Latvian pronunciation is unusually predictable for a European language — once you know the sound rules, you can pronounce a word correctly on first sight far more often than in English or French.
Unlike English, where stress placement varies unpredictably from word to word ("record" the noun vs. "record" the verb), Latvian word stress falls on the first syllable in the overwhelming majority of native words. This single rule removes a huge amount of the guesswork English speakers are used to doing with stress.
Latvian distinguishes short and long vowels as genuinely different sounds, not just a stylistic lengthening — a long ā, held noticeably longer than short a, can be the only difference between two otherwise identical-looking words. The macron mark (see Latvian Alphabet) tells you exactly which vowels are long.
Because Latvian spelling is close to phonetic, a given letter is pronounced the same way in nearly every word — there's no equivalent of English's "though / through / tough" sharing letters but not sounds. This makes reading new words aloud far more reliable than in English.
On the first syllable, in the large majority of native Latvian words — a far more predictable pattern than English's variable stress placement.
Yes — a long vowel (marked with a macron) is a genuinely distinct sound from its short counterpart, and the difference can distinguish otherwise identical-looking words.
Generally yes — Latvian spelling is close to phonetic, so a given letter corresponds to one consistent sound far more reliably than in English.
Every letter and vocabulary item in Tarc's Latvian course includes audio, so stress and vowel length are learned by ear alongside the written form.
See also: Latvian Alphabet · Latvian Listening & Speaking · Learn Latvian