Maksim, 16, lives with his mother in Narva. He is in the tenth grade at a school that switched fully to Estonian in 2024.

Maksim: “I’m not a bad student. I’m good in math, in physics too. But since everything is in Estonian, I feel like I’ve become dumber. I understand a lot – but I need more time. And when I need more time, teachers say: ‘You have to try harder.’ I am trying. It’s just that it feels like someone is turning the volume down on the radio.”

Mother: “He studies every night until late. But all the assignments are in Estonian. I can’t help him. I learned in Russian. He translates, and sometimes I can see he’s been crying.”

Maksim: “I know Estonian is important. But sometimes I think: Why am I not allowed to just be me? When I speak Russian with friends, the teacher says: ‘Speak Estonian.’ When I speak Estonian, the others say: ‘You sound weird.’ So I just stop talking.”

He looks down at his hands, hidden under the table.

Maksim: “Once we had a competition about Estonian history. I wrote about the War of Independence – in Estonian. I really tried. But in the end I only got second place because my grammar wasn’t perfect. And the teacher said: ‘Very good, Maksim. You’re on the right track.’ I know he meant well. But it felt like: ‘Good that you’re almost one of us.’”

Mother: “He used to say he wanted to study at the university in Tartu. Now he says: Maybe Finland, maybe somewhere else. Somewhere where they just take you the way you are.”

Maksim: “I don’t want to leave. I like Narva. But sometimes I think the city itself doesn’t want me anymore. Everywhere new signs in Estonian, new rules, new tests. I get it. I get all of it. But I don’t feel it.”

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