Latvia Languages

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Latvia

Languages

Description

• The sole official language of Latvia is Latvian.
• Another notable language of Latvia is the nearly extinct Latgalian – as a dialect of Latvian and is a historical variation of the Latvian language.
  
• Russian, which was widely spoken during the Soviet period, is still the most widely used minority language by far (in 2011, 34% spoke it at home, including people who were not ethnically Russian).
• While it is now required that all school students learn Latvian, schools also include English, German, French and Russian in their curricula.
• English is also widely accepted in Latvia in business and tourism.
• As of 2014 there were 109 schools for minorities that use Russian as the language of instruction (27% of all students) for 40% of subjects (the remaining 60% of subjects are taught in Latvian).

Word List(s)

Other useful word lists:

• Polish Genealogical Word List
• Latin Genealogical Word List

Latvian

• Latvian Genealogical Word List
• Useful Latvian phrases (Omniglot)
• Latgalian and Latvian phrasebook (Wikipedia)

Latgalian

• Latgalian and Latvian phrasebook (Wikipedia)

Russian

• Russian Genealogical Word List
• Useful Russian phrases (Omniglot)

German

• German Genealogical Word List
• Useful German phrases (Omniglot)

French

• French Genealogical Word List
• Useful French phrases (Omniglot)

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Latvian

• Latvian phonology (Wikipedia)
• Latvian alphabet (Wikipedia)
• Latvian Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)

Latgalian

• Latgalian phonology (Wikipedia)
• Latgalian alphabet (Wikipedia)
• Latgalian Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)

Russian

• Russian phonology (Wikipedia)
• Russian alphabet (Wikipedia)
• Russian Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)

German

• Standard German phonology (Wikipedia)
• German alphabet (Wikipedia)
• German Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)

French

• French phonology (Wikipedia)
• French alphabet (Wikipedia)
• French Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Latvian

• English to Latvian Dictionary (Glosbe)
• Learn Latvian (My Languages)

Latgalian

• English to Latgalian Dictionary (Glosbe)
• The Sound of the Latgalian language (YouTube)

Russian

• Russian Letter Writing Guide
• English to Russian Dictionary (Glosbe)
• Learn Russian in just 5 minutes (duolingo)
• Learn Russian (Babbel)

German

• German Letter Writing Guide
• English to German Dictionary (Glosbe)
• Learn German in just 5 minutes (duolingo)
• Learn German (GermanPod101)

French

• French Letter Writing Guide
• English to French Dictionary (Glosbe)
• Learn French in just 5 minutes (duolingo)
• Learn French (Babbel)

Additional Resources

• Kalnins, Mara. Latvia : a short history. London : Hurst & Company ; New York, NY : Distributed in the United States, Canada, and Latin America by Oxford University Press, 2015. Available at WorldCat
• Sarkanis, Alberts. Latviešu valodas dialektu atlants. Fonētika = The Atlas of the Latvian dialects : phonetics. Rīga : Latvijas Universitātes Latviešu Valodas Institūts, 2013. Available at WorldCat
• Discover Latvia Language (Latvia.eu)
• Latvia (Wikitravel)