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

The script

4 sections

Your first reading job: the letters, and four new vowels

≈ 3 min

What you'll learn

Estonian uses the alphabet you know, plus four vowel letters and two roofed ones it does not.
Nothing is silent, and a letter keeps one sound almost everywhere — one softening the spelling never marks is the only exception.
j is the y of yes, and b d g are p t k said gently.

The five vowels you already know

Letter	Sound	A word
a	ah, as in father	majaMAH-yah“house”
e	eh, as in bed	metsmets“forest”
i	the i of sit, but tighter	lindlind“bird”
o	oh, as in more, cut short	koerKOH-ehr“dog”
u	oo, as in book	kuukooh“moon”

A vowel never fades off the loud beat: the second a of majaMAH-yah is as full as the first.

Four vowels English does not have, and two roofed letters

ä
a, as in cat
the two dots drag the a forward to the front of your mouth
jänesYA-nes
“rabbit”
ö
ur, as in fur, said with the lips pushed round
say the e of bed, then round your lips without moving your tongue
ööurr
“night”
ü
ew, as in few
say ee, and purse your lips as if to whistle
üksewks
“one”
õ
near the uh of cut, but with flat lips and the tongue held back — the hardest of the four
the wave through the o is your lips going flat: say oh, then pull your lips wide and flat and keep the tongue back
õunuhwn
“apple”
š
sh, as in ship — only in borrowed words
the little roof over the s is the h of sh
šokolaadshoh-koh-LAAHD
“chocolate”
ž
the s of measure — only in borrowed words
garaažgah-RAAHZH
“garage”

õ is the one to spend a minute on; the other three are the ä ö ü of German, two of which Finnish has as well. The roofed pair turns up only in borrowed words — which is why those two examples lean on a later beat.

Consonants that are not what an English reader expects

Letter	Sound to try	A word
j	y, as in yes — never the j of jam	majaMAH-yah“house”
s	the s of sun, never the z of rose	vesiVEH-si“water”
r	tapped or rolled, as in Spanish	rebaneREH-bah-neh“fox”
b, d, g against p, t, k	the first three are soft, unvoiced p, t, k with no buzz at all; the second three are the same sounds, longer and harder	sõberSUH-ber“friend”
h	always sounded, including between two vowels	hiirheer“mouse”

Everything not listed — f, l, m, n, v — reads as English, and no c, q, w, x or y appears in an Estonian word.

Catch the letter before it catches you

Say each one aloud, leaning on the first beat, then reveal.

jänes
A y, then the a of cat.
Show answer +Hide answer −
jänesYA-nes“rabbit”
sõber
Flat lips, and a gentle b.
Show answer +Hide answer −
sõberSUH-ber“friend”
vesi
The s does not buzz.
Show answer +Hide answer −
vesiVEH-si“water”