Breakdown of Þú lærir íslensku með því að tala hana.
þú
you
tala
to speak
læra
to study
hana
her
íslenska
Icelandic (the language)
með því að
by doing
Questions & Answers about Þú lærir íslensku með því að tala hana.
How does the phrase með því að literally translate to give us "by doing"?
Literally, it means "with it to". In Icelandic, a preposition like með (with/by) cannot directly connect to an infinitive verb. It needs a "dummy" pronoun to attach to. So it connects to því (dative "it"), which is then followed by the infinitive marker að and the verb tala.
Since með can take either the accusative or dative case, why is því in the dative here?
When með describes the method or instrument used to do something (such as "by means of" or "using"), it always takes the dative case. Therefore, the pronoun það (it) becomes því.
Why use hana for "it" at the end of the sentence instead of það?
hana is the feminine accusative form of the pronoun "it/her". It is used here because it refers back to the language, íslenska, which is a feminine noun. In Icelandic, pronouns must always match the grammatical gender of the specific noun they are replacing.
Why does English use the "-ing" form ("speaking") but Icelandic just uses tala?
English uses a gerund (an -ing verb acting as a noun) after prepositions. Icelandic does not do this. Instead, the structure með því að (and its opposite, án þess að) always requires the standard infinitive (dictionary) form of the verb, which is tala.
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