Mina want to speak Eesti

Speaking the local language

I have travelled quite a bit in my life, and I always noticed that - wherever you go - local people highly appreciate when you try speaking their language, even when it it not strictly necessary. I often learned some basics before or while going to new places, in order to navigate around and ask for directions.

I knew I would move to Estonia long ago, but I have been lazy (or too busy) since then to seriously start learning. While I learned some basics nearly 4 years ago in Porto during a boring train ride after sunset, I haven't improved any bit since then. Now I seriously need to learn, even though I will most certainly work in English.

Until now, I can count until 9 (I always forget how to say 10), I can tell my name and ask for a beer, a coffee and the bill. Oh, and I can tell a lady she is pretty, but that might be inappropriate in most circumstances, so I tend to use it with extra moderation.

Eesti keel

The Estonian language... I would use the expression of Kaido, a French-Estonian I met here last week: Estonian is a "domestic language". It is only spoken by Estonians and a bunch of originals who decided to learn it, although it is not strictly necessary even for expats living in Estonia (at least, in cities).

It is close only to Finnish and remotely related to Hungarian. The rest of the world's languages are miles away... On the plus side: no genders (no masculine, feminine or neutral), cool! less chances of mistakes and clumsy remarks! on the minus sides: 14 (fourteen!) cases! do you remember learning latin? 6 cases, pfff... that was already a lot: rosa, rosa, rosam, rosae, rosae, rosa. For those who gave up latin very early, or even before starting, you got the same in German and in Slavic languages, with more or less cases. But 14 cases?? why so much? well, I still have to find out!

Despite the difficulties to understand, I have to confess I find the language quite melodious. It is very nice to hear, with a lot of vocals (a bit like Italian), and a lot of expressivity (at the opposite of French) due to the rhythms given by the duplication of consonants. Listening to storytellers (or simply, when I visit museums), it seems to me that storytelling and oral expression here is an art which is much more similar to what you find in Britain, rather than the boring talks of my mother languages, French and Italian. So, even if I don't catch more than one word every 10 sentences, it is quite entertaining to listen to.

I could not verify the information but I did read somewhere that the Estonian language, thanks to its remoteness to all the mainstream languages, was used during one of the world wars as a code. And most of the spies and soldiers who used it thought it was an invented code for the purpose, and never knew it was an actual language. 

Learning Estonian!

Well, so here I am, trying to learn Estonian. Since I got here in Tallinn, I took some information about classes or ways to learn. Surprisingly, I found more opportunities to learn French than Estonian! Really? well, that's what happens when you meet up with French speakers and end up (nearly) by accident in the Institut Français d'Estonie.

Seriously, remember: Estonian is a domestic language. There was an intensive summer school in July in town, but nothing in August (why?). There are new groups starting for weekly classes in September, but now in August, nothing. I will probably start a class in September, that sounds like a good way to ensure I will meet other originals like me and - at least once a week - feel forced to go out in the cold, dark evenings during wintertime.

In the meantime, I start learning by myself, thanks to the book that Katri bought me already 3 months ago... I try to study a bit every day, but I keep going through the first three lessons because I haven't yet managed to remember some basic principles and it feels already so "volatile".

I found an extra motivation to learn Estonian: I did read recently that one way to keep your brain bright and flexible is to start learning a new language from time to time. So let's go! Let's learn Estonian, use some brain cells in a new way, and maybe one day I'll be allowed to wear proudly that T-shirt I saw on the Facebook group "Foreigners learning Estonian" which said "I speak Estonian, what's your superpower?"