Lithuanian language phrasebook with transcription. Fifteen phrases in Lithuanian that you should learn before traveling to Vilnius. Numbers and numbers

Russian-Lithuanian phrasebook: how to communicate in an unfamiliar country. Popular phrases and expressions for travelers.

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Lithuanian language (Lietùvių kalbà) is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages ​​of the European Union. Lithuanian is spoken by about three million people in Lithuania and about 170 thousand outside its borders. It belongs to the Baltic group of the Indo-European family of languages, and is relatively similar to Latvian, although they are not mutually intelligible.

Lithuanian is divided into two main dialects: Aukštaičių and Samogitian (aukštaičių ir žemaičių tarmės). They come from the Lithuanian words “high” and “low” and denote the settlement of their speakers relative to the course of the Neman River. Modern literary Lithuanian is based on the dialect of the Western Aukštaitians (Suvalkians).

The biggest language problem that a tourist risks encountering in Lithuania is that they simply will not understand him. Well, or they will pretend. Our article is how to do it without “pretending.” The recipe is not complicated at all and is very effective. Shall we try?

In general, Lithuanians are friendly and hospitable towards guests of their country.

However, unlike Latvia, where the Russian language is extremely widespread, or Estonia, where the majority of the population (and almost all young people) speak English at some level, which facilitates communication, in Lithuania it is quite possible to encounter a situation that you simply They won’t understand in Russian, but in English.

Moreover, the most surprising thing is that the above is true not only in relation to the rural outback, but also to completely tourist places.

It’s a long way to go, we ourselves found ourselves in a similar situation in Palanga, where in a restaurant on the promenade a pretty girl, the waiter, could not express herself in either English or Russian.

On the other hand, a local resident is pleased when a guest speaks at least a few words in his native language - this is especially true for small nations. So we recommend learning fifteen phrases in Lithuanian, and you can be sure that a friendly smile on the face of your interlocutor is guaranteed!

Please note that the Lithuanian language is not characterized by drawl, so try to pronounce words at a normal pace (you should not try to keep up with Tina Kandelaki, but there is no need to drawl out in the Estonian manner).

The emphasis in words is highlighted in bold, which usually falls on the first syllable. Note that the given Lithuanian phrases are somewhat similar to Latvian ones, so that, in a slightly modified form, they can be used when visiting Latvia.

In addition, here is a list of some symbols that you may encounter during your trip:

• gatve (g.) - street
• prospektas (pr.) - prospectus
• kelias - road
• rajonas (raj.) - district
• plentas - highway
• aleja (al.) - alley
• kaimas - village
• miestas - city

And finally, such a sweet word for any man, and even more so on vacation - beer - alus. By the way, in Latvian the noble drink sounds exactly the same.

As you can see, everything is not so complicated, but even such a small vocabulary, especially with a good “alus”, can work wonders. Try it and see for yourself.