Known as latviešu valoda [the Latvian language] in Latvian, it is the official language of Latvia, one of the official languages of the European Union, and one of only two living Baltic languages with official status.
For learners, Latvian offers an interesting mix of familiarity and surprise. It uses the Latin alphabet, but includes letters such as ā, ē, ī, ū, č, š, ž, ģ, ķ, ļ, ņ and ŗ historically, while its grammar preserves features that have disappeared from many other European languages.
Here are a few key facts to keep in mind:
- Where it is spoken: Primarily in Latvia, with Latvian-speaking communities abroad.
- Number of native speakers: Around 1.5 million in Latvia, plus approximately 100,000 speakers abroad.
- Language family: Indo-European, specifically the Baltic branch.
- Closest living relative:
- Writing system: The Latin alphabet with additional diacritics.
- Grammar: Latvian has grammatical gender, seven noun cases, and relatively flexible word order.
→Sign Up Now: Free Trial Latvian Lesson With a Native Teacher!←
Where Is Latvian Spoken?
Latvian is spoken primarily in Latvia, where it is the country’s sole official language. It is used in government, education, media, public life, and everyday communication across the country. It is also recognised as an official language of the European Union.
Latvian is not confined to Latvia itself. Latvian communities abroad have maintained the language in countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, and elsewhere, although Latvia remains overwhelmingly the centre of the Latvian-speaking world.
Within Latvia, language use is not completely uniform. Latvian is dominant across much of the country, while Riga and the eastern region of Latgale have historically had more linguistically mixed populations.
How Many People Speak Latvian?
There are around 1.5 million native speakers of Latvian in Latvia, with approximately another 100,000 native speakers living abroad.
The total number of people able to speak Latvian is higher because many people in Latvia use it as a second language. This is particularly important in a country with sizeable Russian-speaking and other minority communities.
For a language with a relatively small number of native speakers, Latvian therefore has a strong public presence. It is the language of national institutions, education, broadcasting, and much of daily life in Latvia.
What Language Family Does Latvian Belong To?
Latvian belongs to the Indo-European language family, the enormous family that also includes English, Spanish, German, Greek, Hindi, Russian, and many other languages.
More specifically, Latvian belongs to the Baltic branch of Indo-European. Today, only two Baltic languages have survived as national languages: Latvian and Lithuanian. Old Prussian, another Baltic language, became extinct several centuries ago.
Latvian and Lithuanian preserve some very old Indo-European grammatical features, particularly in their noun systems. At the same time, Latvian has developed considerably in its own direction, so calling the two languages “Baltic” does not mean their speakers can simply understand one another.
Is Latvian Similar to Lithuanian?
Yes, Latvian and Lithuanian are closely related. In fact, Lithuanian is Latvian’s closest major living linguistic relative. Both belong to the East Baltic group and share similarities in vocabulary, grammar, and the way words change their endings.
That relationship becomes obvious when you compare certain basic words, but the languages are far from identical. Their pronunciation has developed differently, many everyday words are different, and Latvian has undergone more linguistic changes than Lithuanian in several areas.
As a result, a Latvian speaker does not automatically understand Lithuanian, or vice versa. The relationship is closer to being linguistic cousins than two versions of the same language.
Is Latvian Similar to Russian?
Latvian and Russian are related only at a much more distant level. Both ultimately belong to the Indo-European family and are traditionally grouped within the broader Balto-Slavic branch, but Latvian is a Baltic language, while Russian is a Slavic language.
Their grammar does share some broad features. Both languages use grammatical cases, for example, and both change word endings to express grammatical information. That can make certain aspects of Latvian feel less unfamiliar to somebody who already speaks Russian.
However, Latvian is not a form of Russian, and the two languages are not mutually intelligible. Latvian also uses the Latin alphabet rather than Cyrillic.
Russian has nevertheless had an important historical presence in Latvia, particularly during the Soviet period, when Russification strongly affected public language use. That history helps explain why questions about Latvian and Russian in Latvia are not purely linguistic; language also carries considerable cultural and national significance.
What Alphabet Does Latvian Use?
Latvian uses the Latin alphabet, so English speakers already have a useful head start. The modern alphabet has 33 letters, including the familiar A, B, C and D alongside letters with macrons, carons and commas that represent sounds English does not mark in the same way. The letters q, w, x, and y are not part of the standard Latvian alphabet.
One of the nicest things about Latvian spelling is its consistency. The modern orthography was designed to represent pronunciation quite closely, so once you learn what the letters mean, reading unfamiliar words becomes far less mysterious than it often is in English.
Which Letters and Special Characters Are Used in Latvian?
The standard Latvian alphabet is:
A, Ā, B, C, Č, D, E, Ē, F, G, Ģ, H, I, Ī, J, K, Ķ, L, Ļ, M, N, Ņ, O, P, R, S, Š, T, U, Ū, V, Z, Ž
For beginners, the special letters are the ones worth getting comfortable with first:
- ā — a long a You can see it in māja [house].
- ē — a long e sound, as in mēness [moon].
- ī — a long i sound, as in rīts [morning].
- ū — a long u sound, as in ūdens [water].
These macrons matter. They indicate vowel length, so a and ā, for example, are genuinely different sounds rather than two decorative spellings of the same vowel.
The caron changes consonant sounds:
- č — roughly like ch in church. Example: četri [four].
- š — like sh in shop. Example: šodien [today].
- ž — similar to the sound in measure. Example: žurnāls [magazine].
Then there are four palatalised consonants:
- ģ — as in ģimene [family].
- ķ — as in ķermenis [body].
- ļ — as in ļoti [very].
- ņ — as in ņemt [to take].
The exact articulation of ģ, ķ, ļ, and ņ can take some practice because English does not have direct equivalents for all of them. The good news is that Latvian spelling tells you explicitly when these sounds occur.
What Does Latvian Sound Like?
Latvian has a crisp, rhythmic sound, and two features stand out quickly when you begin listening to it: first-syllable stress and vowel length.
In standard Latvian, stress usually falls on the first syllable of the word. That gives the language a fairly recognisable rhythm once your ear adjusts to it. There are exceptions, but the pattern is regular enough to be genuinely useful for beginners.
Long vowels also make a real difference. The macron in words such as māja [house] or rīts [morning] tells you to hold the vowel longer. Ignoring those marks may not always stop someone understanding you, but it can make your pronunciation sound noticeably less natural.
Latvian also uses diphthongs such as ai, au, ei, ie, and ui, as well as consonant combinations such as dz and dž.
For English speakers, the encouraging part is that Latvian rarely plays the kind of spelling tricks English does. Once you have learnt the alphabet and the main sound rules, you can usually look at a new word and make a sensible attempt at saying it.
Is Latvian Grammar Difficult for English Speakers to Learn?
Latvian grammar asks English speakers to pay attention to things English largely handles through word order and prepositions. Latvian nouns and adjectives change their endings, verbs conjugate, and nouns belong to one of two grammatical genders: masculine or feminine.
There are also seven grammatical cases, which is often the part that looks most intimidating to beginners. But Latvian is highly patterned. Once you begin recognising the endings, the system becomes much more logical than a page of declension tables might suggest.
There are some welcome simplifications too. Latvian has no articles equivalent to English a, an, or the. Its basic sentence order is subject–verb–object, although the case system allows word order to be more flexible than in English.
So the difficulty is less about memorising endless exceptions and more about learning to notice what endings are telling you.
How Do Latvian Nouns and Cases Work?
Latvian has seven cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative, and vocative. Nouns, adjectives and some participles change form depending on the case being used.
A simple noun such as draugs [friend] helps show what cases actually do in sentences:
- Nominative — the subject:
Draugs nāk. — The friend is coming.
Here, draugs is the person performing the action. - Genitive — possession or “of”:
Tā ir drauga grāmata. — That is the friend’s book.
Drauga shows whose book it is. - Dative — the recipient:
Es dodu draugam grāmatu. — I give the friend a book.
Draugam identifies the person receiving something. - Accusative — the direct object:
Es redzu draugu. — I see the friend.
Draugu is the person directly affected by the verb. - Instrumental — accompaniment or means:
Es eju ar draugu. — I am going with a friend.
The instrumental commonly appears with ar [with]. - Locative — location:
Es esmu Rīgā. — I am in Riga.
The ending in Rīgā expresses the idea of being in that place. - Vocative — direct address:
Draug, nāc šurp! — Friend, come here!
Draug is used because the speaker is addressing the person directly.
This is why cases are better understood through sentences than as seven abstract labels. Instead of learning that draugs has a list of different endings for no obvious reason, you begin to see that each form tells you something about the noun’s role.
That shift is an important one for English speakers. In English, we rely heavily on word order and words such as to, of, with, and in. Latvian can express much of that information through the endings themselves, which is what gives the language both its flexibility and its distinctive grammatical structure.
How to Learn Latvian from Scratch
Starting Latvian from scratch is much easier when you resist the temptation to learn everything at once. The language has a rich case system and unfamiliar sounds, but beginners do not need to master all of that before they can start communicating. A better route is to build pronunciation, useful vocabulary, and grammar together, always through language you can imagine yourself actually using.
Are you learning Latvian or planning to start learning soon? Try these strategies to learn faster:
Start with Pronunciation and Everyday Vocabulary
Begin with the Latvian sound system, especially long vowels and letters such as š, ž, č, ģ, ķ, ļ, and ņ. Because Latvian spelling is relatively consistent, time spent on pronunciation early on quickly improves both your reading and listening.
At the same time, build a small core of everyday vocabulary rather than memorising long thematic lists. Useful first words and phrases include labdien [hello / good day], paldies [thank you], lūdzu [please / you’re welcome], jā [yes], and nē [no].
It also helps to learn vocabulary inside short phrases. Instead of memorising ūdens [water] in isolation, for example, learn how you might actually ask for water. This gives you pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentence structure at the same time.
Build Latvian Grammar Through Useful Sentences
Latvian grammar makes much more sense when you see it working in complete sentences. The seven cases can look intimidating in a chart, but their purpose becomes clearer when you compare forms such as draugs [friend], draugam [to the friend], and draugu [the friend as an object].
Rather than trying to memorise an entire declension table on day one, learn patterns through sentences you are likely to reuse. A sentence such as Es dzīvoju Rīgā [I live in Riga] introduces the locative case naturally, while Es redzu draugu [I see a friend] shows the accusative in action.
As your vocabulary grows, you can substitute new words into patterns you already understand. That makes grammar something you actively use rather than a set of rules you have to learn before you are “allowed” to speak.
Learn Latvian with a Native Teacher
Latvian is less commonly taught internationally than languages such as French, Spanish, or German, which can make finding suitable classes more difficult. This is one area where individual teaching can make a real difference.
Language Trainers offers one-to-one, face-to-face Latvian lessons, as well as live online courses, with lessons built around the learner’s current level and reasons for studying. Working directly with a native-speaking teacher gives you the chance to hear natural pronunciation, practise conversations aloud, and ask about the small differences in tone and usage that textbooks cannot always make obvious.
It also keeps the learning experience personal. Apps can help you review vocabulary and digital tools can explain grammar, but a language ultimately exists between people. Learning Latvian with a native teacher gives you someone who can listen to how you speak, notice where you are struggling, adapt the lesson, and help you use Latvian in situations that matter to you.
For Laura Miller in New York, that balance between structure and real communication has been a key part of her 35-hour online Latvian course with Gunda:
“I am quite happy with my Latvian lessons with Gunda as she is such a great teacher! We cover all of the components including the grammar, vocabulary and speaking.”
Her experience reflects the value of working with a teacher who can connect the different parts of the language rather than treating grammar, vocabulary, and speaking as separate skills. That kind of personalised progression is especially useful in Latvian, where understanding patterns is important, but so is having regular opportunities to use them in conversation.
If you are starting Latvian from scratch, contact Language Trainers and tell us about your goals, your current level, and how you hope to use the language. We’ll use that information to find the teacher best suited to you and build your course around what you actually want to achieve.
→Sign Up Now: Free Trial Latvian Lesson With a Native Teacher!←
Frequently Asked Questions About Learning Latvian
1. How Long Does It Take to Learn Latvian?
For an English speaker, Latvian is considered a relatively difficult language to learn. The U.S. Foreign Service Institute places Latvian in Category III, its group of “hard languages” with significant linguistic or cultural differences from English. Reaching professional working proficiency is estimated to require around 1,100 class hours, or approximately 44 weeks of intensive full-time study. That figure should be treated as a benchmark rather than a countdown: FSI learners study in a highly intensive environment, so someone taking a few lessons per week will naturally need longer. Your previous language experience, consistency, exposure to Latvian outside lessons, and how often you actually speak it will all affect the timeline.
2. Is Latvian Hard to Learn for English Speakers?
Latvian can be challenging for English speakers mainly because its grammar works very differently from English. It has seven grammatical cases, masculine and feminine nouns, adjective agreement, and a much richer system of word endings, so learners need to become comfortable noticing grammatical information that English often expresses through word order or prepositions. Pronunciation also introduces long vowels and consonants such as ģ, ķ, ļ, and ņ. On the positive side, Latvian uses the Latin alphabet and has fairly consistent spelling, so once you understand the sound system, reading unfamiliar words becomes much more predictable. Its Category III classification reflects that mix: there is a substantial learning curve, but it is not in the FSI’s highest-difficulty group.
3. Can I Learn Latvian on My Own?
You can certainly begin Latvian independently, especially by learning the alphabet, pronunciation rules, greetings, everyday vocabulary, and common sentence patterns. The difficulty tends to increase when you reach cases, verb forms, and natural spoken usage, because simply knowing a rule does not always tell you which form a Latvian speaker would choose in a real conversation. Self-study works best when it includes plenty of listening and speaking rather than relying entirely on vocabulary apps or grammar exercises. Regular feedback from a teacher can be particularly valuable for pronunciation and grammatical endings, while conversations with native speakers help turn passive knowledge into language you can actually use spontaneously.
4. What Is the Best Way to Start Learning Latvian?
Start with pronunciation and a small core of language that you can use immediately rather than trying to memorise the entire grammar system first. Learn how Latvian letters and long vowels sound, then build useful expressions such as labdien [hello / good day], paldies [thank you], and lūdzu [please / you’re welcome]. From there, introduce grammar through complete sentences so that cases and changing endings have a clear purpose. For example, learning Es dzīvoju Rīgā [I live in Riga] teaches you a useful sentence while also showing the locative case in context. A combination of structured lessons, regular listening, vocabulary review, and frequent speaking practice will usually be much more effective than treating pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary as completely separate subjects.
5. Is Latvian More Similar to Lithuanian or Russian?
Latvian is much more closely related to Lithuanian than to Russian. Latvian and Lithuanian are both Baltic languages and are each other’s closest major living relatives, although they are not mutually intelligible. Russian belongs to the Slavic branch of the Indo-European family, so its relationship with Latvian is much more distant. Latvian and Russian do share some grammatical features, such as case systems and changing word endings, but Latvian uses the Latin alphabet and has its own vocabulary, sound system, and grammatical development.
