Estonian language belongs to the Finnic branch of Finno-Ugric group of languages (check out the family tree picture).
Of the ancient European languages, Basque in the Pyrenees, the Finno-Ugric languages in the North, and Caucasian languages (e.g. Georgian) in the southeastern corner of Europe have managed to survive. As you can see, it's not related to the neighbouring Indo-European languages such as Russian, Latvian and Swedish.
Estonian language uses the Latin alphabet (including the letters Õ Ä Ö Ü), is often pronounced like is read, with word stress fixed on the first syllable. This makes it very easy to start learning, reading and speaking!
The Estonian Institute has many interesting publications (available online) about Estonian culture, including this booklet about Estonian Language. It shows many different aspects of the language, and it's easy to read.
When in Estonia, speak like Estonians! You can practice some basics online with BBC languages. Or you can hear a little from my Estonian friend:
Tere, mina olen Anna-lisa, olen pärit Eestis, ja õpin Tartus.
Hi, my name is Anna-lisa, I'm from Estonia, and study in Tartu.
Of the ancient European languages, Basque in the Pyrenees, the Finno-Ugric languages in the North, and Caucasian languages (e.g. Georgian) in the southeastern corner of Europe have managed to survive. As you can see, it's not related to the neighbouring Indo-European languages such as Russian, Latvian and Swedish.
Estonian language uses the Latin alphabet (including the letters Õ Ä Ö Ü), is often pronounced like is read, with word stress fixed on the first syllable. This makes it very easy to start learning, reading and speaking!
The Estonian Institute has many interesting publications (available online) about Estonian culture, including this booklet about Estonian Language. It shows many different aspects of the language, and it's easy to read.
When in Estonia, speak like Estonians! You can practice some basics online with BBC languages. Or you can hear a little from my Estonian friend:
Tere, mina olen Anna-lisa, olen pärit Eestis, ja õpin Tartus.
Hi, my name is Anna-lisa, I'm from Estonia, and study in Tartu.
Easy? Difficult? Tell me what you think about Estonian Language in the comments!
1 comment:
olen pärit Eestis[b]t[/b] :-)
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