Aims and Objectives

The aim of the Latvian Language Agency is to promote and strengthen the status and sustainable development of the Latvian language – the state language of the Republic of Latvia and an official language of the European Union.
Responsibilities of the Latvian Language Agency:

• To analyse the situation of the Latvian language and dynamics of the sociolinguistic processes;
• To provide support for the Latvian language in Latvia and abroad;
• To increase the competitiveness of the Latvian language in Latvia and worldwide.

The Latvian Language Agency is performing the following tasks:

• Organization of sociolinguistic studies related to the Latvian language situation in Latvia and diaspora;

• Organizing the acquisition of Latvian as second and foreign language in all education stages and as a part of lifelong learning,

• Providing support for national minority education in Latvian;

• Planning, implementing and supervising projects (seminars and professional development and training courses for teachers), related to the acquisition of Latvian, teaching methodology and intercultural communication;

• Supporting the learning, preserving and promoting Latvian language in diaspora; and providing support to promote studying of Latvian in universities abroad;

• Developing study materials, dictionaries, academic literature, methodical resources etc.;

• Development of terminology and information technology, including the organization of project contests and competitions for development of the Latvian language, managing and monitoring implementation of projects;

• Organizing and supporting development and publishing of scholarly and educational literature;  informational and educational resources,

• Providing consulting related to the usage of Latvian:

1.     Proper spelling of foreign proper nouns in Latvian corresponding to the standards of literary language.
2.     Spelling and orthography of persons’ names and cases of personal identification (for example, to acknowledge that Ivans (in Russian), Johans (in German) and Jānis (in Latvian) might be the same person whose first name just has been adapted according to the standards and traditions of the language it has been spelled in).
3.     Questions related to orthography, literary pronunciation (orthoepy), grammar, language culture and literary style.

• Promoting the learning and usage of the state language, and encouraging the societal involvement in the process of the state language policy;

• Collaborating with state and local governmental institutions, as well as with individuals in the field of state language;

• Cooperating with international institutions related to language policy;

• Providing other related public services;

• Performing other tasks, defined in legislation.