Academic CentreZiņa
Anna Kristīna Trautmane, a student of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia (UL), is a recipient of the M. M. V. Petkevičs Memorial Scholarship of the UL Foundation 2022./2023. academic year. Anna with her family has initially spent the course of her life in Venezuela, however, in 2018 she returned to Latvia with her family.
Read the interview with Anna!
Tell us about your life and that of your family.
My sister and mother were born in Venezuela, and my grandmother in Latvia. My grandmother fled during the Second World War with her family from Latvia to Venezuela, because her father and mother were almost sent to Siberia, they were allegedly on the next list, however, they were lucky, because they managed to leave by one of the last ships to Germany, and then to Venezuela. Since childhood, I was raised with Latvian values, and we always kept Latvian traditions in the family. Honestly, I have always felt more Latvian than Venezuelan.
How long did you live in Venezuela and when did you return to Latvia?
I lived in Venezuela for almost 15 years. In 2018 my family decided that it was time to leave because of the social, political and economic crisis in the country. We came to Latvia in 2018 on 12th of April.
Why did your family decide to return to Latvia?
The economic situation in Venezuela was getting worse every year, the state of the country was generally dire. There was great unsafety, as murders and robberies took place almost every week. There was a great shortage of food and medicine; it was necessary to stand in lines to barely get bread. Therefore, I consider Latvia to be my home, because here I feel safe and saved. I will always be grateful and happy that I live here.
Do you want and plan to return to Venezuela someday?
I have always considered and will consider Latvia as my home. Perhaps I will return to Venezuela only as a tourist if the situation in Venezuela ever changes.
What values do you value most in Latvia, in Latvian culture and people?
There are many Latvian values that I highly appreciate. For example, patriotism and honesty. I really like how Latvians treat their homeland, I respect it very much. I also like that ”sense of security " when I am among Latvians or in general when walking down the street. Latvian culture, especially literature, is also extremely beautiful. From high school I will always remember the poetry of Austra Skujiņa, essays by Zenta Mauriņa and the story “Bille” by Vizma Belševica, they inspired me very much. I love many Latvian folk songs and Latvian Song festivals. I still remember the first time I sang the song “Your Flag” by Janis Aišpurs and Renārs Kaupers in the choir and the song “Sun, Thunder, Daugava” by Mārtiņš Brauns, my eyes were full of tears.
Did you not speak Latvian before at all? How and how long does it take to learn Latvian?
I knew Latvian, but at a very low level (I would say A2).
I started learning Latvian at the end of 8th grade. It was the most difficult stage in my life, because I had to prepare for exams, and I did not know anything about the history of Latvia and even less could understand such concepts as “Duke” or “Riflemen”, etc. It was also difficult in mathematics, I could complete the tasks, but if I had to explain how I performed it, I did not know a single word, neither “Viet's theorem” nor “common denominator”, because in Spanish it is all different. Not to mention the subject of the Latvian language, at first went with tears.
Only in the middle of 10th grade, I began to understand more about the theory of the Latvian language. Later, in 11thgrade, I was finally able to empathize because I spoke much more freely and had acquired a wide vocabulary. Starting from 12th grade I spoke fluently and confidently. In my case, it happened in a very natural way – if you are in a Latvian environment and people around you speak exclusively Latvian, over time, without noticing it, you replenish your vocabulary, and sentence constructions are also much more understandable. This is how it happens in any language, you just need time and completely delve into it.
Of course, you also need the desire to learn, you can't go anywhere without willpower. Learning Latvian is certainly a very difficult and time-consuming process. I am still learning and will never assume that I have a good Latvian language, because I can learn something new every day. It is still very common to make mistakes with endings and so on, but the fact that I myself am aware of my mistakes is a great advance. When I speak, it also happens to think longer of what I am saying, but it is a matter of time.
I am also very grateful to my school – Ādažu Brīvā Valdorfa skola– which received me and made me feel at home. I would like to thank all my excellent high school teachers who were very welcoming, especially the Latvian language and literature teacher, without her help and patience I would certainly not have gone this far. I also had the good fortune to meet a very outstanding Latvian linguist who helped me a lot, without her I would not have learned Latvian so quickly.
I feel very happy that I am a student at University of Latvia and that I can get higher education in Latvia. I hope that I will be able to do a lot for Latvia in the future.
