Episode description

Dear students and Lithuanian language enthusiasts, It is my great pleasure to introduce you to a historian, polyglot, musician, and Lithuanian/Latvian content creator, Valerijus Rynkovičius.

We had a blast talking about Vilnius and Lithuanian history, starting somewhere in the 13th century and moving onwards to the present day. We also discussed many issues regarding ethnicities and ethnic borders, historical disputes with neighboring countries, and how these disputes were resolved.

Because Valerijus is already fluent in Latvian, we talked about the Latvian language and provided advice for those who wish to learn it. Valerijus spoke at length about his experience learning the language, the Latvian mentality, perspective, and much more. Check out Valerijus channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@LatvijaLietuva Also, if you want to download the episode’s transcript, you can do so on my Contribee. There, you will find all the podcast transcripts, exclusive episodes, and other relevant learning material. 🐝 My Contribee: https://contribee.com/lithuanianwithpaulius For better comprehension, don't forget to turn on the subtitles and install Language Reactor to get a second line of subtitles in your native language.

Timeline:

00:00 - Intro02:24 - Who is Valerijus?

05:46 - The complexity of Vilnius and questions of self-identity

13:15 - How does studying history change one's views?

21:10 - What is ethnography?

25:38 - The Belarusian question

27:53 - Varied historical narratives & tensions

30:45 - How were Lithuanian/Latvian borders established?

34:25 - Lithuanian and Latvian languages comparison 39:54 - Valerijus' advice for Latvian learners

44:16 - Latvian pronunciation and learning difficulties

49:27 - Is Russian still spoken a lot in Latvia?51:41 - Topics for future podcasts Gero klausymo! 🎓