Fourteen cases and unfamiliar pronunciation: how the Keeleklikk language-learning platform helped a Swede and an Italian master Estonian with confidence.

This article was published in collaboration with Keeleklikk.

It is often said that Estonian is a difficult language for foreigners to learn because of its complexity. The reasons most commonly given are its 14 cases and the pronunciation of its special characters.

Even so, many foreigners have found the motivation to learn Estonian. Reflecting on their language-learning journeys, both the Swede Andreas Onkel and the Italian Thomas Oberlechner say that, without the Keeleklikk platform, they would not even have known how to begin.

Andreas first encountered the Estonian language nine years ago, when he met his now-Estonian wife. However, he decided to start learning it even before his first trip to Estonia, as he wanted to communicate with local people in their own language during his visit.

For someone born and raised in Sweden, Estonian initially seemed a complete mystery. “I didn’t even know it was a Finno-Ugric language,” Andreas recalled.

Andreas Onkel said Keeleklikk gave him the confidence to begin learning Estonian – a language he now uses at home every day. Private collection.

Andreas discovered Keeleklikk through Google. “I simply wanted to speak the language better, so I googled ‘learn Estonian’ and Keeleklikk came up,” he explained.

The first simple phrases he learned gave him the sense of achievement he needed to carry on and convinced him that a language which at first seemed highly complex was, in fact, entirely learnable. Today, Estonian is one of Andreas’s home languages: he uses it every day with both his wife and their four-year-old daughter.

Estonian as the language of a second home

Thomas Oberlechner, who comes from South Tyrol in northern Italy, grew up in an area where German is predominantly spoken. He first encountered Estonian while visiting Estonia.

The language struck him as something exotic and immediately sparked his interest in learning it. Repeated visits to Estonia also helped him form close friendships, and today he says that Estonia has become his second home.

Thomas discovered Keeleklikk in 2015, and its style of learning suited him straight away. “I have always found learning from books difficult. Keeleklikk’s video dialogues and interactive exercises made learning enjoyable for me,” he said.

For Thomas, the platform has been an indispensable tool, particularly for learning grammar, which is often the greatest challenge for foreigners studying the language.

Keeleklikk as the gold standard in language courses

Both Andreas and Thomas emphasised that Keeleklikk’s greatest strength lies in its systematic approach.

Based on his experience, Andreas considers it the best of its kind in the world, because it allows learners to listen to dialogues, see the written version of the text, and immediately put into practice what they have learned. “Keeleklikk is the gold standard in language courses. The variety of exercises makes learning fun,” he noted.

He was especially full of praise for the grammar lectures. “Vocabulary without grammar is like a tailor without a needle,” Andreas remarked.

Thomas, meanwhile, pointed out that although Keeleklikk on its own cannot replace real-life conversations with Estonians, it does provide a strong foundation for learning the language.

A Keeleklikk campaign visual promoting free Estonian-language learning at different levels.

Both learners rejected the criticism that the courses focus too heavily on grammar. Their experience suggests that clear rules and a structured approach are precisely what best support language acquisition.

Today, both Andreas and Thomas have mastered Estonian to the point where they can communicate fluently. Their stories show that the right methodology, consistency and a user-friendly learning environment can make learning Estonian not only achievable, but also engaging and inspiring, even if it can at times be a complex and time-consuming undertaking.

Keeleklikk is a free, modern and interactive platform for learning Estonian, consisting of three parts: Keeleklikk (levels 0–A2), Keelelend (B1 level) and Keeletee (B2 level). Learners receive feedback from teachers at the first two levels, while at the Keeletee level the correctness of submitted answers is checked by an algorithm.

Keeleklikk was developed jointly by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research and the Institute of the Estonian Language, with co-funding from the European Union.