Mano žmona Rūta yra Lietuvė iš Kauno. Vasarą mes atostogaujame Lietuvoje (except during pandemics). I've been many times and have fallen in love with the country, people, food, music, art, etc. My mother-in-law nekalba angliškai, so I look forward to being able to speak with her lietuviškai. I like studying language, and I'm really enjoying this class!
Robert Guffey
Both of my parents are Lithuanian. Their families fled Lithuania around WWII and spent time living in "DP" camps in Germany before immigrating to the US. I learned some Lithuanian as a child but I never learned declensions. Almost 7 years ago, my husband and I adopted two kids from Lithuania. We've been to Lithuania twice. There were some situations in Lithuania where it was handy to be able to speak some Lithuanian because the person I was talking to didn't know English. I'm also trying to speak to my kids when I can in Lithuanian so that they don't forget everything.
Laura Jakstas Worthington
My dad's family is Lithuanian. My grandparents were always proud of their heritage and made traditional foods for us (which I now love to make). I never took Lithuanian classes before because they were offered in cities I didn't live in, and now I have a 16 month old and another on the way... so Zoom format works really well for my situation.
Courtney Balson
My mother's parents were both Lithuanian. My grandparent's marriage was a love match, and they left for the US to marry. My grandmother's parents came before my grandmother to establish themselves. So when Domina Masonis, my močiutė, arrived in 1910, she could be properly married to her love...Kazys Babarskas, my grandfather. They both spoke Lithuanian, but only my grandfather could read and write the language guided by the Lithuanian newspaper Draugas. He tried to teach us Lithuanian but unfortunately, to learn it well takes time. That is why I continue despite my slow progress. But really, it does not matter how long it takes when I work at it and hear its sounds, I remember their love. My grandparents were from Alytus, where my grandfather, the second son, lived on a large farm owned by his family in Radziinia. Many cousins still live there who welcomed me back into the family that Kazy and Domina left so many years ago to marry for love.
Barbara Tedrow
I am eager to join your courses to continue learning the Lithuanian language. I am a graduate student of 20th century European history and am learning Lithuanian for future research. I am specifically signing up for these classes as I had the absolute privilege to begin my Lithuanian language journey last summer in an intensive summer course taught by Jūra Avizienis. This course began at the beginner's level and ended A2. It is also through her I found out about these courses.
Joslyn Jasmine-Maria Felicijan