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The Lithuanian Language

Lithuanian (lietuviu; kalba), is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian; however, they are not mutually intelligible. It is written in the Roman script.

The Lithuanian language has two dialects: Aukštaic / Aukstaitian, (Highland Lithuanian), Žemaic/Žemaitiu (Samogitian, Lowland Lithuanian). There are significant differences between standard Lithuanian and Samogitian. The modern Samogitian dialect formed in the 13th-16th centuries under the influence of the Curonian language. Lithuanian dialects are closely connected with ethnographical regions of Lithuania.

Dialects are divided into subdialects (patarme.s). Both dialects have 3 subdialects. Samogitian is divided into West, North and South; Aukštaitian into West (Suvalkiec(iai), South (Dzu-kai) and East. Each subdialect is divided into smaller units - speeches (šnektos).

The standard Lithuanian is derived mostly from Western Aukštaitian dialects, including the Eastern dialect of Lithuania Minor. Influence of other dialects is more significant in vocabulary of the standard Lithuanian.

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What customers say about the Pimsleur LITHUANIAN audios:

Great language starter
I really like the pimsleur method. I knew a lot of the languag already, but Pimsleur's helped me to get a good hold of the correct grammar. - Jeremy, USA

Best way to learn to speak!
As with other Pimsleur language courses, this is a great way to pick up the correct pronunciation. Lithuanian is difficult for English speakers, and sounds different than many languages we're used to so these cassettes are even more helpful. It starts with very simple pronunciation, breaking words down into sounds and goes through various phrases and sentences good for travelers. It is all audio, no book really. I'm waiting for them to do a complete course in Lithuanian! -- Patricia Cotter, Minnesota, USA

Pimsleur's Lithuanian I
The Pimsleur learning method is definately a winner for me. Although I had previously studied a little of the language structure, I seem to have raced through the cassettes, and have just started 'unit 9'.
As an Englishman, I find the 'Sir' and 'Ma'am' bit a little tedious though. We don't say this in England, and during the many times that I've been to Lietuva, neither do they. Also, the conversations are conducted with people in the 'formal' manner. Whilst not confusing anyone, it would have been nice if the 'informal' forms were also given a mention, - i.e. as in French, 'vous' and 'tu', it is the same in Lithuanian.
As someone else has already written, it would be better if the speakers would at least spell some of the words they are teaching. This is because many letters are 'palletalised' (softened) in Lithuanian, and so, for example, I can't easily tell if they are saying a 'b' or a 'p' for the word 'lunch' (phonetic - 'piatowta'). -- Phil Cripps, Wiltshire, England