The “One Word a Day” Estonian Language Learning Project for Tallink Hotels Employees Reaches Its Milestone

2024-09-12T10:27:50

On September 5th, the Estonian language learning project for Tallink Hotels employees reached its 200th word. To mark this milestone, a fun word bingo event was held.

Since February 19th, a word bubble featuring one Estonian word and a useful phrase, along with translations in English and Russian, has appeared daily on the walls of Tallink Hotels as well as in the workspaces of Flavore and NOK NOK. In addition, the walls display other practical language tools such as time expressions, body parts, seasons, colors, etc.

Employees have warmly embraced the word bubbles. “I really like this project! Every time I walk by, I notice and read something – it’s very interesting,” said Marina Seliverstova, a bartender at the City Hotel.

Now, with a total of 200 words learned, language learners gathered in the Fidel lounge of the Tallink Spa & Conference hotel and on the forest floor of the City Grill House to test their skills in word bingo. The game required not only knowledge of words and attention but also a bit of luck. Prizes were awarded to the winners of the corners game, diagonals, and full house. The excitement lasted until the end – the full house BINGO was called only when there were just seven words left in the drawing pot!

Dmitri Shavlis from the Spa & Conference hotel catering team was the first to fill in all the squares. “This is definitely how I like to learn Estonian,” he commented cheerfully.

Tallink Hotels employees speak 12 different native languages. Although English is the lingua franca of tourism and the world, we must pay special attention to the Estonian language in our hotels.

“Our guests have traveled to Estonia to experience something unique. This uniqueness is largely based on a culture whose foundation and guarantee of existence is the Estonian language. Without our language, we would just be another small country with a poor climate and mediocre, expensive English-speaking services,” said Ave Svarts, Member of the Management Board of Tallink Hotels. “We talk a lot about sustainability at environmental and societal levels, but we must also take care of our language and culture because, in the long run, the hospitality sector depends on it the most,” she emphasizes.

She adds, “Regardless of their native language, all our employees are connected by the fact that we live and work in Estonia. We should all have the opportunity to learn and practice the local language. This is one of the main goals of the language learning project: to let employees know that the Estonian language is important to us and that learning it is encouraged. Learning even the simplest Estonian helps us understand each other better as colleagues, learn about the local culture as residents, and preserve Estonia’s value as a tourism destination as hosts.”

The language learning project will continue until February 2025. In total, 365 words will appear on the wall – one for each day of the year. Starting with no knowledge of Estonian, in a year, you could know 365 commonly used words and 52 additional expressions. Slowly but surely, learning one word a day couldn’t be simpler!