Postimees observer Mart Raudsaare writes that when the Soviet Union collapsed, he was 17, and he remembers situations when it was impossible to get by with just the Estonian language in Tallinn.
Now, in his opinion, the 1980s have returned to the capital. "In the past year, I have found myself in situations where a service worker did not understand Estonian at all. And this is not about an underground sneaker seller. I have encountered non-Estonian speakers among taxi drivers, waiters, and hotel administrators. In places where a worker should at least have a basic level of language knowledge," writes the commentator.
"Recently, I have been wondering why these people do not know the Estonian language and where they come from. Are we talking about a Russian young man born in 1980 in Lasnamäe, a Ukrainian refugee, or a person who has come to us from the lands of ancient Mesopotamia? We encounter all three options, but as for Russian youth, they generally know Estonian better than the other two categories. However, even the latter cannot have an excuse for not knowing the state language."
"The number of people who do not speak Estonian has clearly increased, and this trend continues," believes the observer. In his opinion, this has been facilitated by employers who consider knowledge of the Estonian language to be not the most important requirement, as well as by the Estonians themselves, who easily switch to English or Russian when communicating with service workers in the capital of Estonia.
"On this issue, I have become principled and continue to communicate mainly in Estonian. Anyone who wants to live in Estonia must know our language," concludes the commentator.
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