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Photo by Veslava Sidaravičienė

Elīza Paula Graudiņa, a Master’s student in Intermedial Studies of Literature at Vilnius University, speaks fluent Lithuanian – a language she admits she never expected would become such an important part of her life. ‘While choosing my studies, I didn’t even think about Lithuanian; at first, I didn’t like how it sounded. In fact, I actually planned to study Latvian language and culture,’ recalled Elīza.

However, her plans changed after a fateful meeting with Edmunds Trumpa, Head of the Centre for Lithuanian Studies at the University of Latvia, and a summer language course in Lithuania. Now, Elīza is pursuing her studies in Vilnius and starting to work on her Master’s thesis on the adaptation of the comic book ‘Sibiro haiku’ (‘Siberian Haiku’) by Jurga Vilė and Lina Itagaki for Lithuanian and Latvian theatre.

Starting studies at the University of Latvia

Elīza Paula Graudiņa started learning Lithuanian during her Bachelor studies in Baltic Philology at the University of Latvia. ‘During the first year, Lithuanian language seminars are compulsory for all students, but later, you can choose whether to continue. That is when I decided to deepen my knowledge of Lithuanian further,’ said the student.

To improve her skills, Elīza attended a Lithuanian language summer course organised by Vytautas Magnus University, yet studying remotely became a real challenge. ‘It wasn’t easy spending the entire summer studying on the computer, but it helped me stay in touch with the Lithuanian language and learn new things,’ she noted.

Later, Elīza attended a Lithuanian language summer course at Vilnius University. At first, she was intimidated because she was placed in a higher-level group despite feeling that her language skills were still rather limited. ‘I thought I could only manage the few sentences that I had learnt for my university exam. But the course made me realise I could do so much more,’ said the student.

Her turning point came one evening when she was visiting Lithuanian friends. ‘A few of them could speak Latvian, but most of the guests only spoke Lithuanian. So, I had no choice but to try to communicate with them. That’s when I realised that I could actually speak Lithuanian,’ recalled Elīza.

The student’s love for Lithuanian deepened through translation workshops led by Assoc. Prof. Edmunds Trumpa. ‘Various Lithuanian poets and writers, like Vladas Braziūnas and Rimantas Kmita, visited Riga for these workshops, where students work on translations together with the authors and read the translated parts aloud. As I prefer preparing translations in advance, I usually worked at home and then discussed them with the authors later. A professional translator was also invited to assist with any challenging questions,’ said Elīza, who admits that she would like to work on more fiction translations in the future.

Her engagement with Lithuanian summer courses extended beyond learning – she also started teaching. ‘Last summer, I participated in a summer course organised by the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore. Before starting my studies, I wanted to reinforce my grammar knowledge and review everything I already knew. But in the winter, the organisers from the Institute invited me back, not just as a student but also as a teacher,’ said Elīza.

She has been teaching literature reading classes with a PhD student from the Institute. This year, Elīza is taking on the task independently, although she admits she still feels a bit nervous: ‘I’m most worried about questions related to word stress.’

Although teaching has never been in her plans, this experience opened up new opportunities. ‘I never thought I’d become a lecturer, but now teaching Lithuanian seems much more interesting to me than teaching Latvian,’ she admitted.

‘I chose topics related to the Lithuanian language for both my Bachelor’s and Master’s theses’

Elīza Paula Graudiņa dedicated her Bachelor’s thesis to the analysis of Lithuanian literature translations into Latvian in the period from 2008 to 2022. ‘The first part focuses on translations of various genres of Lithuanian literature, while the second one compares the reception of five authors’ works in Latvia and Lithuania,’ she explained.

For her analysis, Elīza chose ‘Sibiro haiku’ (‘Siberian Haiku’) by Jurga Vilė and Lina Itagaki, ‘Silva Rerum’ by Kristina Sabaliauskaitė, ‘Mano vardas – Marytė’ (‘My Name is Marytė’) by Alvydas Šlepikas, ‘Kraujas mėlynas’ (‘Blue Blood’) by Undinė Radzevičiūtė, and ‘Vilko valanda’ (‘The Hour of the Wolf’) by Andrius Tapinas. Her selection was influenced by the awards and popularity of these books.

‘During my research, I found more similarities than differences, with the exceptions primarily relating to the reception of historical novels. In Lithuania, for instance, there is a debate over whether ‘Silva Rerum’ is popular or literary fiction. In Latvia, there is no such question, as popular literature is just regarded under the umbrella of fiction,’ noted the student.

She also observed that Lithuanians pay more attention to the accuracy of historical details, while in Latvia, they are not seen as crucial. ‘It’s not our history, so we tend to read the works as fiction,’ she said.

Her analysis of the reception of ‘Sibiro haiku’ also uncovered some intriguing differences: ‘One Lithuanian reviewer criticised the comic format, claiming that it was adopted from other cultures and unsuitable for such painful historical memories. Meanwhile, in Latvia, the comic book format was well received, and there was no such controversy.’

For her Master’s thesis, Elīza plans to continue her research on ‘Sibiro haiku’, focusing on its theatrical adaptations. ‘I’m currently planning to write my thesis on the theatrical productions of ‘Sibiro haiku’ in Lithuania and Latvia and analyse them through the lens of intermediality. I’m interested in how a graphic novel turns into a script, how the narrative shifts from visual to textual, and how this text ultimately transforms into a performance,’ said Elīza.

Currently, both performances are being staged in Lithuanian and Latvian theatres, and Elīza plans to analyse their recordings. ‘Accessing Latvian recordings is more challenging because the performances have just started. However, the organisers promised to send a recording, at least for a short time, so that my supervisor could access the material.’

In her free time, Elīza sings in the Vilnius University choir ‘Gaudeamus’. ‘I decided to join the choir as soon as I arrived – it was a kind of social experiment. Performing in Liepāja was especially rewarding because I could perfectly understand both Lithuanians and Latvians. One Latvian woman even asked me if I could speak Latvian. It was very funny because I’m Latvian myself! But, of course, it was nice,’ she laughed.

As for the future, Elīza is still exploring her options. ‘I’m considering graduate traineeships as an opportunity to go abroad after my studies and teach Lithuanian. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up teaching Lithuanian in Uruguay,’ she smiled.

On the other hand, Elīza is also drawn to the academic path: ‘In Latvia, I work as an assistant at the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art. I could continue my research and pursue a PhD, potentially even in Lithuania.’

The Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Faculty of Philology continues its series of articles featuring alumni from foreign centres of Baltic studies. After graduation, they not only continue to deepen their knowledge of Lithuanian but also integrate the Lithuanian language, literature, and culture into their professional activities.

This article is part of the project ‘Information and Coordination Portal of Baltic Studies Centres’ (No. 1.78 Mr SU-1006) implemented by the Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic and supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania.

Prepared by Dr Veslava Sidaravičienė, Research Assistant at the Department of Baltic Studies of the Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic of Vilnius University.

A collection of Lithuanian scholarly articles in English "Contextuality of the Bible in Lithuania until the End of the Eighteenth Century" has been published by the renowned publishing house Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (Germany), which focuses on publications in the fields of Theology and Religion, History, Ancient History, Philosophy and Philology. The book is part of the series Eastern and Central European Voices (ECEV), which aims to highlight work in theology and religious studies in Eastern and Central Europe. The book is edited by Dr Kristina Rutkowska, Professor at the Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University, and Rajmund Pietkiewicz, Professor and Vice-President of the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław (Poland). Both professors are also members of the ECEV publishing group, of which Professor Rajmund Pietkiewicz is the founder and editor-in-chief.

The publishing house states: "The collective book by Lithuanian researchers presents research conducted in Lithuania on the historical and socio-cultural contexts of the Bible and the ways in which it functioned in Lithuanian writing from its beginning to the 18th century. The ways of religious communication, the dissemination of religious and social ideas in the works of theologians, the functioning of biblical texts and the ways of their transmission are shown. The articles review the problems of translating the Bible into Lithuanian and Slavic languages, consider the influence of other languages and cultures on the formation of the Lithuanian language in its early development, and address issues of editing and publishing religious writings".

A link to the publication can be found here.

This year, as every year, the Lithuanian language winter course, which will take place at the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University from 6 to 17 January, will attract almost 40 Lithuanian studies enthusiasts from all over the world: Hong Kong, Germany, China, Belarus, Ireland, the Netherlands, Argentina, Lithuania, Italy, the USA, Canada, South Korea, France, Finland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine.

For the third time this year, Bradley Woodworth, a professor at New Haven University, who is also the head of the Baltic Studies Programme at Yale University, is coming to learn Lithuanian. We are happy to share his story with you.

"I began studying Lithuanian in the spring of 2023 with a private teacher at the Boston Lithuanian School. I continued in the fall with another private teacher – these were both over Zoom. I came first to the Lithuanian Language winter course (Lietuvių kalbos žiemos kursai) in the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University last January, when I studied for just a week. Then in the summer of 2024 I came back to the summer course – vasaros kursai. Now I’m coming back in January 2025."

The professor says he has no Lithuanian roots, but has always been interested in other languages and cultures.

"I just happened to spend time as a student in Finland and then Estonia and learned these languages. Then I learned Russian and became a historian of the multiethnic Russian Empire. The Baltic region is small but their peoples are giving the world wonderful examples of how to navigate the choppy waters of this 21st century and create societies that significantly contribute to justice and stability throughout Europe.

I am having wonderful experiences at Vilnius University.  The university has a full four-year Lithuanian Studies program, and I encourage any of you who would like to get to know better Lithuania, the Lithuanian language, the history and literature of Lithuania to consider enrolling in this program."

The Department of Lithuanian Studies of the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University has been organising winter and summer courses in Lithuanian Studies twice a year for more than thirty years. People of all ages and professions, who do not yet know the language but are very interested in it, or who have been improving their knowledge of Lithuanian for years, come from all over the world to participate in these courses. Students are divided into different groups according to their level of Lithuanian. They study Lithuanian for 4 or 6 academic hours every morning, and in the afternoon they learn about Lithuanian culture, history, language, crafts, communication and go on excursions. 

For more information about the Lithuanian Studies programme, please visit the Vilnius University website.

Alla and Jelena are from Ukraine. Both women studied Lithuanian for three months at Vilnius University. When asked about their motivation, they say they studied out of gratitude and respect for Lithuania and its people.

Alla is currently working at the Lithuanian National Martynas Mažvydas Library in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, where she is researching and cataloguing the sermons of 18th-century Catholic priests. The woman, who has worked as a librarian all her life, says that this position is new to her, but very interesting. "This job is like a gift to me," says Alla. Alla also speaks of her colleagues with great gratitude and affection: they are true professionals, extremely tolerant, always ready to help, "I feel accepted at work", "the care of my colleagues warms my heart".

"On the one hand, I am learning Lithuanian because our future is uncertain, we don't know when it will all end. On the other hand, we live among such people, in such a compassionate country, that I am learning Lithuanian out of gratitude: I want to be able to speak the language of the people in whose homes I live. This is very important to me, because now I have no other way of saying thank you", says Alla.

Jelena has also found a job that matches her education - she works as an accountant for a small private company. Although she has studied Lithuanian several times, Jelena's knowledge of the language was not enough for her everyday work: "I know a lot of words, but I'm still afraid to speak. She is happy that thanks to her understanding colleagues and the director, all the tricky situations are solved in a positive, joking way, but she felt that she had to learn.

"Alla is right, we don't know where we will be living in a month or a year, but at the moment we are in a country that has welcomed us with an open heart, provided us with a home and a job - Lithuanians are very tolerant, good people. So I think it is necessary to learn the language. It is just the right thing to do: to speak the language of the country you live in. I do it out of respect for Lithuania. Wherever we are - in Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Hungary - we have to learn the language in order to integrate into the life of the country",  explains Jelena.

These free Lithuanian language courses are part of the project titled "Lithuanian Language Course for People Who Have Fled Ukraine due to Russia's War of Aggression Against Ukraine". The project is funded funded by the Fund for Bilateral Relations under the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021.

"Unsplash" photo

The Lithuanian language has been largely inaccessible in many of our daily technologies for a long time. Why can't we communicate with our smart devices in Lithuanian? Why doesn't a robot vacuum respond to commands given in Lithuanian? Why are voice assistants in our native language so limited? Researchers at Vilnius University (VU) have worked for over ten years to make technology more accessible in Lithuania.

The "Creation of the Great Lithuanian Language Listserv" (LIEPA-3) project represents a significant milestone in Lithuanian language technology. LIEPA-3 seeks to create new opportunities for our language to adapt to modern intelligent systems, ensuring that Lithuania plays an integral role in technology, on par with major languages like English and German.

"We live in a world where language technology is becoming increasingly essential daily. If Lithuania does not flourish in this domain, we risk falling behind. LIEPA-3 presents us with the opportunity to preserve and promote the Lithuanian language within modern technology," remarks Gediminas Navickas, a researcher at VU's Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics and one of the project's initiators.

According to G. Navickas from the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Vilnius University, this project not only fosters the development of new technologies but also preserves the distinctive sound and character of the Lithuanian language for future generations. This endeavour holds particular significance for advancing language technologies and the study of the language itself.

The Future of the Lithuanian Language in Technology

LIEPA-3 is an ongoing initiative to ensure the survival and adaptation of the Lithuanian language in today's digital landscape by enhancing the country's digitisation capabilities. It builds upon the achievements of the previous LIEPA and LIEPA-2 projects, broadening the scope of Lithuanian language technology.

Researchers from the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics and the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University also conducted the LIEPA and LIEPA-2 projects. Both projects centred on two primary objectives: developing information technology solutions to provide innovative services to the public and establishing infrastructural solutions related to the Lithuanian spoken language, including lexicons, speech synthesisers, and speech recognition systems.

A large team of scientists is currently working on the new LIEPA-3 project. Unlike its predecessors, this project focuses on a single primary objective: creating a comprehensive, Large, Annotated Lithuanian Language Linguistic Listserv. An annotated lexicon is a structured collection of sound recordings that provide examples of Lithuanian speech, accompanied by corresponding time-stamped texts. This new dictionary will be ten times larger than the largest existing Lithuanian dictionary, encompassing 10,000 hours of recordings.

With a vocabulary of this magnitude, we can develop Lithuanian speech recognition systems that allow computers and other devices to understand spoken Lithuanian accurately, meeting modern quality standards.

When asked about the three most important factors that determine the value of a property, real estate professionals often answer: location, location, and location. To rephrase that question: what are the three most crucial elements that contribute to the value of language technology? There needs to be a comprehensive and extensive linguistic corpus of the Lithuanian language.

The 1000-hour vocabulary produced by the LIEPA-2 project is relatively small compared to the vocabularies of more technologically advanced languages. Besides its size, developing a linguistic corpus is crucial because computer scientists collaborate with philologists and linguists in speech technology.

"This is a beautiful and meaningful example of collaboration and interdisciplinarity that has been present since the beginning of the LIEPA-1 project. The large-scale audio library is significant for speech technology and is an excellent foundation for a wide range of linguistic research. Notably, half of the linguistic repertoire will consist of spontaneous speech, providing valuable insights into the state of contemporary spoken Lithuanian. Unfortunately, this area has been somewhat fragmented due to insufficient comprehensive and extensive data. The dictionary is not only vital in the context of speech technology and linguistic research, but it may not be overly bold to compare it to the great Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, which preserves not only the words of our language but also the essence of our identity—expressed not in written form, but through the living word," said Vytautas Kardelis, a Professor in the Faculty of Philology at the Vilnius University of Technology.

The big team leads the project – the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Vilnius University, collaborating with the Faculty of Philology and partners Vytautas Magnus University and the Lithuanian Language Institute. Dr Gražina Korvel, the project leader of the LIEPA-3 project and a researcher at VU MIF, notes that "the timeframe for the project is very short—just over a year and a half—whereas usually such work would take at least three years. A strong consortium of experts in the field, consisting of experienced organisations, is carrying out this project, and we are confident they will complete it successfully.

What results can we expect?

"The main goal of the LIEPA-3 project is to create an annotated dictionary of 10,000 hours of spoken Lithuanian. Dr. Korvel emphasises the significance of this work for both science and society, explaining that the team will compile this dictionary based on the criteria of age, gender, and dialect region of the speakers. They will develop an audio library to showcase the spoken content's phonetic, morphological, syntactic, stylistic, and dialectal diversity while capturing variations in the acoustic background influenced by the recording equipment and environment.

Creating the soundtrack involves a considerable amount of work, including collecting, processing, and assessing the accuracy of sound data. Once the team completes this, they will upload the data to open-access platforms, making the project results available to all interested parties. Once the team completes this, they will upload the data to open-access platforms, making the project results available to all interested parties. According to the project leader, having a publicly accessible and comprehensive sound library will enable researchers to develop advanced speech recognition, synthesis, and natural language processing techniques. This project will create opportunities for the advancement of artificial intelligence in Lithuania. Furthermore, this toolkit will be extremely valuable for research focused on social inclusion, helping us to better respond to the needs of individuals with disabilities and to develop technologies that are intuitive and accessible to everyone.

The project will create numerous opportunities for the practical application of its results. Specifically, Lithuanian researchers and technology developers will have the chance to advance language technologies and innovative e-services in Lithuania. Additionally, the publicly accessible resources from the Lithuanian language repository will encourage researchers in other countries to incorporate the Lithuanian language into their studies in language technologies. The results will enhance the visibility of the Lithuanian language in the digital space and facilitate international collaboration.

According to Navickas, the project aims to support the implementation of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation's State Digitisation Development Programme. Its goals include increasing the accessibility of language technologies in the Lithuanian language and helping to modernise digital skills within society. "Over the next couple of years, the research team will create a dictionary and make it publicly available for research and the development of digital solutions. This resource will support the development of higher-quality e-services and advance the overall digitisation process in Lithuania."

Anna Sedláčková holds a specialised Bachelor’s degree in Eastern European Studies from Charles University in Prague and is among the last cohort of students to graduate with a Master’s degree in Baltic Studies. ‘The Baltic Studies programme at this university has been discontinued. Students can still learn Lithuanian and Latvian as a second language, but now there is no separate dedicated programme,’ remarked Anna.

‘Every language is worth learning, but Lithuanian stands out as a unique linguistic gem. Lithuania has always been a remarkable example of how to preserve and cherish language and culture. We Czechs seem to have forgotten these things. So, if we want to learn something about ourselves, we should start following such great examples,’ she said.

‘First, I fell in love with the country, and then with its language’

After graduating from high school, Anna spent a month in Latvia and Lithuania: ‘First, I fell in love with the country, and then with its language. Having returned to Czechia, I started reading Lithuanian and Latvian literature translated into Czech. I soon realised I wanted to delve into these books in their original languages, which led me to study Latvian at university and, later, Lithuanian.

During her Bachelor studies, Anna was also learning Chinese, but the COVID-19 pandemic altered her life plans. As she could not pursue her opportunities in China, Anna redirected her focus to Baltic studies.

‘I love the fact that studying the Baltic languages allows us to observe how they have remained almost unchanged over time. The history of both Latvia and Lithuania is complicated, but they have managed to preserve the greatest treasures – their languages,’ noted Anna.

Anna translates literature from Latvian and Lithuanian into the Czech language: ‘Together with my colleague Inese Pintane, I translated Dalia Grinkevičiūtė’s book ‘Lietuviai prie Laptevų jūros’ (‘Lithuanians by the Laptev Sea’). I hope it will be published next year. It is important that not only Lithuanians but also the rest of the world knows what happened in Lithuania and what Lithuanians were forced to endure.’

Other works translated by Anna and published this year in the Czech Republic are ‘Mano tėtis rašo knygą’ (‘My Dad is Writing a Book’) by Tomas Dirgėla and ‘Akmenėlis’ (‘The Pebble’) by Marius Marcinkevičius. The children’s book ‘Laimė yra lapė’ (‘The Fox on the Swing’) by Evelina Daciūtė will be a new release next year. Anna is passionate about bringing Lithuanian literature to Czech readers. This year also saw the publication of an anthology of contemporary Latvian literature, edited and translated by Anna. Similar anthologies of Estonian and Lithuanian literature that Anna is already working on are expected to be published in the next two years.

However, according to the linguist, we still lack translations from Lithuanian into Czech. ‘In Czechia, there was a very strong tradition of translating Lithuanian works. Between World War I and 1989, over 60 Lithuanian books were translated. However, the interest waned after 1989. We translators would like to change this. For instance, Věra Kociánová, translator and director of the publishing house ‘Venkovské dílo’, translates books from Lithuanian into Czech and publishes them, e.g. ‘Tūla’ by Jurgis Kunčinas, children’s books by Kęstutis Kasparavičius, and some poems by Tomas Venclova. Most publishing houses are usually hesitant to translate books from Lithuanian, favouring major languages such as French or German. But we have managed to prove that Lithuanian and Latvian literature is equally valuable, so hopefully, there will be more and more translations published,’ she said.

Anna Sedláčková is delighted to see translations from the Baltic languages gaining growing recognition in the Czech Republic. ‘I translated Nora Ikstena’s book ‘Mātes piens’ (‘Soviet Milk’). In my country, this was the first translation from the Latvian language in 15 years. It received multiple nominations, proving that Baltic literature can attract both readers and publishers.’ Anna plans to continue translating Lithuanian and Latvian books.

Exploring the vitality of the Baltic languages

Currently pursuing her Master’s degree at the University of Helsinki, Anna is researching the vitality of the Baltic languages. ‘I’m comparing the Karaim language in Lithuania, the Livonian language in Latvia, and the Võro language in Estonia. I want to know how official policies toward minority languages differ in the Baltic States and examine how people feel about these languages: what challenges do Karaim, Livonian, and Võro speakers face? What changes do they believe are necessary for the country’s language policy, such as the status of the language or attitudes towards it? Do they need more language courses, additional resources, or books in these languages? What do they feel is missing to help them improve their proficiency in these languages? Are Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia doing enough to protect these languages, or could they do more? I learnt a lot from the interviews and I believe that the relevance of my research stretches beyond the Baltic context,’ asserted Anna, who intends to continue to develop this topic during her doctoral studies.

Anna Sedláčková has also taught Lithuanian and Czech in Helsinki: ‘These courses were aimed at Finns and other Finnish speakers. In Helsinki, there are plenty of opportunities to study languages and other subjects during your free time. In my opinion, my students performed very well. Although I was a bit worried about their ability to pronounce consonants like č, š, and ž, as well as grasp Lithuanian grammar, they exceeded my expectations.’

She is happy with her students, as they are all eager to continue their Lithuanian studies. Currently, Anna works as a researcher at the Livonian Institute, where she applies her knowledge of the Livonian language and collaborates with a team of experts on documenting and promoting this Finno-Ugric language.

The Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Faculty of Philology continues its series of articles featuring alumni from foreign centres of Baltic studies. After graduation, they not only continue to deepen their knowledge of Lithuanian but also integrate the Lithuanian language, literature, and culture into their professional activities.

This article is part of the project ‘Information and Coordination Portal of Baltic Studies Centres’ (No. 1.78 Mr SU-1006) implemented by the Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic and supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania.

Prepared by Dr Veslava Sidaravičienė, Research Assistant at the Department of Baltic Studies of the Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic of Vilnius University

Dr. Ernesta Kazakėnaitė, a researcher at the Department of Baltic Studies at the Faculty of Philology, says that her recent article on a Sami manuscript, co-authored with her colleague from Uppsala University Prof. Rogier Blokland, is only "a little bit special," but the manuscript's watermarks suggest that it is from the end of the sixteenth century or the first part of the seventeenth century, which means that she has found the oldest surviving Sami manuscript.

"A manuscript booklet in the collections of the National Library of Sweden entitled "Pater noſter: Varijs Linguis" came to my attention when I was working on a book about Latvian prayer in the 16th century and its spread around the world, because it contains 20 prayers, including a Latvian one described by H. Biezais in 1955. The last page of the manuscript is very defective and difficult to read, but I did not want to leave a sentence in the book saying that the text was illegible, so I tried to read it with the methods and technologies I knew. It was not easy because the spelling was very different and I was already losing the use of my hands. When I identified it as Sami, I could not find anything earlier. It was hard to believe that it could be the oldest, so I contacted several Finno-Ugric scholars and they all confirmed it. Together with a specialist in the Sami language, Professor Rogier Blokland from Uppsala University, we then began almost a year of research. Its existence in the collection is very unexpected and puzzling, and raises many new scientific questions for both Finougrists and historians of the region, which will hopefully be answered in the future." - said researcher Ernesta Kazakėnaitė.

Akira Takaki in Vilnius. Photo from personal archive.

Akira Takaki has spent nine years studying the Lithuanian language at the University of Helsinki. ‘I embarked on my Lithuanian language studies back in 2015, and three years ago, I graduated with a Master’s degree in General Linguistics; my thesis focused on Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian onomatopoeia. This summer, I earned my second Master’s degree in Slavic and Baltic Studies, so now I am a double Master,’ he smiled

When asked how he discovered the Lithuanian language, Akira explains that his passion was ignited by Eurovision, adding that he has been listening to Lithuanian music daily for a decade now.

‘I wanted to understand the lyrics’

Akira’s interest in Eurovision was sparked by Finland’s victory in 2006 with ‘Lordi’: ‘I started following national selections in different countries and participating in discussion forums. There was an international forum that used to host various song competitions. Every month, in the ‘New Releases Game’, each participant had to submit a song from one country released within the past month, while others could vote for their favourite, and the song that scored the most points would win. I chose Lithuania and uploaded a song by a musician who had once competed in Eurovision selections. That marked the start of my regular involvement in such contests.’

Akira discovered a little-known Lithuanian artist named ‘GeraiGerai’: ‘This music fuelled my interest in the Lithuanian language, as I wanted to understand what the songs were about,’ he noted. He feels strongly that Lithuania should exclusively send Lithuanian songs to Eurovision, and even better – Samogitian or Prussian ones: ‘All countries should perform songs in their mother tongue. I believe that it’s ridiculous to sing in a language that is not your native one.’

When asked about his favourite Lithuanian Eurovision song, Akira mentioned Aistė Smilgevičiūtė’s ‘Strazdas’ (1999) as his long-time favourite. However, he believes that Silvester Belt’s ‘Luktelk’ from this year was the best entry in Lithuania’s Eurovision history.

Having been listening to Lithuanian bands and artists for already a decade, Akira likes different songs and is particularly drawn to folk or electronic and psychedelic folk music.

‘Perhaps my favourite Lithuanian artists are the avant-garde band ‘Driezhas’, blending elements of ethno, electro, ambient, darkwave, and synthpop music. The style of ‘Drumbacilos’ is also remarkable – dreamy and melancholic melodies combined with frenetic rhythms. I would like to mention the singer ‘Monikaze’, too – I love her inventive style of experimental pop music. I also listen to lesser-known bands and artists, such as ‘Romowe Rikoito’, a neofolk music group singing in Prussian. Other bands, such as ‘Golden Parazyth’, perform alternative pop music, while ‘Vėjopatis’ combines contemporary electronic music with Lithuanian folklore elements,’ explained Akira.

He went on to list other Lithuanian artists that he is familiar with who make music in a variety of genres: ‘Saulius Petreikis is a well-known folk musician and multi-instrumentalist, and ‘Solo ansamblis’ is an experimental post-punk band worth mentioning. The electronic ethno-dub project known as ‘Girių dvasios’ plays Lithuanian polyphonic songs, while you can hear the electronic and ambient music influences in the songs of ‘Kamanių šilelis’. ‘Vilniaus energija’ is a psychedelic rap band, while ‘Fume’ represents a combination of electronic ambient and classical music.’ Akira also listed other groups that piqued his interest: ‘Palmės žiedas’ plays alternative electronic music. There’s even a Latin American pop-funk band, ‘Planeta Polar’, which sings in Spanish. Rūta MUR performs retro synthwave with deep vocals. Vitalijus Špokaitis plays electronic music with satirical-intellectual elements.’

Among Akira’s top picks is ‘Fanera’, a band that creates open and humorous dance music. Another favourite is Gabrielė Vilkickytė, who performs atmospheric indie music with touching and multi-layered lyrics. In his opinion, ‘Garbanotas’ is Lithuania’s best psychedelic rock band. Alina Orlova is one of the best-known alternative folk musicians in the country. When asked about the most important aspect of a song, Akira believes that the melody is key.

Lithuanian language studies

When he was still at gymnasium, Akira was not sure which university to choose: ‘A friend of mine suggested General Linguistics at the University of Helsinki, as I already spoke several languages at that time. I studied Latin in high school and, later, at my gymnasium. Our high school class was the only one in Finland where you could advance your knowledge of Latin. Naturally, I was raised in a bilingual family: my mum speaks Finnish, and my dad speaks Japanese. I am also fluent in English and Swedish, as learning the latter is mandatory in Finnish schools. I studied Russian at gymnasium and later at university; I also have some basic skills in Hungarian, Georgian, Estonian, and Bulgarian. Moreover, I took a course in Sumerian at university and can speak Okinawan. While living in Hokkaido, I studied Ainu – an isolated language that used to be spoken in Japan, but I don’t think there are any native speakers left anymore.’

Akira learnt Lithuanian at the University of Helsinki. After spending a year in Japan, he continued his Lithuanian studies remotely at Vilnius University (VU) and once attended a summer course in Kaunas.

‘Kaunas is such a beautiful, clean, and compact city – I could live there,’ remarked Akira. ‘I’ve also attended camps near Panevėžys and in Samogitia. In 2016, after a year of studying Lithuanian, I tried to speak with locals in Vilnius, but it didn’t go too well. I was slightly disappointed because I felt confident in my skills, but I couldn’t understand what others were saying.’

Today, Akira confidently speaks Lithuanian and has no difficulties keeping up a fluent conversation.

The Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Faculty of Philology continues its series of articles featuring alumni from foreign centres of Baltic studies. After graduation, they not only continue to deepen their knowledge of Lithuanian but also integrate the Lithuanian language, literature, and culture into their professional activities.

Baltic Studies at the University of Helsinki were introduced upon the restoration of Lithuanian and Latvian independence. Currently, the University of Helsinki offers a Bachelor’s degree programme in the Lithuanian and Latvian languages and a Master’s degree programme in Baltic Philology. The Baltic Studies Centre teaches the Lithuanian and Latvian languages, literature, and cultural studies, as well as offers introductory Baltic studies and various special courses. For more information on the Baltic studies available at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Helsinki, please visit the Baltnexus website.

This article is part of the project ‘Information and Coordination Portal of Baltic Studies Centres’ (No. 1.78 Mr SU-1006) implemented by the Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic and supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania.

Prepared by Assoc. Prof. Dr Veslava Sidaravičienė, Research Assistant at the Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic.