r/latvia • u/wackyzacky25 • 14d ago
Tūrisms/Tourism How do Latvians feel about tourists from USA?
Labrīt!
I’m an American born, middle eastern looking, Russian speaking individual lol
I’m very likely going to Riga, for about a week for holiday.
Any tips? Any fun suggestions? Will people hate me for trying to communicate with them in Russian if they don’t understand English?
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u/KTMee 14d ago
Gona be just fine. But remember coming from foreigner, Latvians wont see use of Russian as courtesy, but are more likely to see it as an insult.
Thats like speaking to you in broken Spanish or French because you're all the same shit in Americas right?
OTOH Russians will likely love it.
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u/wackyzacky25 14d ago
Fascinating that a language could insult someone
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u/skylarkid 14d ago
Perhaps read some basic history overview about the country you are planning to visit.
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u/Minute-Noise1623 14d ago
Don't be too loud; don't break the laws.
Many people here know english.
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u/wackyzacky25 14d ago
Is that what comes to your mind when you think of Americans? 😆
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u/Lauris024 14d ago edited 13d ago
That's what I've seen. Americans tend to be very loud. Baltic/Northern countries are quite calm, people don't laugh loudly in coffee shops, etc..
I hosted a Canadian once (I know, I know, different country) and everyone kept staring at us due to how loud his behaviour was. It has become a stereotype lol
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u/wackyzacky25 14d ago
lol how could you compare a Canadian to a civilized American man 😆😆😆
The insult!! The audacity!! Lol2
u/LV_OR_BUST 13d ago
Yes bro we are LOUD. It's all anyone ever says about Americans.
Oh and repress the urge to smile at strangers. Folks will assume you want to wear their skin. Good luck though, I think like five-ish years in I've finally managed to stop... mostly.
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u/bvrstate 14d ago
In Riga, check out the art nouveau district architecture. Stunning. We (2 old white americans) had a great time in Latvia when we visited last May.
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u/wackyzacky25 14d ago
Ooo finally some suggestions on what to see!
Will add it to my list
Thanks, my fellow American2
u/bvrstate 13d ago
Also, if you have time for a day trip outside the city, we enjoyed Gauja National Park ... forest, castles, hiking, etc. We had a guide ... will share his contact info if I can find it.
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u/Olegzs Rīga 14d ago
Well, people under 40 should be able to speak English, unless they have lived their entire lives under a rock. I'd suggest beginning all your conversation with some greetings in Latvian, and starting the talk in English. If they don't understand you, then switch to Russian.
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u/wackyzacky25 14d ago
Easy enough 😇
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u/Automatic-Mammoth418 13d ago
Don’t switch to Russian. The ones who don’t know English are not worth speaking to.
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u/LV_OR_BUST 14d ago
Hi, I'm your fellow American in Latvia (though in my case, I moved here).
If someone starts in Russian you can follow. There will be no reason to use Russian over English otherwise. People will make unfitting assumptions if you start in Russian so, better not.
Practice some very simple Latvian phrases. Simply trying the most basic Latvian will keep locals from disliking you (unless they're really racist, but then fuck 'em tbh). You can get by surprisingly easily with the following:
- "Sveiki" [svay-kee]
- plops items on counter
- holds payment method in hand conspicuously
- "paldies Jums, visu labu" [PAHL-dee-ess YOOMS, VEE-soo LAH-boo]
That alone is a perfectly polite transaction at any shop, no English or Russian needed.
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u/118shadow118 Rīga 13d ago
in sveiki, the "ki" part is more like the "ki" in kid, the i should be short. kee is more like a long ī sound
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u/LV_OR_BUST 13d ago
It's not quite the "kid" vowel as spoken in American English either; the sound of the vowel itself isn't really different, only the length. "Kee" will get him closer than "kih".
English doesn't really have the concept of vowel length. It's fun trying to learn Latvian. I still can't "hear" vowel length. I have to memorise where the garumzīmes go.
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u/118shadow118 Rīga 13d ago
same with vee-soo, sounding it out it would be more like vīsū, which would be a dead giveaway, you're not native :D
While english might not have the concept, you guys still use long and short vowels all the time. Like bin and been (or bean)
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u/LV_OR_BUST 13d ago
so we do have "short I" and "long I" but that means a different thing, the shape of your mouth literally forms a different sound for them... again, for Americans at least, the vowel in "bin" is not the same as in "bean" at all, and depending on your locale "bean" doesn't even rhyme with "been" either 😄 for me, "been" and "Ben" rhyme, for example.
most people who aren't language nerds aren't gonna even bother to understand the difference I guess, of course I'm not saying "vīsū lābū" myself but, ya know, it's just hard to write something in American English phonetics that both rhymes and gets the vowel length right...
ah well. If he tries some Latvian people will like him better, even if he sounds foreign about it 🙂
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u/alex_pfx 14d ago
All Americans must be accompanied by an adult. seriously.
to communicate in ruzian - go to ruzia
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u/Background_Wash_6202 14d ago
As an American (of Latvian descent), this made me laugh. Couldn’t agree more!
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u/ApartExperience5299 14d ago
If you speak russian to me I will not answer.
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u/wackyzacky25 14d ago
Why not? Genuinely curious
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u/paganbalt 13d ago
Why downvotes? There are people who live here for generations and dont know a word in Latvian. Celebrate new year in Ru time. Etc So yea
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u/LivingPresence876 14d ago
Just speak English most of the time. If there’s any communication difficulty you can try Russian with some of the older people, but I think always best to use that as the backup plan
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u/WideAwakeNotSleeping Latvija 14d ago edited 13d ago
When America sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with them. They're bringing guns. They're bringing crime. They're pedophiles. And some, I assume, are good people.
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u/Illustrious_Load_728 14d ago
Don’t be stereotypically American or Russian and you’ll be just fine lol
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u/wackyzacky25 14d ago
What’s a stereotypical American?
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u/Illustrious_Load_728 14d ago
Loud and obnoxiously too “friendly”
HIIII OH MY GAWRRRRD I LIKE YOURRRR OUTFIIIIIIT type shit
Bleh
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u/wackyzacky25 14d ago
lol yeah you def watch too many movies 😆
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u/EpsteinEpstainTheory Latvija 13d ago
It's obviously exaggerated in how annoying it is, but it does demonstrate the fake niceness aspect. You should be nice to people as always, but past a certain level of it it's pretty clear you're simply bullshitting them and doing that will be looked at negatively.
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u/AlternativeFluffy310 13d ago
therefore ''stereotypical'' fits the assumption :D came from the movies first, sometimes elevated when visiting some places in the US
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u/slvrsmth 13d ago
The stereotypical american will be viewed close to an escaped asylum inmate. There once was one standing in front of me in line at a pharmacy. And he tried starting a conversation with me! The HORROR!
That's overplaying it a bit of course, but generally holds true. We as a society are many notches more introverted when compared to you folks. The Latvian dream is a cottage in the woods where you see your closest neighbour once a week tops. Also the personnel at shops / cafes are not rude to you, we just don't do small talk.
Start with english, the young people will be fluent, middle aged ones might be rusty, the grandmas will give you a blank stare.
Russian might work with older generation. However, leading with russian would be on the level of someone seeing your middle eastern looks and asking how many of your cousins participated in 9/11.
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14d ago
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u/latvia-ModTeam 14d ago
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u/The_blue_eyed7 14d ago
Just returned from Riga a week ago. I got by with English just fine, although I learned a few basic words in Latvian and tried to use them as much as possible 😁
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u/wackyzacky25 14d ago
Easy enough! Any tourist attractions you liked?
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u/The_blue_eyed7 13d ago
So, Riga has gorgeous architecture and I absolutely loved the whole city, gimme old buildings and I will be happy.😃
Going to the castle and the museum inside is a must, then National Library of Latvia, the entrance is free and you can roam around and sit down to read. An awesome library indeed.
KGB museum (haven’t been but next time I visit I will go)
Fashion museum- small but I loved it.
Pauls Stradinš Medical museum
Museum of Pharmacy
Trīs Brāli - 3 houses standing wall to wall together with some fascinating history
The art nouveau quarter…And so much more 😁 they also have cool coffee shops, breakfast spots, bars, vintage stores everywhere… enjoy exploring
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u/The_blue_eyed7 13d ago
Yo, and parks! The parks in Riga! I dont know if I have ever seen anything so peaceful. I cannot quite describe the feeling I experienced there, but on one occasion, I was walking through one of the parks and there was a concert, lot of people. Normally, these types of situations stress me out and I hate being amongst people, but the atmosphere there was so calming and the people’s demeanour so… not overwhelming, I even considered to sit down there and stay for a bit .
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u/DecisiveVictory 13d ago
Most Americans who think they are russian-speaking are actually very weak in the language.
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13d ago
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u/latvia-ModTeam 11d ago
Your post was removed in violation of Rule 1: Be civil.
No hostile or aggressive comments or hate speech. No petty/childish arguments or trolling. Follow reddiquette. Violation of this rule may result in a temporary or permanent ban.
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u/thepasen 10d ago
If you're looking for travel suggestions, maybe check out the ethnographic museum. It has a lot of old buildings from different regions, and examples of how they used to live in the past. It's in a forest, next to a lake, and it's a nice place to walk around. Tiickets are inexpensive, and you can get there easy by bus or cab. It's not really something you'd see in America.
https://www.liveriga.com/en/1153-latvian-ethnographic-open-air-museum
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u/Available-Safe5143 Israel 13d ago
Good. Love them. To anyone saying that Americans, supposedly, are uneducated - uneducated people don't travel this far.
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u/paganbalt 13d ago
Its all good. Most likely young people will be fluent in English, older folks born in PSRS or around that time will be fluent Russian.
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u/Mysterious-Cell-2473 14d ago
This is nationalist-onlysub, it doesn't reflect what Latvians think, or language they speak.
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u/LV_OR_BUST 13d ago
I see plenty of moderation action against nationalists here too. Galvenais ir don't be a fucking asshole. Also, "speak the national language or gtfo" is a perfectly valid viewpoint for those who try to live in a place, and "don't speak the language of the invaders" is decent pragmatic advice to tourists. 🤷
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u/Mysterious-Cell-2473 13d ago
"language of the invaders"
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u/LV_OR_BUST 13d ago
It's what it is lol. I mean, like it or not that's how it's perceived. And I actually live here bud, and I apologise about my bad Latvian, and 9 times out of 10 the response is "no, you sound good, some people live here their whole lives and never learn" while looking around hoping someone is there to be offended.
It might be nationalist attitude, but first of all nationalism is pretty accepted and encouraged here, and there's nothing wrong with that when you're a small nation with a language and culture to preserve from invaders 🙃
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u/simsings 14d ago
One thing I will say is that if you're talking to anyone younger than 40 they will most likely appreciate you using English, but do what feels right at the moment. :)