Learn Latvian in London

Latvian Language Courses at LSI Language School in Central London

Latvian, sometimes referred to as Lettish, is the official state language of the Republic of Latvia.  There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 living abroad.

Latvian belongs to the Eastern Baltic sub-group of the Baltic language group in the Indo-European language family.  Of the original Baltic languages, only Latvian and its closest relative, Lithuanian, remain. However, while related, the Latvian and Lithuanian vocabularies vary greatly from each other and are not mutually intelligible.  Historically, Latvian was written using a system based upon German phonetic principles.  At the beginning of the 20th century, this was replaced by a more phonetically appropriate system using a modified Latin alphabet.

Latvians and Livonians, the indigenous peoples of Latvia, now form about 60% of the population; 28.5% of the inhabitants are Russian. Approximately 54% of the ethnic Russians living in Latvia are citizens of Latvia.  In fact, in some large cities (e.g. Daugavpils and Rezekne), Russians and other minorities outnumber Latvians.  Minorities from other countries such as Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, etc., also live in Latvia.

Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in Northern Europe. Latvia shares land borders with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south with both Russia and Belarus to the east.  It is separated from Sweden in the west by the Baltic Sea.  The capital of Latvia is Riga.  Latvia has been a member state of the European Union since 1 May 2004. Latvia is planning to introduce the Euro as the country's currency but, due to the inflation being above EMU's guidelines, this is unlikely to happen before 2014 at the earliest.

Since 2000 Latvia has had one of the highest (GDP) growth rates in Europe. In 2006, annual GDP growth was 11.9% and inflation was 6.2%. Unemployment was 8.5% - almost unchanged compared to the previous two years.  However, it has recently dropped to 6.1%, partly due to active economic migration, mostly to the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom.

Whether you are learning Latvian for business, leisure or academic purpose, at LSI we will ensure that your Latvian language course at our school in Central London is a successful and enjoyable experience.

• Your current level of Latvian and training requirements will be carefully assessed.
• Our Latvian tutors, who are all highly qualified, have many years of experience teaching Latvian at all levels.
• Your course will be tailor-made to meet your specific training needs, ensuring that it is relevant, practical, effective and fun.
• Our tutors use a wide range of up-to-date teaching materials including a variety of books, authentic documents, audio and video recordings.