I’m trying to learn Estonian…
…but it’s so hard!
Stop trying, start succeeding
Master the structure of language and establish a system for long-term success
What if Estonian was perfectly logical?
What if you could understand the system behind the language
in a day?
Nobody can do the work for you, but
doing the work can be easy
Why you’ve failed before
Estonians say “Estonian is hard” and you believed them.
You have motivation but don’t know how to translate it into action.
You attended one of the free Estonian courses and the teacher didn’t explain how things work.
You live comfortably in your English-speaking bubble.
Why you won’t fail now
You understand why things work the way they do.
You know how to do the hard work of learning.
You are successful on your own because you can correct yourself.
You approach the language with playfulness and curiosity and thus keep at it.
You use the language with confidence because you know exactly what you are saying.
Meet the teacher
I have felt your pain!
Learning Latin in school back in Germany, I got to know the structure of language intimately.
Out of this, an interest in “unusual” (read: non-Indo-European) developed.
At the age of 16, I started teaching myself Estonian: taking the grammar from Wikipedia and the words from the only dictionary I could find in 2006.
One thing led to another and over the years I’ve studied “hard” languages like Russian, Mandarin, Hungarian, Finnish, Greek, and Turkish.
Learning so many different languages made me see the things they have in common very clearly.
By now I have developed a system for picking up a language quickly: getting from zero to the point where you can correct yourself while learning and have a clear path for putting in the work.
Since knowing Estonian has opened so many doors in my life, I now want to bring this joy to others and change your understanding of language forever.
How does this work?
In a small group of a maximum of 8 participants, we first go over the components of language in general, then take a tour of the structure and rules of Estonian.
Bits of theory are mixed with practical exercises.
Finally, we pick a headline from the news of the day and everybody gets to put their skills to the test and translate the headline.
Do I need to have prior knowledge of Estonian?
No! While any words you already know will come in helpful, you technically don’t even need a single word of Estonian for this course to be useful.
Think of it as laying the foundation for your journey through learning Estonian.
What happens after the workshop?
I’m here to answer your questions! During the workshop, you learn how to continue learning on your own, successfully.
This means that there should be nothing left between you and putting in the work of actually building a vocabulary, and practicing listening, speaking, and writing.
What do I get?
A carefully crafted 2-page reference of Estonian Grammar. We’ll be making extensive use of the reference during the workshop, so you’ll know exactly how to use the reference.
Think of this reference as a “decoder ring” – it allows you to take all kinds of sentences apart.
“After the workshop everything fell into place and I could focus on making progress, not struggling with understanding how things work”
Stefanie Meier
“Dario handed me the keys to success, so now I don’t have any excuses anymore.”
Rune Wennesland
“I feel a lot more excited about the prospect of learning Estonian now, your enthusiasm is contagious!”
Karina Kochanovskaya
