If this new language derives its words from different sources — for example, if you learned English or a Romance language first and then approach Estonian, which is not an Indo-European language — then you have no frame of reference to learn certain new words.
Some language teachers and learners would advise memorization, blasting through piles and piles of flashcards, to sear the vocabulary and verb conjugations into your brain. This is valid. Repetition works. Perhaps, though, there is a more nuanced way to understand each word, to make it memorable and meaningful.
Decode Estonian is one such approach, offering a more analytical perspective on the Estonian language. Started by Dario Hamidi in early 2023, Decode Estonian has published a deconstruction of an Estonian verb, adjective, or noun every few days for the past year. For example, the verb “aeglustama” (to slow something down). This post begins with an image showing the core of the verb “aeglusta” and four options for suffixes added at the end of this core: aeglustama, aeglustada, aeglustan, and aeglustatud.
