"Lithuanians have been choosing the most beautiful word in their language for many years, and the word "Thank you" has won several times. We thought it would be interesting to find out – what is the most beautiful word for foreigners living in our country? After all, every word is new and untamed to a language learner. This way, we want not only to involve foreigners even more in learning the language, but also to show the public how many foreigners living in our country love the Lithuanian language and are willing to learn it", says Edita Urbanovič, "MiCenter" project manager.
The election of the most beautiful Lithuanian word for foreigners will take place in two rounds. During the first round – from 24th of September to 1st of October – foreigners living in the country are invited to suggest their most beautiful Lithuanian words. They can do so by filling in this form. The 10 most frequently repeated words will go to the second, final round. During this round, foreigners will be able to vote for their favorite in the list of most beautiful words "finalists". The most beautiful word in Lithuanian language for foreigners will be announced on 9th of October.
Every day, "MiCenter" project provides a one-stop principle consultation and services to foreigners coming to Lithuania from all over the world. This year, the center also started to offer Lithuanian language courses for refugees from Ukraine, which has quickly become one of the most popular services.
"Currently, over 220,000 foreigners are living in Lithuania, which is about 8% of the country’s population. We are noticing that the newcomers are actively learning Lithuanian themselves. Seeing the interest and need, we are collecting information about Lithuanian language learning opportunities for foreigners and will share it on the soon-to-launch website. Every week, the Lithuanian language club "Let’s Learn Lithuanian", which is an initiative of foreigners, meets at the center. It all started with a small group, but now there are so many people wanting to learn that not all of them get a chair. There are many more examples of this, clubs and groups are being set up in other cities as well," says E. Urbanovič.
Bünyamin Elçin from Turkey, who has been living in Lithuania for only 2.5 years and already speaks excellent Lithuanian, when asked what encouraged him to form the fast growing "Let’s Learn Lithuanian" club, replies: "I see so many big meaningless things around me, so by inviting people to learn Lithuanian together I wanted to create something small but meaningful." After work, the foreigners gathered to play board games, do listening exercises, and practice by talking to the Lithuanians who joined the initiative.
According to E. Urbanovič, traditionally we think that the Lithuanian language is very complicated, but from foreigners we often hear that it is not only complicated but also very beautiful.
"We really hope to see a big engagement in the most beautiful word election," says E. Urbanovič. To suggest the most beautiful words in the Lithuanian language, foreigners living in the country can do by filling in this form.