Some Advice For Beginner Lithuanian Learners
Develop your vocabulary first. The grammar and accuracy will come with time.
From learner to teacher
When I was little, I had an uncle who had relocated to live in the United States. At times he would come to visit us in Lithuania and whenever he did, I would come by to see him. We played cards, chess, and of course, I tried to say something in English to him. The whole experience was both exotic and somehow familiar.
Every year I would wait for my uncle to come and continue improving my English. Watching cartoons helped me immensely and so did playing video games. As I got older, I started chatting with people online and writing on English forms. All of these deliberate activities outside my formal school education advanced my English skills considerably.
20 years later I found myself travelling and at times even living abroad. At times I actually started using English way more than Lithuanian and I had to begin journaling in my native language just so I wouldn’t start forgetting it. During such times abroad I have met many English teachers. Meeting them encouraged me to try out this career path myself.
Fast forward to today, and low and behold, I have been working as an online English tutor for over 5 years.
A passion can easily turn into a job if one makes the right adjustments.
After a few years of teaching English, there came a time when I began to feel as though I am not doing much to enrich my native culture. I have been taking from it but not giving much back in return. Then it suddenly dawned on me.
‘I don’t need to be a professional teacher to teach Lithuanian. I can work as a Community Tutor on Italki!’
Some advice for beginner Lithuanian learners
Lithuanian grammar is absurdly tough, for this reason focusing on fluency and comprehension first and accuracy second is my preferred way of teaching it. If the student is able to remember, pronounce and connect his learnt words into a phrase or a sentence that is great. If he manages to do it in the right tense, gender, or case that is superhuman!
As recommended by my friend and a great language learner Antonello Zanini, when studying a new language focus on learning the first 1000 most common words first. You can do so by creating paper flashcards or using Anki. To put them to use, try writing short sentences with them. Giving a word a context makes it more likely to be understood and remembered.
Don’t frustrate yourself with precise grammar and accuracy at first. It will improve with time. Start by learning the basic words and common expressions. Listen to Lithuanian podcasts and watch videos in Lithuanian. This will help you to get familiar with the pace, tone and melody of the spoken word. If you manage to familiarize yourself with it, you will be surprised at how much your language learning will improve.
Here are some words and phrases to kick off your learning:
Sveiki — hello (plural, polite)
Labas — hello (casual)
Labas rytas — Good morning
Laba diena — Good day
Labas vakaras —Good evening
Ačiū — Thank you
Atsiprašau — Excuse me, I’m sorry
Mano vardas … — My name is …
Kuo tu vardu? — What’s your name?
Malonu susipažinti —It is nice to meet you
Kaip sekasi? — How are you doing?
Puikiai, ačiū! — Great, thanks!
Geros dienos — Have a nice day
Viso gero — Goodbye
Iki — bye
Happy learning! Achievements come with consistency, thus, don’t forget to put some effort into learning every day. I wish you well!
