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Learning Lithuanian
The best way to learn Lithuanian is to be around Lithuanian-speaking people. The House of Lithuania sponsors the new Bernardio Brazdzionio Lithuanian Saturday School. If you are looking to learn Lithuanian in a fun environment, this school offers classes for both adults and children.
The internet has many Lithuanian language resources available, if you want to learn Lithuanian from the comfort of your own home. Here are some web sites to help you learn and practice Lithuanian:
The Lithuanian Language
Lithuanian belongs to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. Other Baltic languages include Latvian and (now-extinct) Old Prussian.* The Lithuanian language arose in the 5th century. However, in the written form it dates back only to the publication in 1547 of a Lithuanian Catechism by Martynas Mažonas.
The Lithuanian language is considered by many linguists to be the most archaic living Indo-European language. This means that Lithuanian the most conservative or "old-fashioned" of Indo-European languages.
Lithuanian is a highly inflected language and has seven cases. Lithuanian also has different accent classes as well as free and moving stress. It is also remarkable that for being such a small country, Lithuania has quite a large number of regional dialects.
If you would like to learn more about the Lithuanian language, the following web sites are very informative:
The Lithuanian Language and Writing
The Lithuanian Language
The Historical Grammar of the Lithuanian Language
* People often refer to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as the "Baltic States," since all three lie along the Baltic Sea. However, Estonian is not a Baltic language, but is in the Finno-Ugric language family and is related to Finnish and Hungarian.
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