it entails comparably higher amount of effort.