Coming from a sub-group of baltic languages with indo-europeans roots, Latvian is similar to Lithuanian and its grammar resembles to Russian or Polish.Dorothea, an Austrian volunteer in Riga gave me my first Latvian lesson. Not only is it a hard language but futhermore there are some new letters as ģ ķ ļ ņ which sounds give a yeah… Futhermore, they distinguish long vowels (ā ē ī ū) and short ones (a e i o u).
First of all, she offended me, saying that my name can not exist in Latvia. Indeed, Margot doesn't end with a -a- so can be feminine. I should be called Marga or Margeta…
Then, I learn the basics and I try to remember all the words. Of course, it's easier to remember the phonetic transcription, even more between long and short vowels. The -r- is pronounced as in Spanish so furled.
Labdien (luhbdean) = Good dayLabrit (luhbreet) = Good morning
Labvakar (luhbvuhkuhr) = Good afternoon
Lūdsu (loodzu) = please
Pladies (puhldeas) = thank you
Uz redzesunos (uz redzehshuhnaws) = good bye
Some sentences
Mani sauc Margeta (muhni sowts) = My name is Margot
Es esmu no francijas (es asmu naw ) = I'm French
Then, I asked Dorothea how do you say cheese in Latvian. Dumbstruck, she though I was looking for French cheese. No, it's really not the idea!
Siers = cheese
Ar sieru = with cheese
Bez siera = without cheese
I can survive in Latvia!
Tonight, very proud, I said to the waitress "paldies" and she stared at me… At least, I've tried!
