LATVIA - RIGA

Alone in a foreign country where the national language is neither German nor English – that is an interesting experience. I was not scared to come here and maybe not being able to understand a single word. I always think about the time my grandparents traveled around no common widely spoken language existed. Nowadays, at least the young people speak English. I expected that someone would understand or could help me.

When I arrived in Latvia, during in my first week before the university started, I experienced  that not everyone speaks English, often not even the young people. Here it is more common to speak Russian. Also in Latvia are a lot of people from Ukrain.  They speak only Russian as a second language. Especially when I visit the central market – a huge market in Riga where you can find fresh vegetables, fruits, some traditional sweets, all kind of fish, meat and souvenirs - nearly noone understands me. But after the first shopping day there you will understand how it works.

At first you get a bag. Or you point to what you want. 

> Then you put everything and how much you want inside. 

> Next step the person behind weighs everything and tells you the price. 

> If you don’t understand – that happens most of the time in my case – you give them your money. Doesn’t matter if coins or bills, but it has to be cash. Here you cannot pay with card.

The people are very kind and honest. Sometimes it also happens that the person next to you can speak English a little bit. Then they will help you.

Also, when you go shopping in “Rimi” – that’s one of the common supermarkets here in Latvia – most of the employees don’t speak English. Or if you go by bus to travel around the country a little bit, you don’t find one bus driver who speaks English. However, with some help of a google translator or speaking with hands they understand what you want.

I also found some friends who speak Russian. If I go to the market and want to trade or I need something special, I ask some of them to come with me. Of course, it is easier if the sales person knows and understands at the beginning what you want.

At university all Latvians speak English, but not everyone wants to speak English. But this is another topic. All Erasmus people speak together English and, in my Dorm, too. Of course, there are also German people, but we wanted that everyone understands everything. And because of speaking all the time English my language skills improved. At the moment my brain translates it so fast in German that I don’t really have to think anymore. I am in the flow, and I also recognize this while reading. When I read a text, my head translate it into German so fast that I think that I am reading in German.

I wanted to attended the Latvian Language course but there was a huge problem. The architecture lessons always take place at the same time the extra classes do. So it was not possible for us to go to a extra lesson or to learn Latvian, not like for other Erasmus students. 

In conclusion, it is a really nice experience to be in a country where you have to speak another language than your mother tongue. Of course, sometimes it is very difficult to communicate if people don’t understand English but it works. There is always an opportunity to communicate. This time in Latvia made me more self-confident, especially in speaking English. After five month it feels like a second mother tongue.