The Tallink Hotels Estonian Language Learning Project „One Word a Day“ Comes to an End

2025-02-27T10:41:30

The year-long Estonian language learning project “One Word a Day,” which began on 19 February 2024, has reached its conclusion. Throughout the year, Tallink Hotels’ non-Estonian-speaking employees have learned 365 Estonian words and 52 practical expressions, which appeared as cheerful word bubbles on the walls of hotel workspaces each week.

To mark the end of the project, a lively word bingo event was once again held in the Tallink City Hotel’s event area—this time with a slightly more festive touch than previous ones. The first to complete all bingo squares was Nataliia Okrashevska, room cleaner from Tallink City Hotel.

“It was a very exciting project, and I particularly liked its modern and playful structure. During the couple of years I have spent in Estonia, I have acquired a basic level of Estonian and definitely want to continue learning. Estonian is rather a difficult language, but if you have the desire and determination, it doesn’t seem so hard anymore,” said the winner.

In addition to the bingo game, the event also recognised the most dedicated language learners. City Grill House’s Executive Chef Anatolijs Pimanovs and Tallink City Hotel’s housekeeping staff member Hanna Koltuklu were acknowledged for their great enthusiasm and progress in learning Estonian over the past year.

The word bubbles on the walls and the bingo game have sparked a great deal of excitement among hotel employees throughout the year.

“I wanted to improve my Estonian skills in a fun way and practice the language more, and this seemed like a great opportunity to learn new words and communicate with colleagues. It has given me more confidence in speaking Estonian and helped me better understand everyday words. Additionally, it was very motivating to see that learning can be playful and enjoyable!” said Ibrahim Ali from the Spa & Conference and Express Hotel reception team, who won the first word bingo when the project reached 100 words.

Dmitri Šavlis from the Spa & Conference Hotel’s catering team, who won the word bingo at the 200-word milestone, also emphasised the importance of language skills in his job. “I always need to explain and show things. And since I constantly had to speak a foreign language, I wanted to build my confidence in communicating with people so that I wouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes.”

Although the project has officially ended, the colourful word bubbles will remain on the walls of the workspaces. New employees, as well as those just starting their language-learning journey, can use them at any time to begin their studies. Those who already have a basic vocabulary can continue to review and discover new words.

“The idea behind the ‘one-word-a-day’ approach is that every day can be a fresh start—you can decide every day that today, I will learn something new. Sometimes a week goes by, sometimes a couple of days, but you can always return to your studies. Learning at your own pace makes it easier,” said Ave Svarts, Member of the Board of Tallink Hotels.

One of the main goals of the language-learning project has been to emphasise that the Estonian language is important to us and that its learning is strongly encouraged. “The foundation of our entire culture, even our entire country, is the Estonian language. Without our language, at best, we would just be a small, expensive country with mediocre English and bad weather. If we don’t value and introduce our own language, no one else will,” added Svarts.