'Approach the language with curiosity, do not question the rules'

Grete Maidla, from @estonianwithgrete, is a private Estonian teacher who created her account two years ago. She was initially hesitant to start sharing her knowledge on social media due to the reputations influencers have.

However, she was motivated to start after complaints from students about the lack of free online resources. "That gave me an idea: maybe I can do something about it and help out in a little way," Maidla said.

Living in Norway during her university years made Maidla want to share Estonian with others. "I think living abroad and learning different languages myself has made me appreciate the language more. It has also opened up other cultures and shown me what is special about Estonia and what interests others about Estonia," she explains.

While many of her followers live and work in Estonia, others come from "all around the world," she says, including Brazil, Canada, and the U.S.

The content for Estonian with Grete is also shaped by her followers' backgrounds and interests. Their questions have helped her understand that sometimes more explanation is necessary and "things are less obvious than they seem."

Maidla says she is constantly thinking of ideas for videos, and inspiration often comes from everyday situations. "After the first few videos were out, they just started flooding in. I had so many ideas, and I wrote them down in my notes. From there, I started taking one idea at a time, writing it into a video, filming it, and then posting it."

"Just the other day I was at a concert with a friend who is learning Estonian. One of the artists used a slang word, and the friend asked me, "What does this slang mean?" I realized that I have not made any content about this word, so I noted it down," she adds.

However, her most popular posts about Estonia are controversial and spark arguments. "I said the sentence: Estonian is pronounced exactly as it is written. Estonians themselves are arguing about it, and foreigners do not see it like that. I highlighted some funny words that look the same but are pronounced differently. People really like that."

Another hit has been her slow-speaking videos and explanation of compound verbs and their different meanings.

However, there are also downsides to teaching through social media. "I need to anticipate what students want to learn, but I have no feedback on social media," Maidla explains. Additionally, learning to work with the algorithm can be tricky. "To have views and people engaging, you need to be super consistent with the algorithm. Maybe I think something is super curious or that students would find it beneficial, but then the algorithm does not like it." 

Maidla advises Estonian learners to approach the language with curiosity and not question the rules. "You do not have a lot of time to think about every single word, and the more you speak, the easier the guesswork eventually becomes. Some things about language learning you [just] have to accept that that is how it is."

'I want to give people hope that you can learn Estonian'

Tiina Pruus, from @flip_estonian, is a private Estonian teacher who started her account two years ago after seeing Italian and Spanish teachers on social media, but nothing about the Estonian language.

She believes it is important to combine humor and education. "I think people like to laugh. It is as simple as that," Pruus says, adding that followers tend to respond well to funny and provocative content.

"I think it is also important to share that side of Estonia and our culture," she adds. "I try to make it educational as well, because people spend so much time on social media. My mission is to turn some of those minutes into educational and useful ones."

Much of her content focuses on everyday situations and giving insights into Estonians' behavior.

"The way that my friends, people in the street, or on the bus say something. Like I am on a bus, and I hear people speaking Estonian, and I hear a word or a slang term that is commonly used that I would not think of myself. Then I start thinking that would be an interesting video or that I could do something with that. I am always thinking about new video ideas and so on."

Some of her most popular videos are about slang terms versus formal Estonian phrases as well as how Estonians communicate with others, for example, "How we think or why Estonians do not say hi to random people."

"It is not just the language I want to teach but also the Estonian culture, because people who want to live here want to be part of it. So, I want to connect those two things," Pruus explains.

Additionally, her own students and travelling abroad exposed her to reverse culture shock and helped her see Estonian quirks and stereotypes in a new light, which she then creates content from.

"My students the other day said, 'Estonians actually do talk a lot, and they gossip a lot.' Oh, really? 'Yes, when they go to sauna.' So, my students give me a lot of ideas," Pruus adds.

While she stresses that consistency is needed when learning Estonian, she also believes Estonians themselves should be more helpful.

"When they [Pruus' students] go out, I try to encourage them: please go out there, try to use Estonian, but then Estonians switch to English. Maybe it is partly because we want to be polite and help them understand, but I would encourage Estonians to help them. We can just help them by replying in Estonian and being patient and not switching [languages] right away."

"One of my goals is to make Estonian approachable," she adds. "I want to give people hope that you can learn Estonian. You do not have to be perfect; no one actually cares if you speak 100 percent correct grammar. It is about communication. It is about respect. I do not want to overwhelm the students."

Pruus thinks there is little difference between teaching in a classroom or on social media. The key thing is keeping your students' attention.

Speaking about her experience overall, she says: "I really like creating content that is both educational and entertaining. I finally feel like I am making an impact and helping people. So that has been the most rewarding, and I can harness my creativity."

'Anything can be interesting if it is well done'

Anastasiia Polubotko, from @saan_targaks, came to Estonia from Moscow 10 years ago to study a bachelor's degree at the Academy of Music and Theater. She now works with children in Lasnamäe High School.

She created her account seven years ago to help teach Estonian to Russian speakers, including Ukrainians and Belarusians. "I noticed that many people living in Estonia do not speak the language and do not see the need or lack the support to learn it," she said.  "The blog seems exciting and useful to people; I have just over 20,000 followers right now and constantly receive comments encouraging me to keep going. I can see that it is beneficial."

Her ideas for Estonian education videos come from her students repeating problematic topics or words: "Many Russian speakers struggle with the word "korvpall" (basketball). They all say "kõrvpall" because "kõrv" (ear) and "korv" (basket) are basic words learned at the same time." 

When learning Estonian, the teacher advises students not to try and learn everything at once but focus on phrases connected to their own life and work.

Polubotko finds that her followers particularly enjoy posts about colloquial and everyday expressions: "For example, how to order coffee, how to explain what hurts when you're at the pharmacy or the doctor's, or how to tell a teacher you've come to pick up your child. These are the kinds of things you want to use in daily life but can't seem to find the right phrase."

She also believes no topic is too boring to cover as long as something is well shot with good music and high-quality visuals. "Ultimately, anything can be interesting if it is well done."

Polubotko believes students also need to immerse themselves in the culture to feel truly at home. "You understand people better when you know the culture, and understanding Estonians makes life easier for you, too. You feel at home, and you are no longer a tourist," she says.

Educational content can bring students to the physical classroom, she says, where they can be less distracted and more focused: "You do not go to Instagram or Facebook to learn; you go there for entertainment."

Polubotko's experiences as a content creator have been largely positive.

"People are very supportive of me," she says. "I might get a couple of offensive comments a month, but I do not pay much attention to them. My Instagram community is very supportive and friendly. I love my work, and I can see that my followers enjoy it too."

'Estonian is such a small language that every learner feels special'

Kaire Savi, who works in tourism, was inspired to set up her account @everything_estonian after noticing how many people from abroad were interested in learning about the differences between cultures and languages. 

"I started following several language-learning accounts on Instagram, and I liked how easy it was to pick up new words and little cultural insights while scrolling. At one point, I found myself thinking that it would be so nice if something like this existed for Estonian," she tells ERR News.

"In a way, my page is just an extension of those conversations. It is a way of sharing not only the language itself, but also the stories, humour and culture that come with it. I prepared a few posts to see how it felt, and somehow the ideas just kept coming. More than three years later, my Notes app is still full of words and expressions waiting for their turn," she adds.

Savi posts whenever and on whatever topic speaks to her with the help of Sõnaveeb, articles, and online discussions. "When I actually write the post, I mostly try to explain it in the way that feels clearest and most relatable to me. My goal is not to write a dictionary definition; it is to make the meaning practical and easy to understand," she explained.

Her cultural posts on Song and Dance Celebration traditions and Estonian birthdays also seem to spark a lot of curiosity among foreigners. 

She initially made the account to explain Estonian to followers from around the world – however, half of her followers turned out to be Estonian. "I think that has influenced the way I create content. I try to make it accessible for someone who knows nothing about Estonia, while still making it interesting and relatable for Estonians." 

"Some people who have moved abroad say the posts remind them of home. Others tell me they have finally found a way to explain an Estonian word or expression to their friends or partners abroad. And sometimes even people living in Estonia write to say they had never stopped to think about a certain expression before," Savi added.

After finishing high school and living in England for a year, she started noticing details about Estonian culture she would have otherwise missed.

"That is when you start noticing all the little things – the habits, the expressions and the unwritten rules that locals do not even think about. Sometimes you do not realise what is special about your own culture until you see it from the outside. Looking back, I think that has had a big influence on the way I create content today. I love noticing those everyday things that Estonians hardly think about anymore. Those are usually the ideas that end up becoming posts."

However, her page is not supposed to replace classroom language lessons. "I do not really focus on grammar. Instead, I share the words, expressions, and little cultural quirks I find interesting. If someone comes across one of my posts and ends up wanting to learn more Estonian, then I feel the page has done exactly what it was supposed to do," Savi explains.

In her opinion, grammar is not the hardest thing to learn about Estonian, but getting to know Estonians themselves: "We can seem reserved or even a little unfriendly at first, but that is usually not the case. We simply express ourselves a little differently. That is one of the reasons I think learning the language and learning about the culture go hand in hand."

"My biggest piece of advice is to find ways to bring Estonian into your everyday life. But do not let Estonian exist only in your lessons or textbooks. The more it becomes part of your everyday life, the more naturally it will start to stick."

"I think I can speak for many Estonians when I say it genuinely makes us happy to see people choosing to learn our language. It is such a small language that every new learner feels special."

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