Just how similar are the Baltic States to one another?  Not as much as one might think.
The Baltic States are Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.  For starters all three speak different languages and they can’t understand each other.  The Latvian and Lithuanian languages were the same language many hundreds of years ago, but not today.  The Estonian language is completely different;  it’s related to the language of Finland or Finnish.
The Estonians and Latvians are mostly Protestant Christians but the Lithuanians are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic.  The Lithuanian people are also considered to be the warmest and friendliest people of the three nation region.
And by the way, any time somebody says Lithuania is a small country…just gently remind them it’s not that small, it is, after all, larger than Switzerland.
For quite a few lessons to come, we’re going to be going through all the ins and outs of the genitive case or kilmininkas.  After we finish this series of episodes you should be a real pro at this declension.
In theory anyway.
As we touched on in episode 0022, when we use the word “from" or iš we need to use kilmininkas.
So, let’s take the word “England" or Anglija.  This is the nominative case or vardininkas.  The word for England in kilmininkas is Anglijos.
If we say “from England" we say iš Anglijos.  Remember that dictionaries use vardininkas or the nominative case.  So, you will find Anglija in a dictionary but you won’t find Anglijos.
Lithuanian nouns are either masculine or feminine.  In the nominative, feminine nouns mostly end in either –a or –ė.
Feminine nouns that end in –a change to –os.
Feminine nouns that end in –ė change to –ės.
We also use the genitive case or kilmininkas when we talk about possession, such as, Raminta’s book, Sandra’s name, or Lithuania’s capital.  You can also look at it as the book of Raminta, the name of Sandra or the capital of Lithuania.
For today’s lesson we’ll only focus on feminine nouns.
So, let’s start off with Raminta’s book.  The word for book is knyga.
The –a at the end of Raminta changes to –os.  So, Raminta’s book translates as Ramintos knyga.
Please repeat and say the Lithuanian – Out Loud… Prašom pakartoti…

Raminta’s book                                 Ramintos knyga
Sandra’s book                                   Sandros knyga
Austėja’s book                                  Austėjos knyga
Kristina’s book                                  Kristinos knyga

Great, now let’s do some nouns that end in –ė.
Here are some female names in Lithuanian in kilmininkas.
Please repeat… Prašom pakartoti…

Eglė changes to Eglės
Agnė changes to Agnės
Dovilė changes to Dovilės
Ramunė changes to Ramunės

So, please repeat…

Eglė’s book                                       Eglės knyga
Agnė’s book                                      Agnės knyga
Dovilė’s book                                    Dovilės knyga
Ramunė’s book                                 Ramunės knyga

Alright, study hard because on the next lesson we’ll dig even deeper into kilmininkas and it’ll be a more challenging lesson. To see Raminta's article in the newspaper Amerikos Lietuvis, go here: http://www.alietuvis.com/391/vakaru_lt.html

According to Wikipedia, in the ancient Lithuanian religion, Perkūnas is the Lithuanian God of thunder, the God of the sky, the Lord of rain, mountains, oak trees and storms.  Quite a powerful god indeed.
In songs about a “heavenly wedding" Saulė (the Sun) cheats on Perkūnas with Mėnulis (the Moon); Perkūnas splits Mėnulis in half with a sword.
According to another, more popular, version, Mėnulis cheats on the Sun with Aušrinė (the morning star) just after the wedding, and Perkūnas punishes it. However, Mėnulis does not learn and repeats the adultery and is punished again every month. Other explanations say it is why the Sun shines during the day and the Moon at night. Though divorced, both want to see their daughter Žemyna (the Earth).
In other songs Perkūnas, on the way to the wedding of Aušra (dawn; the daughter of the Sun), strikes a golden oak, most likely in order to expel evil spirits, Velnias or snakes, that usually hide below the roots of an oak. The oak is a tree of the thunder god in the Lithuanian tradition.
Don’t you just love Lithuanian culture?
This week we’re doing a lesson we hadn’t planned to do, but since we have so many listeners from unexpected places, we’ll customize this lesson for our students who’re listening in Australia, Egypt, The Netherlands, Ireland, Botswana and Brazil.
Now, we’ve already learned how to say, for example, I’m Lithuanian or I’m English.  Let’s do our new nationalities…

First, let’s go over the vardininkas or nominative declension of the country’s names in Lithuanian.

Prašom pakartoti…

Egiptas                                    Egypt
Australija                                 Australia
Nyderlandai                             Netherlands
Airija                                       Ireland
Botsvana                                 Botswana
Brazilija                                   Brazil

Now, to say, “I’m from…", we use the genitive or kilmininkas.  Prašom pakartoti…

I’m from Egypt                     Aš iš Egipto
I’m from Australia                Aš iš Australijos
I’m from The Netherlands     Aš iš Nyderlandų
I’m from Ireland                  Aš iš Airijos
I’m from Botswana               Aš iš Botsvanos
I’m from Brazil                    Aš iš Brazilijos

Great, now let’s say “I’m Australian" or “I’m Brazilian" from a man and a woman’s perspective…

I’m Egyptian                      Aš Egiptietis
I’m Egyptian                      Aš Egiptietė
I’m Australian                    Aš Australas
I’m Australian                    Aš Australė
I’m a Dutchman                Aš Olandas
I’m a Dutchwoman            Aš Olandė
I’m Irish                           Aš Airis
I’m Irish                           Aš Airė
I’m Botswanan                 Aš Botsvanietis
I’m Botswanan                 Aš Botsvanietė
I’m Brazilian                    Aš Brazilas
I’m Brazilian                    Aš Brazilė

Fantastic, now keep in mind, that later on, it might be easier if, just for fun, you “Lithuanianize" your name.  For example, I use Džiakas when I’m in Lithuania because it’s easier.  If you’re not sure how to make your name into something that makes sense in Lithuanian, just contact us and we can help.

Saulė                            the Sun
Perkūnas                      God of thunder
Mėnulis                         the Moon
Aušrinė                         the Morning Star
Žemyna                        the Earth
Aušra                           Dawn; the daughter of the Sun
Velnias                         God of evil

Have you ever looked at the ten litas or dešimt litų bank note, seen the pilots and the airplane and wondered what it’s all about?  The pilots are Lithuanian national heroes (Steponas Darius and Stasys Girenas).  They were Lithuanian emigrants to the United States and on 15 July 1933 they flew across the Atlantic Ocean covering 6,411 kilometers without landing.  A total of 37 hours, 11 minutes in the air.  This was also the first ever transatlantic air mail consignment in history.
The aircraft was painted bright orange and was named Lituanica, the latin name for Lithuania.
Sadly, two days after a successful Atlantic crossing, the aircraft crashed in Germany killing the two pilots and destroying the aircraft.  Some claim it was shot down by German forces.  The wreckage can still be viewed today at the Vytautas The Great War Museum in Kaunas.

Today we want to get away from grammar just a bit and teach you some common phrases that you should be able to pop out of your mouth when you need them.

Please repeat                                prašom pakartoti
I’m sorry, but I only
understand a little Lithuanian          Atsiprašau bet aš labai mažai suprantu lietuviškai
I’m studying Lithuanian                  Aš mokausi lietuviškai
to study, or to learn                       mokytis

Keep in mind, the sentence, Aš mokausi lietuviškai, can be translated as, I study Lithuanian or I’m studying Lithuanian

Hey Everybody!  We'd love to have everyone join the party at Lithuanian Out Loud.  Check out our newest comment on the blogpage.  Now, don't be shy, we'd be thrilled to hear from you! 

Oho! Approximately every fifth lesson will be a quick response lesson.  We’ll say the word or phrase in English and you say it in Lithuanian  -  Out Loud!  Sorry, no more questions, the exam starts now!

America                             Amerika
England                             Anglija
Lithuania                           Lietuva
Poland                               Lenkija
from                                  iš
I’m from                            aš iš
genitive case                      kilmininkas
I’m from America               Aš iš Amerikos
I’m from England               Aš iš Anglijos
I’m from Lithuania             Aš iš Lietuvos
I’m from Poland                 Aš iš Lenkijos
nice to meet you                 malonu
nice to meet you too           taip pat malonu
three words for “really?"    rimtai?  tikrai?  jo?
city                                    miestas
the room                            kambarys
a restaurant                        restoranas
a man                                vyras
the husband                       vyras
a wife                                žmona
the verb “to be"                 būti
I am                                 aš esu
you are (familiar)               tu esi
he is                                 jis yra
she is                                ji yra
you are (formal)                jūs esate
we are                              mes esame
they are                            jie yra
they are (females)             jos yra
the house                         namas
a name                            vardas
a book                             knyga
and                                  ir
brother                            brolis
sister                               sesuo
I’m American (male)          aš amerikietis
I’m American (female)       aš amerikietė
I’m English (male)             aš anglas
I’m English (female)          aš anglė
I’m Lithuanian (male)        aš lietuvis
I’m Lithuanian (female)     aš lietuvė

In 2003, in front of international reporters, a Lithuanian ex-President said that he was as calm as a Belgian.  This caused quite a stir in Belgium.  This is a common saying in Lithuania but Belgians had no idea another nation thought of them as being calm.  What did they do to deserve this recognition for calmness?  Nobody knows.  By the way, the name Raminta also comes from the root word for “calm" in Lithuanian.  The next time you want to say you’re as cool as a cucumber…just say, “Aš ramus, kaip Belgas."  I’m as calm as a Belgian.

ramus                                   calm

note: in Lithuanian, names of nations are capitalized; nationalities are not.  Also, Lithuanians often drop the verb, "to be" or "būti."  You can say, "Ji yra Dovilė" - "She is Dovilė," or "Jis yra Andrius" - "He is Andrius."  But it's okay to say, "Ji Dovilė" or "Jis Andrius."

America                               Amerika
England                                Anglija
Lithuania                              Lietuva
Poland                                 Lenkija
Italy                                     Italija
Russia                                  Rusija
Japan                                   Japonija
Latvia                                   Latvija
males:
I’m American                       aš amerikietis
I’m English                          aš anglas
I’m Lithuanian                     aš lietuvis
I’m Polish                           aš lenkas
I’m Italian                          aš italas
I’m Russian                        aš rusas
I’m Japanese                      aš japonas
I’m Latvian                         aš latvis
females:
I’m American                      aš amerikietė
I’m English                         aš anglė
I’m Lithuanian                    aš lietuvė
I’m Polish                          aš lenkė
I’m Italian                         aš italė
I’m Russian                       aš rusė
I’m Japanese                     aš japonė
I’m Latvian                        aš latvė

Our friend writes…”There are no words in Lithuanian for boyfriend or girlfriend.  Lithuanians refer only to the words “draugas,” which means a male friend and “draugė,” which means female friend.  But, of course, that doesn’t convey quite what we’re looking for here.

A more appropriate term would be “partner,” “partneris” for a male and “partnerė” for a female.  You could also refer to someone as “gyvenimo draugas” or “gyvenimo draugė.”

If a man says, “čia – mano gyvenimo draugas” or “čia – mano partneris” you would understand that he is gay.

Let’s go over some terms…

same sex partner translates as “tos pačios lyties partneris” for men and “tos pačios lyties partnerė” for women.

“tos pačios” is derived from “tas pats” which means “same”

tos pačios                        same

“lyties” is derived from the word, “lytis” or “sex” and “partneris” or “partner.”

same sex partner              tos pačios lyties partneris (male)
same sex partner              tos pačios lyties partnerė (female)

the word for friend is draugas or draugė.  These are very common words in Lithuanian.

draugas                          a male friend
draugė                            a female friend

the word for partner is partneris or partnerė

partneris                        a male partner
partnerė                         a female partner
gyvenimas                     life
gyvenimo draugas          life friend
gyvenimo draugė            life-time friend
čia – mano draugas         here’s my friend (male)
čia – mano draugė          here’s my friend (female)
čia – mano partneris       here’s my partner (male)
čia – mano partnerė       here’s my partner (female)
čia – mano gyvenimo     draugas here’s my life friend (male)
čia – mano gyvenimo     draugė here’s my life friend (female)

In today’s episode Jack will mention Grūto Parkas near the Lithuanian city of Druskininkai.  By mentioning this controversial park, Jack and I are not commenting on the right or wrong of the park’s existence.  Some people like the park, some people hate it, some people don’t care.  We’re simply saying the park is of interest for some tourists.  Of course millions of people died savagely at the hands of monsters like Lenin and Stalin and no mass murderers should receive a place of honor in any nation.

būti                   verb meaning, “to be"
aš esu               I am
tu esi                you are (familiar)
jis yra               he is
ji yra                she is
jūs esate           you are (formal)
jūs esate           you all are
mes esame       we are
jie yra              they are
jos yra             they are (females)
namas              house
vardas              name
knyga               book
ir                      and
brolis                brother
sesuo                sister

Lithuanian doesn’t use the article, such as “a” or “the.”  We don’t say, “the book,” or “a book,” we simply say, “book.”

Botswana and Brazil come aboard for Lithuanian lessons!  No lie?  Today we go over some expressions a Lithuanian makes when she/he is surprised.  Oho!  Wow!  Raminta is finally on her way back home and Jack is looking forward to getting a break from walking the dog.  Cute dog, but tiring!  If anyone would like to send us a plug or a promo, email it to us or call our voicemail.  Enjoy the lesson!

jo?                   really?
rimtai?              really?
tikrai?               really?
oho!                 wow!
miestas             city
kambarys         room
parkas              park
restoranas         restaurant
vyras                man
vyras                husband
žmona              wife

aš labai myliu savo žmoną         I really love my wife

email Raminta and Jack at:  lithuanianoutloud@earthlink.net

Here’s the Akropolis Mall in Vilnius, Lithuania:
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=54.710795&lon=25.260057&z=17&l=0&m=a&v=2

Akropolis Mall north of Vilnius is a must see attraction, but if you buy something, make sure it's what you want; it's very difficult to return gifts.  Akropolis was Lithuania's first super-mall.  It's a one of the fun sites to see if you visit Vilnius.  Today you learn how to say "I'm from..."  This is our first introduction to the genitive declension or kilmininkas.  Kilmininkas is the most used declension after vardininkas or the naming case.

Pilies gatvė           Castle street
Katedros aikštė     Cathedral square
Gedimino pilis       Gediminis castle
America               Amerika
England                Anglija
Lithuania              Lietuva
Poland                 Lenkija
from                    iš
genitive case        kilmininkas

Amerika changes to Amerikos
Anglija changes to Anglijos
Lietuva changes to Lietuvos
Lenkija changes to Lenkijos

I'm from America          Aš iš Amerikos
I'm from England          Aš iš Anglijos
I'm from Lithuania         Aš iš Lietuvos
I'm from Poland            Aš iš Lenkijos

Labas aš Raminta, aš iš Lietuvos, malonu
Labas aš David, aš iš Amerikos, taip pat malonu

email Raminta and Jack at:  lithuanianoutloud@earthlink.net

Thanks to:  CCMixter.org, ditto ditto, and Vieux Farka Touré for allowing us to use the music for this podcast.
http://www.vieuxfarkatoure.com/
http://www.ccmixter.org/

Oho!  Approximately every fifth lesson will be a quick response lesson.  We'll say the word or words in English, you respond in Lithuanian - Out Loud.  We know you've been studying hard so this will be easy!  Good luck and keep repeating until you perfect it.  ~Raminta and Jack :)

(greeting a man) health!                                     sveikas!
(greeting a woman) health!                                 sveika!
(cute greeting between women only)                   sveikutė!
what's new?                                                      kas naujo?
nothing                                                             nieko
bye                                                                  ate
(greeting a group) health!                                  sveiki!
(greeting a group of females) health!                  sveikos!
"cutsy" good evening                                         labas vakarėlis
what's up?                                                        ką darai?
nothing, and you? (familiar)                               nieko, o tu?
nothing                                                            nieko
how are you?                                                   kaip sekasi?
what?                                                              ką?
how are you?                                                   kaip sekasi?
not bad thanks, how are you?                            neblogai, ačiū, kaip sekasi?
especially good, thanks                                    ypatingai gerai, ačiū
see you later!                                                  iki pasimatymo!
see ya!                                                           iki!
good                                                               gerai
bad                                                                 blogai
(goodbye to a woman) stay healthy!                  lik sveika!
(goodbye to a man) stay healthy!                      lik sveikas!
nominative case                                              vardininkas

email Raminta and Jack at:  lithuanianoutloud@earthlink.net

Thanks to:  CCMixter.org, ditto ditto, and Vieux Farka Touré for allowing us to use the music for this podcast.
http://www.vieuxfarkatoure.com/
http://www.ccmixter.org/

These are the show notes for episodes 11-20 in a pdf.

Now, what is a pdf?  This is simply a file that allows you to see the Lithuanian text from the episodes in a down-loadable file.  You can download this file by right clicking here:  Lithuanian_Out_Loud_11-20_Notes.pdf

Just right click on this line with your mouse and click on "save target as."

Save the file on your computer and then open it whenever you feel like it.

Or, you can just left click on this link and your computer will open the file now.  Of course, you will need Adobe Acrobat reader on your computer to read the file, but Adobe Acrobat is a free program.

Or, you can just download this file through iTunes.  If you have subscribed to Lithuanian Out Loud on iTunes, these files will come to you automatically.

Raminta and Jack :)

Raminta is in Moscow this week as a guest of the Lithuanian Embassy digging into the Russian archives for her new book.  Too bad Jack is stuck at home painting the house.  The one thing you need to take from this episode is that the nominative or naming case is called, "vardininkas" in Lithuanian.

declension = case
there are seven declensions in Lithuanian
naming case = nominative case
vardininkas is the basic, primary name of all words
vardininkas is the case used in dictionaries
examples of vardininkas:

nominative case                              vardininkas
automobile                                      automobilis
rytas                                              morning
diena                                              day
vakaras                                          evening
Vilnius

email Raminta and Jack at:  lithuanianoutloud@earthlink.net

Thanks to:  CCMixter.org, ditto ditto, and Vieux Farka Touré for allowing us to use the music for this podcast.
http://www.vieuxfarkatoure.com/
http://www.ccmixter.org/

This week you learn where to party in Vilnius and how to ask for the restroom after drinking too heavily.  On the blogpage you'll find a link for watching Lithuanian television.  We’ll also go through the Lithuanian alphabet.  You should learn it, but if you don’t want to, well, no worries.  Enjoy!

Vilnius hotspots recommended by Raminta:
Club Pabo Latino, Trakų gatvė (gatvė = street)
Club Absento Fėjos, Aušros Vartu gatvė
Restaurant Žemaičiai, Vokiečių gatvė

Recommended book:  Trise Prieš Mafiją
by Daiva Vaitkevičiutė

kudakuoja ir kudakuoja                 cackle and cackle
zyzia ir zyzia                                buzz and buzz
trenkti laižiaką, feee!                     french kissing, ick!

Here's the alphabet.  In parenthesis is the pronunciation.
A a  (ah)
Ą ą  (ą nosinė)
B b  (bė)
C c  (cė) "tsė"
Č č  (čė) "chė"
D d  (dė)
E e  (e plačioji)
Ę ę  (ę nosinė)
Ė ė  (ė siauroji)
F f  (ėf)
G g  (gė)
H h  (ha)
I i  (i trumpoji)
Į j  (į nosinė)
Y y  (y ilgoji)
J j  (jot)
K k  (ka)
L l  (ėl)
M m  (ėm)
N n  (ėn)
O o  (oh)
P p  (pee)
R r  (ėr)
S s  (ės)
Š š  (ėš)
T t  (tė)
U u  (u trumpoji)
Ų ų  (ų nosinė)
Ū ū  (ū ilgoji)
V v  (vė)
Z z  (zė)
Ž ž  (žė)

Kur?                                                      Where?
Tualetas                                                 Toilet
Kur yra...?                                             Where is...?
Kur yra tualetas?                                    Where is the restroom?
Kur yra tualetas?                                    Where is the toilet?
Atsiprašau, kur yra tualetas?  O, ačiu!      Excuse me, where is the toilet?  Oh, thank you!

In Lithuanian we often drop the verb, "to be."  So, here we can drop "yra."
You can be understood if you just say, "tualetas?"
Tualetas is the Lithuanian word for a single toilet or restroom.

Kur tualetas?                                          Where's the toilet?
Kur restoranas?                                      Where's the restaurant?
Kur baras?                                             Where is the bar?

To view Lithuanian television:  http://www.tv.lt/mconsole.asp

Thanks to:  CCMixter.org, ditto ditto, and Vieux Farka Touré for allowing us to use the music for this podcast.
http://www.vieuxfarkatoure.com/
http://www.ccmixter.org/