On Sunday, March 17th VEMU/ Estonian Studies Centre celebrated the Native Language Day. The theme for the day was “Married to Estonia?” The event was intended to draw attention to intermarriages and what it means for a non-Estonian speaker to be married to an ardent Estonian.
An overview of the the situation in Estonian communities abroad was given by VEMU/The Estonian Studies Centre head archivist Piret Noorhani. The keynote speaker was Kathy Põldre, wife of Canadian Estonian Peeter Põldre. Her speech was entitled: “Estonia in my Life.” In addition, two Estonian Television programmes were shown: “Kahekõne / Dialogue”, Indrek Treufeldt’s interview with Ka Bo Chan, a Hong Kong Chinese, who is now a resident of Tallinn (2012), and “Jõuluks koju / Home for Christmas” about Epp and Justin Petrone’s life in Estonia (2012).
View the pictures here: http://vemu.ca/index.php/et/events-fotogaleriid/347-17-marts-2013-emakeelepaev-abielus-eestiga
Piret Noorhani