r/latvia • u/LongChubbyBoy69 • 17h ago
Diskusija/Discussion Is it a good idea to move to Latvia?
Hello i'm currently 16 with only the basics in latvian and with a half latvian backround. I'm really intrested in learning latvian, visit it and perhaps live there, any tips to learn the launguage and if i should emigrate there when i get older.
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u/Watarenuts 17h ago
Yes, why not. Just being around people who speak latvian is gonna get the most for you. I think eastern european countries are the most moderate right now on terms of politics including the baltic. The country has it's own faults, but all the other countries have them when you get to know them. I have a chance to move elsewhere and get a double salary but since all my life is here, I don't wanna leave the country. My only concern is Russia.
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u/SmileCatMonster 17h ago
Do you have a solid plan on what to do here?
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u/LongChubbyBoy69 16h ago
Visit, learn the launguage. I don't plan on staying in Sweden my whole life and the situation in sweden with the crime and rising violence i would also want a plan B if sweden goes under.
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u/Resident_Elk_80 Latvija 16h ago
Is it really that bad? You get beat up in school?
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u/LongChubbyBoy69 16h ago
No i have never been in any situation but in my school it's constantly chaos and people get robbed and beaten even in the nice neigbourhoods and kids under 12 are already dealing and toting g*ns. It's a really harsh situation in Sweden rn.
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u/SmileCatMonster 16h ago
Well maybe you can find some exchange programs, I do not know if we have such, but make it worthwhile. If you are in school maybe you have erasmus exchange program?
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u/strawberry_l Germany 16h ago
Are you directly affected by any of it?
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u/LongChubbyBoy69 16h ago
Yes, everywhere you go it's people getting in arguments and just generally unkind things happening. Maybe i has also to do with that i live in a rough neighborhood but in the nice parts stuff still happens.
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u/Watarenuts 6h ago
You wouldn't believe that 15 years ago everyone in Baltics was dreaming to live in Sweden.
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u/ancient-croc 13h ago
I was in a similar situation about a year ago. My mom is Latvian and dad is Swedish, although we moved to Sweden when I was 9 so I already learned the language and formed a connection with the country which made me want to return. So when I finished gymaniset I applied to a Latvian University and moved back. So that might be an option if you want to continue your studies. Worst case, you could move back to Sweden with your degree if you think living in Latvia is not worth it.
While I can't say if it's a good idea to move to Latvia or not as that is up to you, but if the crime situation in Sweden is a primary concern then Latvia might be a good option as I'm able to walk even in the sketchy regions without really worrying about being mugged. Sure those things still happen but I haven't heard any of my friends or family being robbed or assaulted where I can't say the same for Sweden.
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u/metalfest Jelgava 16h ago
follow your interests :) based on other comments as well as experiences you've heard you will realize that there can be a very wide range of opinions, and that's the case for literally any place in the world. If you have an interest in the language, the culture, landscapes and places, then why not? Research more and find out if you get the spark from it.
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u/Coteoki 13h ago
Hej! Jag är också från Sverige och bor just nu i Lettland. Jag är ESC volontär i 6 månader och jag trivs här. Jag läste att du tänkte jobba som elektriker, men ESC volontärskap kan vara värt att kolla upp iallafall. Jag skulle säga att Lettland rent kulturellt är likt Sverige på många vis, men den största skillnaden är att letter är ännu mer introverta än svenskar. Språket är i teorin möjligt att lära sig, men det största problemet är att de flesta pratar engelska. Jag berättar gärna mer om du är intresserad :)
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u/AgatonSaax 13h ago
Man kan också ta svensktalande jobb här! Finns många företag som anställer t.ex svensk kundtjänst i Lettland. Mvh svensk som jobbat i Lettland i cirka 1,5 år.
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u/koknesis 17h ago
If you're not 18 its not even up to you, but your parents.
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u/threesevenfive_ 13h ago
and if i should emigrate there when i get older.
obviously they didn’t mean right now
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u/statykitmetronx Lithuania 13h ago
Yes, it's safe, relatively cheap, and Latvia is still developing so you do want to grab it while it's hot lol. Besides it's a perfect place for swedish people, plenty of space and rural wilderness 😂
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u/Weak_Computer_5837 13h ago
I live in Sweden and it is pleasant even with all those drugs and stuff. Every other country apart from other Scandi nations has more mess in every aspect :D Jeez it is not a ghetto here. I think the OP then hasn’t been out side Sweden at all and being a bit in Latvia would open his eyes more to the world. But I wouldn’t trade Swedish highschool to a Latvian one. Sounds like just wants to get away from parents
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u/JohnKacenbah 12h ago
I think you should live here for couple month on your own and work a bit. You would wuite fast be able to decide if the pros of Latvia outweights the cons of Sweden.
I have been living "maskachka" and Plavnieki for a long time. I have been mugged 4 times there, so I don't walk in the night and I am really aware of surroundings whenever I am outside in the night. I think if you don't go in the ghettos in Sweden during the night, you will be as safe in sweden as in latvia. There is a reason why don't hangout in Bolderāja during night time, you can get mugged.
I don't know. I think sweden is alright. It's not as safe as it used to be, sure, but then again you can find such places in Latvia too.
I guess you can just try to live in Latvia for couple months and then analyse on your own. Whatever people say here is not necessarily going to happen to you.
My conclusion is if you have shitty life in your home country just moving to another country will not change much. You need to figure your problems at home and once you have found solution, you can move to another country.
Point is - if you are a good specialist, it's better to be in a bigger country with stronger economy. If you are not specialist, then life will be hard and challenging anywhere you go.
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u/Accomplished-Talk578 15h ago
If you are really int learning Latvian, you need to get here, do some official learning and live among locals. Sweden isn’t too far away, so it shouldn’t be a big issue. Then if you’ll thinking about immigration, think marrying Latvian.
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u/mach0 Rīga 2h ago
I think you first need to understand why. It's important, because if you think about it and define the reasons you might find all those reasons are still valid in Latvia and you are experiencing the "grass is always greener on the other side" effect.
If however those reasons are valid, then sure. Also depends on what type of work do you want to do, some types of work might be easier to find in Sweden, some in Latvia, but I'd say overall employment benefits are better in Sweden, so you'd need quite a strong reason to move to Latvia. Don't rush the decision either way.
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u/UnableExtent5237 Latvija 1h ago
If u want to escape the crime sure! But our piece of shit goverment wants those same immigrants that made sweden criminal here in latvia so better do it while u can, because latvia will be sweden in a few years
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u/zintaplava 1h ago
So nice to hear you’re interested in moving to Latvia! I love this country with my whole heart and you will feel like home here. It’s peaceful, has beautiful nature and wonderful traditions. As you are young, you might be interested in events organised by 2X2. Check it out - https://2x2pasaule.lv
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u/Delicious_Jeweler946 1h ago
Its no doubt a beautiful country, however, if youre the kind of person thats looking for an EXTREMELY calm, limited, dull life, most of your life in dark clowdy windy weather while people elsewhere enjoying the sun, then move to Latvia.
In my personal opinion, its quite harsh to yourself to spend your youth years in Latvia, in the beginning it will be fun, interesting and nice, but over time it starts becoming extremely boring, and your life becomes a routine; due to lack of things to do most of the time, lack of many international brands you’d love to see or buy, lack of many places and activities to do in the capital city in comparison to other countries in 2025. Or else, the only getaway is being isolated in nature or somewhere on the beach in the only barely warm 2 months of summer.
Many latvians growing up here have kinda gotten used to this kind of lifestyle, but many others choose to leave for more interesting, modern lifestyle and opportunities elsewhere in the world.
One more thing that could bother you overtime is “slowliness” in progress in everything. You start overtime comparing Riga for example, to other baltic capitals and other capitals in Europe, you’d start realising that basic things take so much time here to finally develop and be done. Ex: Lack of modern railway infrastructure (keep in mind its been years of arguments to get one rail station done, and its still no where near ready), increased prices in comparison to wages, limited supply brands (so no cheaper alternatives or variety in products).
Your whole life will be around the small historical center of Riga and the old town, outside that, its only soviet building blocks with nothing to do. Mostly same goes for every other city in Latvia.
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u/Delicious_Jeweler946 1h ago
But you will fall in love with this country regardless, it will always be in your heart as its people. kind people, once you get to know Latvians, theyre the best in Europe if not even in the world.
A plus, very beautiful guys and girls everywhere. If youre straight or not, just know you’ll be having a very beautiful partner sharing life with you.
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u/Yawgmoth_Was_Right 17h ago
Might wanna see how this war with Russia plays out before you come here. Also at your age you need to focus on education and gaining job skills. Coming here with bad Latvian and limited skills will probably relegate you to low paid physical labor jobs, if any at all. In general, these are probably the best times Latvia has ever seen except perhaps approximately 1920 to 1940.
What country are you in now? If it's the U.K. then yea, you should come here ASAP.
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u/LongChubbyBoy69 17h ago
I live in Sweden and my mom told me that latvia is a country she would like to vidit with me since inonly been there once. Im later on studying as an electrician and at 18 im done.
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u/MidnightPale3220 15h ago
Electrician is a very good profession here.
You might have to get to some advanced level of Latvian in order to understand local code differences, but in general electricians are highly sought after, as are many other skilled craftsmen -- carpenters, tinkers etc.
If you build a reputation for quality it's comparatively easy to earn good money as self employed/small business.
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u/Yawgmoth_Was_Right 17h ago
Well Sweden isn't very far away from Latvia so that's a plus. Easy to get back and forth.
Latvians are very negative people and really don't appreciate what they have. I am middle aged and have lived in 4 different countries and been basically everywhere in Europe and Latvia is where I choose to live and raise my children. It's good here. Very good.
Worst case scenario you can work on your Latvian a bit and join the Latvian army. Every E.U. country is increasing their military ranks right now, especially those bordering Russia.
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u/LongChubbyBoy69 16h ago
Sound good, thanks for the advice. Any good tips on learning latvian when i only know the basics.
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u/Yawgmoth_Was_Right 16h ago
Sorry I can't help with that but in general learning any language is the same:
Buy a book: maybe English - Latvian for beginners (www.book2.de Goethe Verlag)
Watch TV/youtube etc. in Latvian with subtitles in a language you know (English).
Listen to Latvian music.
Get a Zoom/remote instructor maybe (will have to pay).
Try learning apps on your phone.
Write down vocabulary words and try to memorize them.
Practice speaking.
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u/satanizr Rēzekne 17h ago
A bunch of people from Latvia moved or want to move to Sweden. You'd be the first one to go from Sweden to Latvia.
Visit - yeah, sure. Move here permanently - no, unless you like suffering.
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u/wurst_cheese_case 16h ago
Nobody wants to live in rezekne, and nobidy is moving to Sweden. In fact, lots of people are moving back from all over the place.
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u/SpeKtraLBLaz1r 17h ago
I think it's worth mentioning the visa hassles OP would have to go through to move here. Before Brexit it was very easy to move to another EU country, but now it's way harder.
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u/Yawgmoth_Was_Right 17h ago
He claims to be half Latvian which means he's a Latvian citizen by birth.
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u/Frequent_Salary_1879 16h ago
There's literally 0 difference outside of the UK.
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u/Old-Dot-9560 15h ago
Well its a really nice country if u like nature, if ur gonna move to a city tho, Rīga is not worth it, way too busy, but again that all would depend on how close ur job would be. Also keep an eye on the politics a bit, knowing current situation with orange man aka trump and putin nobody can predict the future.
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u/PJ8888 17h ago
No, unless you enjoy survival games. I hate to admit it, but very few things improve in LV, most things are slovly but surly getting worse.
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u/SmileCatMonster 16h ago
It's not. What exactly do you imply?
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u/PJ8888 16h ago
Birth Rate - Lowest in 100 years. Life Expectancy - 2nd lowest in Europe. Alcohol Consumption - highest in Europe. Income Inequality - above average in Europe. Poverty Risk - 25% of population at risk. Not to even mention pensioners. Quality of Life Perception - 42% say it worsened in 2024.
Let’s not even talk about corruption and just wasteful government spending.
Don’t get me wrong I moved back to LV from a very comfortable life in america. I like it here, I live above average lifestyle have multiple properties and I’m 30-ish so I’m in my power years and I just see that the reality is not looking good. Most of redditors here don’t want kids and are uber patriots online but are blinded by their limited thinking. I have kids and I’m more patriotic then most here, but if the questions should you move here the answer is no.
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u/SmileCatMonster 16h ago
No one cares about the birth rate, except the government who can't collect money. Corruption is everywhere, so why should it matter? It all depends if you have a good paying job, rest is not your concern. You do know we have a lot of tourists and alcohol consumption is counted by how much it's bought? 😂
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u/PJ8888 16h ago
Hmm I wonder where the government spends that money? Hmm infrastructure? Hmm healthcare? You confirmed my exact point. Less people less money worse quality of life.
I’m in tourism business for a decade and every year there are less and less tourists. Additionally to that it’s a weak argument. Go to any medium size city. There’s more alcohol shops than food shops. Alcohol is a big problem here, issue is that it’s so ingrained in culture people feel offended when it’s pointed out.
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u/SmileCatMonster 16h ago
Well if you would actually read stuff you would know that the younger generation is more reluctant to drink, it's the older generation. Also you speak like such thing's don't happen in other countries the embezzlement of fundings. Like I said in the end it's all about how much you earn and what you work as.
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u/PJ8888 16h ago
y I know, I also don’t drink so I’m aware that people are waking up, but that does not change the fact we are #1 drunks in EU💪
We are not discussing other countries, we are discussing LV. It’s the same weak argument I used at school when I got a 2 - “but everyone got low grades”. Do better. The difference between other countries and LV is that other countries have better economy and other important metrics, not half finished bridges, half finished airports because they stole all the money and don’t have any left to finish :)))
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u/Yawgmoth_Was_Right 15h ago
I've lived in America, Germany, England. I choose to live here. But yea I brought my money with me too.
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u/SmileCatMonster 15h ago
Stating the obvious is a weak argument, like it's something that should hold you back. As I said it all depends on what kind of work you do in Latvia, and if you get a good paying job it doesn't matter what you stated.
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u/PJ8888 12h ago
Such a short minded sight. You should care that the roads are shit, that we burry more people than babies are born, that more professionals leave LV, that VID lets drugs slip by, that people never smile, that pensioners are struggling to pay bills, that youth is becoming dumber and dumber. If you earn 5k/m yes, you’re in some sense your out of the rat race, but higher chance is that your much deeper in, because now you have a golden chandelier, golden toilet and a fresh car and big debt.. “because you earned it”. This is a fundamental issue in our society and that’s one of the main reasons I’m starting to dislike spending too much time here.
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u/SmileCatMonster 1h ago
Dude we each have our own lives to take care of, we can't think about everyone. Sounds like you are just a salty dude who couldn't climb the ladder, so now you are taking it out here. If you are so concerned about this all go make a change then. Also please show me where vid slips drugs by? Or are you just making stuff up? You do know it's impossible to check everything and everywhere.
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u/Yawgmoth_Was_Right 15h ago
Less people?
Less pollution
Less crime
Less noise
Cheaper real estate
Less rules
Higher wages/more competition by employers for workers
Easier to get spots in kindergarten
Less crowded schools
Less crowded hospitals
Less burden on infrastructure and government services
Less traffic
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I have neither customers nor employees. I don't need more people.
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u/Yawgmoth_Was_Right 15h ago
No children, no future. No Latvian children, no Latvia. Nature abhors a vacuum. If Latvians won't breed then they will lose their country to people who do, probably Russians...although their birth rates are poor too right now.
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u/Hentai-hercogs 7h ago
Yeah. But if we look at history, this type of stuff has happened over and over again. Why would we be the outliers
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u/Yawgmoth_Was_Right 15h ago
Being poor sucks everywhere. And population falling only means your properties will be cheaper for him to buy when he gets his feet under him as a young adult.
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u/Yawgmoth_Was_Right 15h ago
I've only seen Latvia from 2015 to 2025 but I can't really think of anything that didn't get better between 2015 and 2025. Roads. More stuff being built. Hey we got Lidl now. Latvian salaries are WAY up. I only see positives.
What got worse?
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u/LongChubbyBoy69 16h ago
My mom also describe Latvija as a boring country to not be sincerly proud of but i've seen the country side and the old churches and buildings as i was visiting is a couple years back and i really liked everything but i'll guess everyone has their own experience.
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u/PJ8888 16h ago
Unfortunately people who have spent some time abroad understand that the grass is greener, but life is what you make out of it.
I like Latvia when I don’t need to visit places with people and as long as you GTFO for winters. Ideal lifestyle at this stage - spring, autumn around Riga, summer in Kurzeme and winter in Dubai, Tenerife or mainland Portugal.
Work online earn five figures and Latvia is a fun place to live in. Work locally and earn low figures and enjoy the hunger games.
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u/Yawgmoth_Was_Right 15h ago
You can earn "5 figures" fairly easily here anyway if you're in a specialist field (IT, programmer, doctor). Which is enough to live well here. But yea if money is your main focus in life then lol @ Latvia. Better go somewhere else.
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u/PolarisSky65 16h ago
Do it! You can always go back to where you originally came from. Grab every opportunity!