Þegar kemur að velferðartækni hlustum við á skjólstæðinginn.

Because þegar kemur að ... is an idiomatic expression meaning when it comes to ....

Here, kemur is 3rd person singular present tense of koma. It does not mean that a specific person is coming. Instead, the whole phrase works a bit like English when it comes to, where English also uses a dummy it.

So:

• Þegar kemur að velferðartækni = When it comes to welfare technology

You do not change kemur to match við later in the sentence, because við belongs to the main clause: hlustum við á skjólstæðinginn.

This is because Icelandic is a V2 language. That means the finite verb usually comes in the second position in a main clause.

Here, the sentence starts with the introductory phrase:

• Þegar kemur að velferðartækni

After that fronted phrase, the finite verb of the main clause comes next:

• hlustum

and only then the subject:

• við

So:

• Þegar kemur að velferðartækni hlustum við á skjólstæðinginn.

If you started with the subject instead, you would get:

• Við hlustum á skjólstæðinginn.

Both patterns are normal, depending on what comes first in the sentence.

Hlustum is the 1st person plural present tense of hlusta.

So:

• ég hlusta = I listen
• við hlustum = we listen

In this sentence, it means we listen.

Because the verb is hlusta á, which means to listen to.

In Icelandic, many verbs combine with a specific preposition, and you have to learn the whole pattern. So it is:

• hlusta á einhvern = listen to someone
• hlusta á tónlist = listen to music

You cannot usually drop the á here.

Skjólstæðinginn is accusative singular definite.

There are two things going on:

• hlusta á takes the accusative
• -inn is the suffixed definite article, meaning the

So:

• skjólstæðingur = a client / service user
• skjólstæðinginn = the client / the service user

A simplified breakdown is:

• nominative: skjólstæðingur
• accusative: skjólstæðing
• accusative definite: skjólstæðinginn

Here, að takes the dative.

So in the expression koma að einhverju / þegar kemur að einhverju, the noun after að is in the dative case.

In this sentence, that is velferðartækni. The form happens to look the same as the nominative, so you do not see a visible change here. That is very common in Icelandic: sometimes the case is only visible with some nouns, not others.

Because Icelandic uses compound nouns very freely.

Velferðartækni is made up of:

• velferð = welfare, wellbeing
• tækni = technology

The first part appears as velferðar-, which is a linking form based on the genitive.

So the compound literally means something like:

• welfare-technology

Writing it as one word is completely normal in Icelandic.

Because it is being used in a general sense, not to mean one specific, already identified piece of technology.

So:

• að velferðartækni = about / when it comes to welfare technology in general

Icelandic often leaves nouns indefinite when talking about a field, topic, or concept in a broad way.

Skjólstæðingur is a context-dependent word. It often means someone who receives care, support, or professional services.

Depending on context, it can be translated as:

• client
• service user
• patient
• person in care

In healthcare or social services language, service user or client is often closest. The best English word depends on the setting.

Not here. In this sentence, it is idiomatic, not literal.

Literally, koma að can have meanings connected to coming to or approaching in some contexts. But in the pattern:

• þegar kemur að X

it usually means:

• when it comes to X
• as for X
• regarding X

So you should learn this whole phrase as a set expression.

A few key sounds:

• þ = like th in thin
• ð = like th in this (though in Icelandic it can be softer than in English)
• æ = roughly like eye

So:

• Þegar begins with th
• velferð contains ð
• skjólstæðinginn contains æ

Also, Icelandic word stress usually falls on the first syllable:

• ÞE-gar
• VEL-ferðar-tækni
• HLUS-tum
• SKJÓL-stæðinginn

An approximate learner-friendly pronunciation of the whole sentence would be:

• THEH-gar KEH-mur ath VEL-fer-thar-TEYEK-nih HLUS-tum vith au SKYOHL-steye-thing-inn

That is only approximate, but it can help you get started.