Speaking Estonian

Vabandage. I am sorry.
Ma ei räägi eesti keelt. I don't speak Estonian.

But I am trying. Every week I have over 2 full hours of eesti keel. It's enjoyable, but I don't think I'll ever really be able to do much beyond say hello and goodbye, please and thank you, and perhaps use the correct change in the market when the clerk says "kakssada viiskümmend seitse." That's two-hundred fifty-seven. Kaks (2) sada (hundred) viis (5) kümmend (turns the word for 5 into 50) seitse (7).
I struggle mightily to understand the differences between me, you, them (no he or she) in both plural and singular form, and how every verb changes depending on who I am talking about. For example, "I study Estonian language" is:
Ma õpin eesti keelt.
You (singular, specifically you) study Estonian is:
Sa õpib eesti keelt.
They study (specifically them, those people right there):
Ta õpib
and of course, the plurals of the above, in the same order are:
Me õpime
Te õpite
Nad õpivad

So far the verb "study" has 6 forms. Don't even ask about studied or studying. In fact, there is no continuous tense, so you can't say studying exactly.

Another fun fact to know and share: unlike English, the object in an Estonian sentence is a different form. In English, "Tom killed the tiger" is not the same at all as "the tiger killed Tom." However, in Estonian, "Tom tappis tigri" is exactly the same as "tiigri tappis Tom," because tiigri is the object form of the noun for tiger.

Vabandage.

Language

Külm valik is a sign in the cafeteria at work. My ipod translator says valik is assorted. My translator has no ü with the 2 dots over it. So I typed kulm. Kulm (no dots) is eyebrow. How wonderful is that? Assorted eyebrows at the cafeteria! OK, külm (with the dots) is actually cold. But to me, it will always be assorted eyebrows.

Speaking English "over there"

I always feel bad that I don't speak a second language. There is something very surreal about going to a conference and giving a paper, in English, to an audience where English the second (or third) language of everyone else in the room. I kept thinking either "I'd better speak really well since it's my language" or "I don't have to worry about my language skills, they are the best in the room." OK, that second one is an ugly American point of view, and I really did make an effort to speak slowly, clearly and enunciate as well as I possibly can.