New App for Improving Skills in Latvian Language

Its another study year again, and it is important to revise what was learned before, find explanations for the new material in language learning and to complement the knwoledge gained so far. We have something new to offer for improving Latvian language skills: an electronic tool that was created as linguistic study material for primary, middle and secondary school students, also students at university level and anyone else who may be interested to improve their language skills for whatever reason they have. This app will also be an additional tool to help teachers, especially teachers working at Latvian diaspora schools abroad or teaching Latvian as a forein language outside Latvia.

The new electronic  Latviešu valodas rokasgrāmata (valodasrokasgramata.lv/) (Handbook of the Latvian Language) is an encyclopedia type tool that can be used as informative complementary study material in linguistics of the Latvian language. It presents and elaborates on main questions in 26 various branches and sub-branches of linguistics (total of 1500 content units). It includes questions in such specialized branches of linguistics that will not usually be dealt with in ordinary school study materal or will only be touched upon briefly, however may be required to understand in order to use the language properly.

Main content part starts with basic information (brief definitions and examples, information sorted in table format, diverse logical listings etc.). For the interest and convenience of the reader some of the content units also have additional information, including certain interesting facts. Chapter „ Further Reading” lists published research and articles in the respective area of study for further individual work. Visual information is included as well, whilst chapter on phonetics and dialectology has an audio recorded material. Several content units come equipped with special interactive tasks and exercises to check knowledhe and understanding and to revise the material. Handbook content is further divided into 2 parts according to the level of difficulty.

An Annex to the handbook includes Dictionary of Linguistic Terminology. Library offers a list of literature, including both theoretic and other work that were used in creating and developing the content and exercises of this handbook.

Questions on aspects in Phonetics, Phonology, Morphonology, Morphonemics, Word-Building, Morphology and Syntax of the Latvian language are being explaned and explored in accordance with the norms of „The Grammar of the Latvian Language” (Latvia University, Latvian Language Institute, Riga, 2013, 2015), including aspects of the sound, forms and syntactic constructions.

The content of the Handbook of Latvian language was commissioned by the Latvian Language Agency and developed by the Latvia University Institute of the Latvian Language  (2014 – 2016), whilst the application software was developed by SIA „Datorzinību centrs” (2016‒2018).