Impressive facts about the Estonian language
Learn Estonian fast and easily with our language course ‘Estonian for beginners’.
![en]()
English (UK]
»
![et.png]()
eesti
English (UK]
»
eesti
| Learn Estonian - First words | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hi! | Tere! | |
| Hello! | Tere päevast! | |
| How are you? | Kuidas läheb? | |
| Good bye! | Nägemiseni! | |
| See you soon! | Varsti näeme! | |
Facts about the Estonian language
The Estonian language stands out as one of Europe’s unique tongues, primarily spoken in Estonia. It belongs to the Finno-Ugric family, closely related to Finnish and distantly to Hungarian. Unlike most languages in Europe, Estonian is not Indo-European, making it quite distinctive.
Speakers of Estonian number around 1.1 million globally, with the majority residing in Estonia. This language thrives despite its small number of speakers, thanks to Estonia’s strong educational system and cultural policies. Estonian has thus remained vibrant and integral to national identity.
Vocabulary in Estonian features many words borrowed from German, Swedish, Russian, and more recently, English. However, it has managed to maintain its unique character through the preservation of older words and the creation of new terms. This blend enriches the language, offering a glimpse into Estonia’s diverse history.
Phonetically, Estonian is noted for its three lengths of sounds: short, long, and overlong. Such a phonemic system is rare, making pronunciation a challenging aspect for learners. This feature contributes to the language’s rhythmic and melodic quality, distinguishing it from others.
Grammar-wise, Estonian is intriguing for its lack of future tense and gender in pronouns. Expressions of future actions rely on context or auxiliary verbs, simplifying some aspects of learning. The absence of grammatical gender promotes a degree of linguistic equality and simplicity.
Cultural expressions in Estonian are rich and varied, deeply rooted in folk traditions and songs. The language plays a crucial role in preserving folklore, with the Estonian epic poem “Kalevipoeg“ being a prime example. Through such works, the Estonian language continues to be a carrier of national heritage and pride.
Estonian for beginners is one of over 50 free language packs that you can get from us.
‘50LANGUAGES’ is the effective way to learn Estonian online and for free.
Our teaching materials for the Estonian course are available both online and as iPhone and Android apps.
With this course you can learn Estonian independently - without a teacher and without a language school!
The lessons are clearly structured and will help you achieve your goals.
Learn Estonian fast with 100 Estonian language lessons organized by topic.
Learn for free...
Adyghe
Afrikaans
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Armenian
Belarusian
Bengali
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Catalan
Chinese (Simplified]
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English (UK]
Esperanto
Finnish
French
Georgian
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Kannada
Kazakh
Korean
Latvian
Lithuanian
Macedonian
Marathi
Norwegian
Nynorsk
Persian
Polish
Portuguese (BR]
Portuguese (PT]
Punjabi
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Swedish
Tamil
Telugu
Thai
Tigrinya
Turkish
Ukrainian
Urdu
Vietnamese
Text book - book2 English - Estonian for beginners Learn Estonian - First words
Learn Estonian with the Android and iPhone app ‘50LANGUAGES’
The Android or iPhone app ‘Learn 50 languages’ is ideal for all those who want to learn offline. The app is available for Android phones and tablets as well as iPhones and iPads. The apps include all 100 free lessons from the 50LANGUAGES Estonian curriculum. All tests and games are included in the app. The MP3 audio files by 50LANGUAGES are a part of our Estonian language course. Download all audios for free as MP3 files!
