1) Estonian dominates the visual aspect. There is very little Cyrillic to be seen. Misguided high commissioners and Russian officials take note: this has nothing to do with the stipulations of the Language Act, as nothing forbids parallel Russian or English or Esperanto text on a billboard, as long as it is also in Estonian.***
Even public safety messages ("buckle up") are in Estonian.
The pic below is an exception -- a new ad by an advocacy group that is quite effective in pointing up that cannabis can be psychologically addictive. Of course, the message is universally clear -- don't use fish hooks as roach clips -- but is the wordplay lost in the Russian? ****
I walked around the city for an hour and a half and I counted only three (3) signs that had more Russian than Estonian. One was a practically handwritten sign in the "old town" that said Repairs. There was a blackboard advertising the day's special at Salvadore, an swanky restaurant. And a mom and pop store had some decal text on the window that could have been there since the Soviet era. And most ads were only in Estonian. Even Rimi supermarket price tags, special offers, in-store newsletters, same deal. Same at Selver..
2) Audio, on the other hand, is all in Russian -- TV channels (usually a TV is providing background sound while you eat). Only three Estonian channels and maybe one Finnish station. Music -- usually a "Gypsy stomp" (think flamenco with a disco beat -- minor descending bass line to the dominant). And of course everyone speaks Russian assuming it is understood.
**
I don't know if this split is fair or why it is so clean, but apparently it works. I mean, no advertiser is going to spend $$$ on Estonian text about campaign offers and casino specials no one can read, right?
There are some possibilities, none of which really fit perfectly a) big corporate giants like Rimi have just one strategy for Estonia and don't care, people need to buy food one way or another b) local Russians read and orient in written Estonian perfectly well, even though spoken language may be lagging c) advertising agencies and companies think in error that the language law is stiffer than it is and that advertisements can only be in Estonian... d) local Russophones get their consumer information from audio channels...
(I'm OK with the split, so I have been less militant about speaking Estonian than in the past. I do usually favour Estonian, then add in a lower tone of voice, halting Russian. A little like the norm for local government signs in majority Russophone towns where you have the Estonian and then the Russian in a smaller text size. :))
*** Section 18 says "Foreign languages shall be used for forwarding information to consumers of goods and services and in work-related communication pursuant to the procedure established by the Government of the Republic" and the procedure is Regulation No. 32 from 1996 --
****I didn't see any signs of drug addiction or AIDS, but I wasn't really looking
3 comments:
How has the communication been with people outside of the hotels/spas/restaurants? When I was there in 2003 there was a young waitress in a restaurant downtown that spoke no Estonian or English and in a small retail mall several cashiers/counter people spoke no Estonian or English.
What surprised me most was that they were all young people. I expected the older folks not to speak anything else, but the younger ones I suppose I thought would know at least the basic phrases and key words in Estonian (maybe they did and were shy about using it?). Perhaps I was even more surprised they didn't know (or were unwilling to speak) any English at all.
Blank stares when I asked "Kas seal elatakse" about a Kreenholm building that looked like it could be loftspace loft. Polite but demonstrative when I asked "Tam zhivyot". -- "Nyet, rabotayut!.
Numbers seem to be problematic with some cashiers at supermarkets but I'm not sure.
Restaurants do not have good Estonian-speakers. They seem to be a bastion of umbkeelsus. People other than the front lines at spas and hotels also have poor Estonian.
1st paragraph -- I.e., "Do people live there?" Answer: "No, no, people work there!"
English tends to be "I speak small English" -- bad, but just enough for basics.
On the basis of very short stays, I have to say the supermarket girl contingent speak better English here than in downtown Milan.
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