The season of theses defenses is upon us again. In the next couple of weeks, 16 students will defend their master's theses at UW, with a smorgasboard of interesting topics.

The University Centre of the Westfjords kicked off the new academic year with an exciting Orientation Day for incoming students. Like previous years, the student group is international with a diverse background.

The Give Icelandic a Chance events are still in full swing and tomorrow, Tuesday, will see a take on Gislasaga, one of the Icelandic Sagas which partly takes place in Haukadalur by fjord Dýrafjörður. The event is held in collaboration with Kómedíuleikhúsið, the smallest professional theatre group in Iceland.

As is usual in August, we're all about Icelandic learning these days. Our three week beginners' course began yesterday with 19 participants. The Give Icelandic a Chance campaign is of course also in full swing and its various events suitable for the Icelandic learners, so we want to remind you of the objectives of the campaign; to give those who are learning the language a chance to use it as much as they can and have ability to, be patient, simplify and repeat their sentences and not demand that the learners speak perfect Icelandic. And last but not least, give Icelandic a chance and not shift over to English or some other language right away.