Interview with Gabriella from Montreal

This time we are interviewing Gabriella, who was born in France and later moved to Canada. Gabriella has never lived in Latvia, but grew up in a mixed family with a Latvian mum and a French dad. She explains how she learned Latvian and where she uses it in her everyday life.
In our previous conversation, we heard Gabriella’s mother share her experience on how to pass the Latvian language and culture to children in the diaspora. Now, listening to her own story, we can see how important this transmission really is, and how it manifests itself in the child’s point of view. This comparison of the two perspectives – parent and child – clearly shows that preserving Latvian language and culture in the family is possible, and inspires other families to continue this effort.

—