Lithuanian Out Loud

Hi there, I’m Jack and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language.  This is our second installment of Gyvenimas Puikus.  First, we’ll let you hear the conversation and then we’ll go over the conversation slowly and break it down a little.  After that we’ll let you hear the recordings that we had to cut out because Raminta and her friend Dovilė just couldn’t keep from laughing.  And by the way, I’d like to sincerely thank Dovilė for taking the time to help us with the Gyvenimas Puikus series.  Dovile, you have a beautiful voice.  Alright, here we go, enjoy! Sveiki, norėtume staliuką dviems, prašau Hi, we would like a table for two, please Atsiprašau, bet pusryčių metas jau baigėsi Sorry, but breakfast time is finished O, tikrai? Gal galėtumėme papietauti? Oh, really? Maybe we could have lunch? Maloniai prašome prisėsti With pleasure we ask you to sit down Gerai, dėkoju Okay, thank you Prašom Please (proceed) --- hi (to a male)                              sveikas hi (

Hi there, this is Jack and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud.  On previous episodes Raminta and I went over the nationalities of some of our listeners.  We named the countries, named nationalities and drank toasts to the countries.  Since then we’ve added many listeners from many nations around the world.  Today we want to catch up our listeners from these nations by doing the same for them.  Just so you know, we recorded this a few weeks ago and since then some more listeners in other nations joined us.  So, we pasted some more recordings into this episode.  Because of that the audio might sound a little bit odd here and there but, hey, what are you gonna do?  Enjoy! Hi there, I’m Jack and I’m Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language. Today we’re in the month of December which in Lithuanian is…gruodis. Why is 16 February Lithuanian Independence Day?  The Act of Independence was signed by the Council of Lithuania 16 February 1918.  It was during World

Hi there, this is Jack and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud.  Today we’re in a new month!  In Latin Decem means ten.  December was the tenth month in the old Roman calendar.  Later, when January and February were added it became the 12th month but retained its old name.  In Lithuanian this month is gruodis from the word gruodas which roughly translates as “frozen mud clod.”  In this month the mud choked dirt roads are made passable again as the ground freezes. According to a Baltic Times article entitled, “City of Women,” there are 20% more women in Vilnius, Lithuania than men.  This is due to suicides, alcoholism, and men going to other countries to find work.  The article also states Lithuania has the highest number of road fatalities of all European countries. labą dieną good day labą dieną good day norėtumėm staliuką dviems prašau we would like a table for two, please trys žmonės? three persons? ne, tik du no, just two bet reikės penkiolika minučių palaukti but it’s necessary for fifteen minutes to wai

Hi there, this is Jack and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud.  For this episode we’re going to do something a little bit different.  This is a flashcard episode.  To use this episode you have to download the accompanying pdf file and open it.  Then just follow along with the audio. The pdf file has four pages.  On the first two pages we give you the English and the Lithuanian text along with an image from the public domain clip art collection at WP Clipart.  Thank you WP Clipart! The third and fourth pages of our pdf file have English only.  So, if you print the pdf file onto heavy paper or card stock you can cut them out and create hand-held flashcards.  You can study by yourself or with a friend.  This is the first of many flashcard episodes we have planned.  Here we go, enjoy! Photograph: "old man and old woman, traditional Lithuanian dance" Photographer: ignas kukenys from Vilnius, Lithuania (wikipedia) grandfather senelis grandmother senelė child vaikas father and son tėvas ir sūnus woman moteris man v

Hi there, this is Jack and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud.  Today’s episode is not much of an episode.  Raminta and I are starting to put together some episodes that are centered around common conversations.  For instance, today’s script was supposed to go something like this… (good day) laba diena (good day) labą dieną Two for lunch, please Three persons? No, just two There’s about a 15 minute wait Okay, that’s fine Name? Kšanytė Kšanytė…okay, we’ll call your name when your table is ready Oh, is there room at the bar? Sure, you can sit at the bar and you won’t have to wait Great, we’ll do that Today, Raminta and her friend tried to record this conversation in Lithuanian but they couldn’t get through it.  I’m gonna go ahead and give you the recording and you’ll see why they couldn’t keep to the script.  We’ll keep working on this and probably within two or three days we’ll get the final version out to you.  Anyway, we hope that you enjoy this version of the conversation.  

Exam 37 Trisdešimt septintas egzaminas. This is a quick response episode!  We’ll say the word or phrase in English and you say it in Lithuanian – Out Loud!  It’s too late for questions, the exam starts now.  Ready, set, go!  Pasiruošti, dėmesio, marš! daughter                                                     duktė / dukra in Lithuania                                                Lietuvoje I have a wife                                              aš turiu žmoną I have a question                                         aš turiu klausimą do you have a car? (tu)                                ar tu turi automobilį? do you have a passport? (tu)                         ar tu turi pasą? he has a problem                                          jis turi problemą he has a female friend                                   jis turi draugę she has a male friend                                    ji turi draugą she has a husband                                         ji turi vyrą we have an idea!              

LL0134 – Exam 36 Trisdešimt šeštas egzaminas.  This is a quick response episode!  We’ll say the word or phrase in English and you say it in Lithuanian – Out Loud!  It’s too late for questions, the exam starts now.  Ready, set, go!  Pasiruošti, dėmesio, marš! all                                                    visas / visa to Lithuania                                   į Lietuvą I’m returning to Lithuania               aš grįžtu į Lietuvą I returning to the fatherland         aš grįžtu į tėvynę our                                                 mūsų family                                             šeima to hope for                                     tikėti to return                                         sugrįžti to end, to finish                             pabaigti to finish                                         baigti studies                                           studijos in the Vilnius university                   Vilniaus universitete she left for America three years ago prieš tris metus j

Hey there!  This is Jack and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud.  Today we have a special program with a special guest co-host.  Raminta and I invited Kristina to come on the show and do an episode.  Kristina is orginally from Klaipėda, Lithuania but she is currently studying at a university in Aberdeen, Scotland.  Kristina is the famous Kristina of the Lithuanian tutorials on Youtube.  She is the author and star of some great free videos teaching Lithuanian to English speakers.  Raminta and I highly recommend that you visit Youtube, do a search for Lithuanian Tutorial and we guarantee you‘ll really enjoy Kristina teaching you Lithuanian.  Please leave her some comments on her comments section and tell her we sent you.  We‘ll include a link to her videos on the Lithuanian Out Loud blogpage. Just a few hours ago Kristina and I recorded this episode using Skype.  Naturally, since we‘re using Skype, you won‘t hear the crisp, clean audio you‘re used to, but I think everything is perfectly understandable. So, Kri

Exam 35 Trisdešimt penktas egzaminas.  This is a quick response episode!  We’ll say the word or phrase in English and you say it in Lithuanian – Out Loud!  It’s too late for questions, the exam starts now.  Ready, set, go!  Pasiruošti, dėmesio, marš! it is a pity that                               gaila kad it’s a pity                                      gaila what a pity!                                  kaip gaila! it is a great pity                              labai gaila to leave                                         išvažiuoti to cease                                        nutrūkti to not be enough, to lack               pritrūkti Sonata’s and my friendship ended nutrūko mano ir Sonatos draugystė our communication ceased           nutrūko mūsų bendravimas the job ended                                 darbas nutrūko the trip ended                               kelionė nutrūko to receive, to get                             gauti to receive a gift                               gauti dovaną she l

Prašom Palaukti Please Wait Hi there, I’m Jack and I’m Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language.  Today we’re in the month of November which in Lithuanian is lapkritis. According to Wikipedia, Eglė the Queen of Serpents is considered one of the most archaic and best-known Lithuanian fairy tales and the richest in references of Baltic mythology. Over a hundred slightly diverging versions of the plot have been collected. Its multi-layered mythological background has been an interest of Lithuanian and foreign researchers of Indo-European mythology. Photograph: Grass Snake Photographer: Funkai1 (Wikipedia) Eglė is both a popular female name in Lithuania and also a noun meaning spruce tree. The serpents (žaltys) of the tale are grass snakes in Lithuanian, but because they inhabit the sea, the word may mean a mythical water snake. pradėkime, let’s get started The Lithuanian word prašom is used a lot.  You’ve probably heard it in every episode of Lithuanian Out

Miesteliuose In The Towns Hi there, I’m Jack and I’m Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language.  In Latin novem is the word for nine.  Today we’re in a new month!  In the old Roman calender November was the ninth month.  In Lithuanian this month is lapkritis – derived from lapas, the word for leaf and kristi, to fall.  Lapkritis is leaf falling month. According to Wikipedia, in Lithuania trees of special significance include oak (ąžuolas), birch (beržas), linden (liepa), and spruce (eglė). A veneration of oak trees comes from pre-Christian times, when they were of religious significance. An ancient oak tree in Stelmužė, thought to be at least 1,500 years old, is the best-known tree in the country. So far you’ve been introduced to the accusative singular and plural and the genitive singular and plural.  The locative singular for example, I’m in Vilnius                        aš esu Vilniuje Vilnius is in Lithuania            Vilnius yra Lietuvoje Berlin

Trisdešimt ketvirtas egzaminas.  This is a quick response episode!  We’ll say the word or phrase in English and you say it in Lithuanian – Out Loud!  It’s too late for questions, the exam starts now.  Ready, set, go!  Pasiruošti, dėmesio, marš!   to lack                            trūkti missing, lacking                   trūkstamas we also miss Lithuania very much   mums taip pat labai trūksta Lietuvos we also lack a car                mums taip pat trūksta mašinos we also lack a ticket            mums taip pat trūksta bilieto though, although                nors often                           dažnai to associate with, to keep company    bendrauti we keep company over the phone      bendraujame telefonu we keep company through the internet bendraujame internetu besides, in addition            be to sufficient                        pakankamas to want                           norėti to see                           matyti to hug                            apkabinti to cuddle, to snuggle             priglaus

Mano Tavo Jo Jos - Hi there, I’m Jack and I’m Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language. The Lithuanian national flag is the tricolor of yellow, green and red.  The yellow represents the golden fields of Lithuanian grain, the green represents the green countryside of Lithuania and red represents the blood that has been shed on Lithuanian soil. Pradėkime, let’s get started You already know the personal pronouns well;  aš, tu, jis, ji, mes, jūs, jie, jos. Today we’ll use the personal pronouns with possession.  These are; my                           mano your (tu)                 tavo his                           jo her                         jos our                         mūsų your (jūs)               jūsų your (you plural)     jūsų their (m/f or m/m) jų their (f/f)                 jų In previous episodes we worked on possession using kilmininkas or the genitive case.  Let’s review some simple examples. Vita’s car                       Vitos mašina Ev

Hi there, I’m Jack and I’m Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language. In a previous episode we went over the Lithuanian ten litas or dešimt litų banknote.  The twenty litas or dvidešimt litų bill is decorated with the portrait of Jonas Mačiulis who lived from 1862 to 1932.  Jonas Mačiulis urged the Lithuanian people to fight against Russification policies and to fight against the occupation of Lithuania by Imperial Russia.  The reverse side of the bill features the Vytautas the Great War Museum in Kaunas. pradėkime, let’s get started Today we’re going to mix all the different endings of numbers in one big review episode using just one noun.  The currency of Lithuania – litas. Litas is the monetary unit of Lithuania.  Ready for a challenge?  Here we go. sėkmės! good luck! one vienas litas                        two du litai                              three trys litai                            four keturi litai                         five penki litai   

Trisdešimt trečias egzaminas.  This is a quick response episode!  We’ll say the word or phrase in English and you say it in Lithuanian – Out Loud!  It’s too late for questions, the exam starts now.  Ready, set, go!  Pasiruošti, dėmesio, marš! however                                                               tačiau to run                                                                    bėgti in time, in due course, eventually                             laikui bėgant time                                                                      laikas over the years                                                        bėgant metams over the years Justina began to miss Lithuania          bėgant metams Justina pradėjo ilgėtis Lietuvos over the years Justina began to miss her family         bėgant metams Justina pradėjo ilgėtis savo šeimos to begin                                                                 pradėti I want to start                                                        aš noriu pr

Trisdežimt antras egzaminas.  This is a quick response episode!  We’ll say the word or phrase in English and you say it in Lithuanian – Out Loud!  It’s too late for questions, the exam starts now.  Ready, set, go!  Pasiruošti, dėmesio, marš! and so                                                     taip ir to stay                                                     likti and so she stayed                                   taip ir liko she stayed to live in America                 ji liko gyventi Amerikoje she stayed to live in Lithuania            ji liko gyventi Lietuvoje husband                                                 vyras wife                                                           žmona she stayed to live with her husband ji liko gyventi su savo vyru he stayed to live with his wife                     jis liko gyventi su savo žmona stay healthy                                            lik sveikas stay healthy                                            lik sveika in this country   

Hi there, I’m Jack and I’m Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language.  Today we’re in the month of October which in Lithuanian is spalis. According to Radio Vilnius: News & Current Affairs, sales of bicycles are up in Lithuania.  There are government efforts towards creating bicycle lanes in cities.  However, bicycles are not so ingrained in the culture so as to make bike riding safe.  Cars still rule the roads.  The European Union gave Lithuania funds for creating a bicycle safe infrastructure but the program was stopped and 10 million litas will be returned.  Vilnius city officials say they’ll implement the program eventually in their own time but there are no plans to put this into motion. Today we’ll go over the Lithuanian verb daryti – to do, to make, to open, to close.  Here are daryti and nedaryti conjugated in the present tense. to do                   daryti I do                     aš darau you do (tu)           tu darai he does          

Hi there, I’m Raminta and I’m Jack and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language.  Today we’re in the month of October which in Lithuanian is spalis. The Lithuanian state flag is different from the national flag of yellow, green and red.  The state flag has the national symbol of the Vytis on a red background.  It’s a beautiful flag and it has a longer history than the tricolor but it was not chosen as the national flag mainly because it would have been difficult to recreate the design. pradėkime, let’s get started Previously we worked on numbers that end in one, numbers that end in zero, and numbers that end in two through nine.  Numbers 11 through 19 or numbers that end in 11 through 19 are similar to numbers that end in zero.  Numbers that end in 11 through 19 use the plural genitive.  prašom pakartoti, please repeat… 11 sisters                 vienuolika seserų 12 daughters               dvylika dukterų 13 uncles                    trylika dėdžių 14 horses     

Hi there, I’m Jack and I’m Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language.  Today we’re in the new month of October which in Lithuanian is spalis.  In Latin octo means eight.  In the old Roman calendar October was the eighth month.  In Lithuanian this month is spalis, named after spaliai – flax.  In the month of spalis, flax is harvested. According to the free encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Aušrinė is the Morning Star, a feminine deity in the old Lithuanian religion. Some experts reconstruct her as the goddess of beauty, youth and health, and the queen of all stars. Aušrinė's sisters are other stars: Vakarinė, the evening Venus, who makes the bed for Saulė, Indraja - Jupiter, Sėlija - Saturn, Žiezdrė - Mars and Vaivora - Mercury. pradėkime, let’s get started With this episode we’ll continue working on combining numbers with nouns.  Any number that ends in number two through nine causes the noun to become plural.  The exceptions to this are the numbers 12-19.  We’ll

Hi there, I’m Jack and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud.  Just a quick note before we get started, Agnė iš Vilniaus has honored us with another excellent contribution.  This is probably the best work she’s ever done on this podcast.  Thanks for all your hard work Agnė! Also, I did the math and in 13 months we’ve done over nine episodes of Lithuanian Out Loud a month.  Most of the time I’m trying to put out three or four a week, but I rarely have that much time.  For the next few months we need to cut way back on our frequency.  It’s just that we both have many other projects that have been neglected and we need to put some time into them. But, don’t worry, we’re still working on dozens of episodes on paper and we have about 15 recorded.  So, we aren’t quitting, we just need to free up some time for other things.  We’re not going to stop, we’re just going to slow down the pace a bit.  Once these other projects have been tended to, we’ll try to put out dozens of new episodes for you.  Alright, on with the sh