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, New York, NY: Hurst & Company, 2015. Available at: WorldCat.
 * Sarkanis, Alberts. Latviešu valodas dialektu atlants. Fonētika = The Atlas of the Latvian dialects : phonetics. Latvian: Latvijas Universitātes Latviešu Valodas Institūts, Rīga, 2013. Available at: WorldCat.
 * Latvia (Wikitravel)