President Kaljulaid in New York
President Kersti Kaljulaid was on a working visit to New York on April 6-8, where she opened the Louis Kahn exhibition at the UN headquarters, spoke at a support event of the Arvo Pärt Center and met representatives of Arab countries and French-speaking African countries to discuss Estonia’s candidacy for the UN Security Council.
ESTO 2019 Opening Event in the Center of Helsinki
For the first time in the history of ESTO festivals, the 12th global Estonian cultural festival will begin in Finland – in Helsinki, where Finnish-Estonians are organizing the open events. The service at the Toomkirik (Dome Church) will be followed by a large public concert “Bridge of the Times” in the Senate Square where there will also be a craft fair. The ESTO 2019 opening party will be held on a white ship to Tallinn.
Popular Folk Singer Mari Kalkun to Perform in NYC
On May 14 and 15, popular folk singer Mari Kalkun (born 1986), who has five albums under her belt, will perform at the Scandinavian House and in Brooklyn at the Jalopy Theatre. She is of Võrumaa (SE Estonia) and Kihnu island ancestry and plays a multitude of instruments. Her melodies and soundscapes are greatly inspired by Estonian poetry, nature and the regilaul singing culture.
Global Estonian Language Week with the Speaky App
The Estonian Institute is inviting people the world over to learn and teach Estonian on the week of September 23-29, 2019. The goal is to reach three million people, who learn to say some words or phrases in Estonian, such as numbers, greetings or congratulations. The co-founder of the Speakly language app Ott Ojamets is supporting the project. He has created a unique live method – an innovative way to learn a foreign language in a matter of months.
“Game of Thrones” Language Creator Also Inpired by Estonian
The popular TV series “Game of Thrones” linguist David J. Peterson, had said he was inspired by Russian, Turkish, Estonian, Inuktitut and Swahili languages when creating the new Dothraki and High Valyrian languages for the series. The 8th season begins this week and you can listen to and learn the series’ languages with the help of the Duolingo app.
