Life in Estonia in the English Language

Abstract

Over the last few years, Estonia has been attracting a growing number of immigrants and has successfully marketed itself as a good place to travel, study, and work, through a variety of initiatives. Few immigrants come to Estonia already speaking Estonian, and among recent arrivals, many do not speak Russian either. Instead these immigrants may make do with English, which is widely spoken in Estonia, until they learn Estonian, if they ever do. However, until recently, Estonia has paid very little attention to non-Russian speaking immigrants. Recently there have been attempts to attract highly skilled workers to Estonia and a part of that involves services in English and opportunities for immigrants to learn Estonian. This paper will look at the situation for immigrants to Estonia who do not speak Estonian or Russian but instead manage life in Estonia in English. This paper discusses their success at managing life in Estonia in English, their social networks and attitudes towards Estonia and Estonians. Overall the people interviewed found that it was quite possible to live in Estonia without knowing Estonian. The majority of individuals surveyed found that they could conduct all of their necessary daily activities in Estonia in English with little difficulty. They found most of the information they needed about important topics in English as well. Most of them had a social network that included some Estonians, who could additionally be relied on to help with confusing language situations. In general, they had positive opinions of Estonia and Estonians and were interested in learning Estonian.