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Lessons for English speakers

Learn to read Estonian

A short, active path into reading Estonian: four new vowel letters and nine real words decoded before anything is explained, endings where English has little words, the verb that never changes after ei, and two short stories before your first book.

13 core sections · ≈ 33 min + 3 optional lookups · ≈ 46 min with everything

Reading

3 sections
14

First reading with help: two animals meet

≈ 4 min
What you'll learn
  • Estonian speech marks open low and close high: „Tere,“ — not English quotation marks.
  • Read the Estonian line first, then use the pronunciation and the English under it.
  • Every word carrying the scene has appeared earlier, or is explained just before the story.
  • If a line resists: find the doing word, read its ending for who, then check the noun endings for where.

“Hello,” says the fox.

„Tere,“ ütleb rebane.

TEH-reh, EWT-leb REH-bah-neh

The opening mark sits on the line and the closing one floats above it — „…“ — and a quote inside a quote uses the single version, ‚…‘.

Three things before the story

tulemaTOO-leh-mah“to come”
Tule!TOO-leh
telling somebody to come uses the same short form that follows ei
vaatamaVAAH-tah-mah“to look”
Vaata!VAAH-tah
look!
puupooh“tree”
puu otsaspooh OHT-sahs
“at the tree’s end” — how Estonian puts a bird up a tree

Tika ja Dara

  1. Tika on lind. Ta on puu otsas.

    TI-kah ohn lind. tah ohn pooh OHT-sahs

    Tika is a bird. She is up in a tree.

  2. Dara on rebane. Ta tuleb metsast.

    DAH-rah ohn REH-bah-neh. tah TOO-leb MET-sahst

    Dara is a fox. He comes out of the forest.

  3. „Tere, Tika!“ ütleb Dara.

    TEH-reh, TI-kah! EWT-leb DAH-rah

    “Hello, Tika!” says Dara.

  4. „Tere, Dara,“ vastab Tika. „Kuhu sa lähed?“

    TEH-reh, DAH-rah, VAHS-tahb TI-kah. KOO-hoo sah LA-hed?

    “Hello, Dara,” answers Tika. “Where are you going?”

  5. „Ma lähen mäele,“ ütleb Dara. „Mul on nälg.“

    mah LA-hen MA-eh-leh, EWT-leb DAH-rah. mool ohn nalg

    “I am going onto the hill,” says Dara. “I am hungry.”

  6. „Mäel on suur puu,“ ütleb Tika. „Ma tulen ka.“

    MA-ehl ohn soohr pooh, EWT-leb TI-kah. mah TOO-len kah

    “There is a big tree on the hill,” says Tika. “I am coming too.”

  7. „Tule!“ ütleb Dara.

    TOO-leh! EWT-leb DAH-rah

    “Come!” says Dara.

  8. Nad lähevad metsast mäele.

    nahd LA-heh-vahd MET-sahst MA-eh-leh

    They go out of the forest onto the hill.

  9. „Vaata!“ ütleb Dara. „Puul on õunad.“

    VAAH-tah! EWT-leb DAH-rah. poohl ohn UHW-nahd

    “Look!” says Dara. “There are apples on the tree.”

  10. „Aitäh, Tika,“ ütleb Dara. Tika on tema sõber.

    ahy-TA, TI-kah, EWT-leb DAH-rah. TI-kah ohn TEH-mah SUH-ber

    “Thank you, Tika,” says Dara. Tika is his friend.

Two delayed recalls before the harder story

No hints. You met both several sections ago.

  1. nälg
    Show answer +
    nälgnalg“hunger” — and mul on nälg is “I am hungry”.
  2. mäel
    Show answer +
    mäelMA-ehl“on the hill” — from mägiMA-gi, whose stem is mäe-MA-eh.