What is the most beautiful Lithuanian word? Foreign learners invited to decide

A new initiative invites foreign residents of Lithuania to pick the most beautiful Lithuanian word.

The initiative is organised by the Migration Information Centre MiCenter, established by the International Organization for Migration (IOM Lithuania). Among other services, MiCenter is offering Lithuanian language courses.

“Lithuanians have been choosing the most beautiful word in their language for many years, and the word ‘Ačiū’ (thank you) has won several times. We thought it would be interesting to find out what is the most beautiful word for foreigners living in our country,” Edita Urbanovič, project manager at MiCenter, is quoted in a press release.

“Every word is new and untamed to a language learner. This way, we want not only to involve foreigners even more in learning the language but also to show the public how many foreigners living in our country love the Lithuanian language and are willing to learn it,” she continued.

The winning word will be selected in two rounds. During the first round, from September 24 to October 1, foreigners in the country are invited to suggest their words. They can do so by filling in this form.

The 10 most popular words will go to the second and final round. The winning word will be announced on October 9.

“Currently, over 220,000 foreigners are living in Lithuania, which is about 8 percent of the country’s population,” Urbanovič is quoted in MiCenter’s press release. “We are noticing that the newcomers are actively learning Lithuanian themselves. Seeing the interest and need, we are collecting information about Lithuanian language learning opportunities for foreigners and will share it on the soon-to-launch MiCenter website.”

MiCenter provides one-stop consultations and services for foreigners in Lithuania. This year, it also started offering Lithuanian language courses for Ukrainian refugees.

The centre also hosts the Lithuanian language club Let’s Learn Lithuanian, run by foreigners themselves. “There are many more examples of this, clubs and groups are being set up in other cities as well,” according to Urbanovič.