The official language of Latvia is Latvian, which belongs to the Baltic language group of the Indo-European language family. Latvian is the sole official language of Latvia and the mother tongue of 62% of the population (90%+ in villages and towns outside Latgale). All the public signs in Latvia are Latvian.
Historically, the Latvian language was threatened by its low status (19th century) and Russian migration (20th century). Sweeping National Awakenings saved the Latvian language both times, but Latvians are still protective of their tongue. After all, the “Latvian language” is a key definition of the Latvian nation.
Spoken by merely 1,5 million people worldwide, Latvian is not a language many foreigners learn. However, knowing this, Latvians are especially happy when non-locals try to speak it.
While Latvian is the only official language and the only one you will notice on most signs, Latvia is effectively a bilingual country, with a third of its population speaking Russian. The Russian language is spoken natively by some 37% of Latvia’s population, most of them in the cities and Latgale. The importance of Russian dates to Soviet occupation, when many settlers were moved in. Russian is by far the most widespread minority language taking into account that Latvia was once a Soviet country back in the day.
The younger generations of ethnic Latvians usually speak English far better than Russian (and would switch to English when communicating with foreigners). In Riga, in most places you will visit, there will definitely be local people or clerks who speak and understand English.
Here are some useful phrases in Latvian:
HELLO – SVEIKI [svɛikì]
THANK YOU – PALDIES [paldiɛs] GOODBYE – UZ REDZĒŠANOS [uz redzeːʃanuɔs]
I’M SORRY – ES ATVAINOJOS [es atvainuɔyuɔs]
PLEASE – LŪDZU [luːdzu] YES – JĀ [yɑː]
NO – NĒ [neː]
A lot of Latvians use “čau” (ciao) for saying “hello” and also for saying“goodbye”. It’s used as an informal greeting.
DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? – VAI JŪS RUNĀJAT ANGLISKI?
I DO NOT SPEAK LATVIAN – ES NERUNĀJU LATVISKI
