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EESTI ELU reedel, 27. novembril 2020 — Friday, November 27, 2020
Nr. 47
The Estonian Central Council in Canada awards Latvia’s Ambassador to Canada, Kārlis Eihenbaums with Award of Merit
English-language supplement to the Estonian weekly “EESTI ELU” Tartu College Publications Founding Chairman: Elmar Tampõld Editor: Laas Leivat 3 Madison Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 2S2 T: 416-733-4550 • F: 416-733-0944 • E-mail: editor@eestielu.ca Digital: www.eestielu.ca
Internet and the survival of the Estonian language at home and abroad The Estonian language is an intrinsic part of what Esto nians are. Its longevity has been protected by a natural survival instinct helping Estonians withstand the with ering pressures of foreign regimes. With this backdrop, the Estonian Institute spon sored the second annual Worldwide Estonian Lan guage Week in September, offering a multi-faceted pro gram of activities both for Estonian speakers and others, at home and abroad. While it’s difficult to gauge the success of this year’s Language Week – practically all public activities were enjoined virtually – the Week will surely evolve into an institution and find its place on the annual calendar of major events for Estonians worldwide. Many readers probably find it strange that the following commentary is in English, after all it’s about the Estonian lan guage. But, reality check. It fits the language landscape for the individuals abroad who claim to be of Estonian heritage. In 2009 I wrote that of the 6000 to 7000 languages current ly in use worldwide, only some 200 will be left by the year 3000. Some 80% of the world’s languages will be doomed. Estonia will enjoy longevity due to its location for its base of speakers, its history and traditions. And a main reason for its survival is the language’s international recognition as a state language. Only around 200 languages in the world enjoy this status. The Estonian language’s daily use, its presence on the internet, the publication of both official, governmental material and non-official, general interest material in Estonian, currently guarantee its survival. Yes in 2009 I suggested that the Estonian language is bound to survive in spite of English being used more as the lan guage of advertising and label ling, with the market-based economy requiring the increas ing use of English in the work place. These are just some of the many negative factors that influence the future of Estonian
usage. In 2013 I wrote that UNESCO’s Red Book on En dangered Languages considered Estonian to be a stable European language such as English, French, Dutch, etc, while languages such as Cor sican, Galician, Byelo russian were potentially threatened with extinction. Byelorussian, a historic, vital language of a distinct nationality suffered from a deliberate Soviet policy of Russification. [Sidebar: Indrek Park, a scholar at Indiana University, studying North American in digenous languages, says that of the 300 mother tongues that existed some few hundred years ago, only 100 remain, many of which will become endangered.] In contrast, Estonians have had cultural and linguistic stay ing power, surviving many in cursions over centuries – lin guistically, politically, militarily and culturally. In the Baltic states, linguists have observed that bilingualism is the norm, with trilingualism becoming increasingly the new standard. But while citizens of the three countries enthusiasti cally promote multilingualism, they still keep their mother tongues closest to their hearts. Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian are intimately tied to their song festivals, their folk music, their poetry. It’s an in trinsic part of who they are. But English is becoming the lingua franca of the workplace in describing the technical as pects of industry, the language of the executives, the sales pitch, professional discourse, etc. It’s ironic that in the cyber world especially, in the environ ment in which Estonians have an international reputation as a suitable comfort zone, it’s Eng lish, with 30–50% of the online content, that is the top choice for users. The other prominent languages like Russian, Spa nish, Chinese and Arabic also have their fair share. It’s said that these languages dominate the digital universe and have become the “default domains” for talk on business, software and technology.
Marcus Kolga, Inara Eihenbauma, Karlis Eihenbaums, Kairi Hemingway, Laas Leivat. The Ambassador also visited the archlves at Tartu College wth Jüri Kivimae Jr. Photo: EKN
November 19, 2020 TORONTO – The Estonian Central Council in Canada awarded Ambassador Extra ordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to Canada H.E. Kārlis Eihen baums, with the Council’s Award of Merit, for his extraordinary contributions to building Latvian relations with the Estonian Canadian community and for advancing Baltic interests in Canada. “The fraternal cooperation between the Baltic communities has never been more produc
Global Estonian Report: November 23–27 ERR, November 2020 Between 165,000 and 200,000 Estonians are estimated to live outside the country right now, making around 15–20 percent of the total number of Estonians. With many com munities being found world wide, both in English-speak ing countries and beyond, ERR News, in conjunction with the Integration Foun dation (Integratsiooni Sihta su tus), is launching a weekly Global Estonian Report, which will give a weekly win
Lithuanian, Latvian and Esto nian have a tough time compet ing in discussions on those topics and have been relegated to the sidelines as the languages for personal lives. According to research, Baltic languages are not the only Euro pean mother tongues slated for digital extinction. Fully 21 Euro pean languages are threatened because of the effect of tech nology on language. (To be continued) LAAS LEIVAT
tive, and it is only enhanced when our diplomats, like Ambassador Eihenbaums, ac tively support and participate in it,” said EKN president Kairi Taul Hemingway. Ambassador Eihenbaums has been a key partner and friend to the Estonian community in Canada over the past years. He has supported the Estonian Central Council’s efforts to raise awareness of the tragic history we share with our Latvian Canadian brothers and sisters. “Ambassador Eihenbaums has stood with us on the front lines to defend our history against attacks both from ma lign foreign actors and domestic proxies, who seek to deny and glorify the crimes of the Soviet Union in Canada,” said former
EKN and current Central and Eastern European Council in Canada president Marcus Kolga. “At no other point, since the end of the Cold War, has there been a greater need for solidari ty and cooperation between the Baltic communities and their embassies,” said EKN Vice President Laas Leivat, “we thank Ambassador Eihenbaums for being a great friend to the Estonian community in Canada and for his efforts to strengthen Canada’s relationship with the Baltic nations and community here in Canada.” The Estonian Central Coun cil in Canada is the represen tative organization for all Canadians of Estonian heritage, and is elected every four years in national elections.
dow into Estonian communi ties and culture from around the globe. The weekly feature will in clude Estonian events in various locations worldwide, news and other tidbits of interest.
tions in Finland (EOVS) will represent societies and associa tions registered in Finland and will act as a central organiza tion, to coordinate their efforts. There are an estimated 70,000 Estonians living in Finland, rep resenting the largest Estonian diaspora community in the world.
Upcoming Events: New webinar series, “I, Estonian” launches this weekend (November 28, online) The Association of Estonian Cultural Societies (EKSÜ) is launching a new webinar series, “I, Estonian”. The aim of the series is to open Estonian culture to the world through a series of online conversations, lectures, and concerts The first speaker will be Sirle Sööt, first female chairman of the Swedish Estonian Association and for mer head of ESTO 2019, the Global Estonian Cultural Festi val. Network of Estonian organizations established in Finland An umbrella organization has been created to promote the interests of Estonians in Finland and to preserve the Estonian language, identity, culture in Estonia’s northern neighbor, while helping to maintain close contacts with Estonia itself. The Network of Estonian Organiza
Vabamu and ETV2 launch initiative to collect films showcasing the lives of Estonian communities abroad Take part in the initiative to collect films showcasing the lives of Estonian communities abroad. The initiative takes place in cooperation with ERR’s TV channel ETV2, and its purpose is to produce new episodes of the show 8 mm ELU (LIFE on 8 mm) and update the Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom col lection with films depicting the lives of Estonian communities abroad. Foreign Ministry launches a survey for Estonians living abroad The Estonian foreign minis try invites all Estonians living abroad to take part in a survey aimed at collecting feedback on the engagement of the expat (Continued on page 11)
