Estonian Language

Across the globe there are millions of people who can speak English, but only one million speak Estonian. The language is part of the Finno-Ugric group, related to Finnish and Hungarian. Tallinn University’s summer course in Estonian Language and Culture offers an opportunity to study an unusual and entrancing language, all amongst the backdrop of a well-preserved medieval city. The course aims to familiarize a wide range of international students not only with the Estonian language, but also with the country’s rich culture, history, art and lifestyle.

After a short written test, students will be divided into groups based on their initial proficiency in the Estonian language. The number of groups depends on the number of participants, usually there are 5-7 groups.

The courses will then foster skills at the following levels:

Beginner – students will develop basic Estonian communication skills and master day-to-day conversation. The course programme includes pronunciation practice, listening comprehension and easy communication.

Intermediate – students will further develop their speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar skills. The students should be familiar with basic Estonian structures. The course programme includes activities on various everyday-life situations.

The languages of instruction are Estonian and English and course materials are distributed during the course.

WHY THIS COURSE?

• You can be one of the few people capable of speaking a very unique language, spoken natively by only about 1.1 million people.
• The course has a long history, as the first Estonian language summer school took place in the beginning of 1990s.
• You will be able to find out if Estonian language is really one of the hardest languages to learn or it’s just a myth.

TEACHERS
All our Estonian language teachers are native speakers, some of them have been teaching at Tallinn Summer School for more than 10 years.

PARTICIPANTS
The course is suitable for students of all levels of competence in the Estonian language, from complete beginners with no practical experience to conversationally capable speakers. The three week intensive course contains 60 academic hours of teaching language.