New book about learning Estonian 'I Found You at Last' published online
The Integration Foundation presented the basal reader "I Found You at Last" prepared in cooperation between the teachers of the Estonian Language House in Narva and language learners living in different parts of Estonia. The online version of the new book is available free of charge.
"The new book tells humorous and unusual stories about language learners' studies. The engaging stories are followed by exercises to help better understand the cultural context or grammatical aspects of the Estonian language," Marta Dolgošev and Pille Maffucci, teachers at the Estonian Language House of the Integration Foundation in Narva and the authors of the book, said. "For example, the phrase 'leibu ühte kappi panema' can be used to indicate where the bread was put, but it can also mean that a couple moved in together," they gave an example of an Estonian idiom.
The reader was created as part of the project Let us write a book TOGETHER! of the Estonian Language House of the Integration Foundation in Narva.
For this publication, 70 people shared their misadventures while learning Estonian. Marta Dolgošev and Pille Maffucci, teachers at the Estonian Language House, went through the stories and arranged them into 25 scenes for the fictional characters Adam and Eve.
"The book is a resource for advanced learners of Estonian and an entertaining read for anyone interested in the language's peculiarities. The texts are somewhat simpler to read than works of fiction," Anna Farafonova, head of the Estonian Language House of the Integration Foundation in Narva, explained. "Also, Estonians could learn from these accounts what it is like to study Estonian [as a foreigner]," she added.
The book is available free of charge on the website of the Integration Foundation and printed copies will be distributed to major libraries and to the language learning partners of the Integration Foundation.
In addition to Estonian language teachers and learners, the editor Airi Broberg, methodological advisor Mare Kitsnik, artist Ragne Hoog, designer R-kontor, and printing house Tallinna Raamatutrükikoda contributed to the production of the book.
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Editor: Kristina Kersa