I started a Keskustelutunti group in late Spring 2021 because I had noticed that in my previous encounters with language conversation groups, the topics of conversation were always nearly identical and thus I got frustrated as a participant because I felt like I was never making much progress. When I was developing the idea for Keskustelutunti, I remembered how my Suomi-Klubi group facilitators (University students studying Finnish as a Second Language) approached our weekly meetings. They always made sure to make it fun and also ensure that there was plenty of time for participants to talk, while ensuring that we had a new focus each time.

We usually kept our meetings light on grammar, with more emphasis on communication and just trying to say what we wanted to say. We would learn through listening to songs and discussing the culture through the lyrics, share about a specific topic in our lives, etc. The leader would share a few words and notes on the white board, but nothing overwhelming – just enough information.

When I started building out a plan for Keskustelutunti, I didn’t want it to be like the other language conversation groups I had encountered in the US. I can only enjoy talking about what I did today or last weekend for so long. I wanted to learn about how to talk about bigger ideas than simple life activities. I also didn’t want to be lectured to – that is what Finnish classes or tutoring is for. It was important to me that participants felt comfortable whatever level they were joining us at and that every week all participants (even those that grew up speaking the language), would learn something new. Selfishly, I also wanted to learn something new too, when possible.

After almost a year of me preparing all of the supportive materials for our conversations, I decided that it could be very beneficial for the students to have the option of contributing the materials to our weekly discussions. That way students could get the benefit of creating a vocabulary list around the topic that they wanted to have us discuss. In so doing, participants would learn a lot of other Finnish along the way, as well as, hone their leadership and research skills. Exercising the creative skills it takes to put together the materials has also been beneficial to me and likely others too, who don’t always get to harness that skill in their day to day work.

Since switching to that model, I have been very impressed at what the participants contribute to each week’s meeting. It is a great example of “many hands make light work.” Although I usually oversee the flow of the meetings and often prepare materials to use or just in case someone can’t attend who was supposed to provide materials, I have felt that the new format has served our participants well.

To read an article about Keskustelutunti from the perspective of a participant, check out the October 2021 issue of FACA’s (Finnish American Cultural Activities) Newsletter — it is on the last page.

Keskustelutunti meets every Tuesday evening from 7-8p Central Time (CT) on Zoom. Our participants have joined us mostly from all over the US and southern Canada. Participants join at varying skill levels of Finnish conversation and have different reasons why they are interested in learning Finnish — no Finnish heritage test required! To join, please email luumuabc@gmail.com with the subject line: Keskustelutunti. The group is truly free to join, but we also accept donations to help offset costs of the Zoom subscription, marketing, and curriculum development. If you would like to contribute to Keskustelutunti, feel free to Venmo @luumu (Luumu Finnish Living). Kiitos tuesta — ja tervetuloa mukaan!