Visiting an Angry Birds-themed playground in Pori with my friend Siina in spring of 2015. It was so fun to spend time speaking Finnish with her!
Becoming fluent in Finnish is admittedly challenging. It can take years of dedication and perseverence — aka, sisu! That being said, I don’t believe that people are either good at language learning or not. I think that when a skill is taken seriously and time is spent on it, it is possible to master almost anything. I have had many friends who have been frustrated that they feel like they know and understand quite a lot of Finnish and maybe have attended several beginning or even intermediate group classes, but still haven’t advanced their Finnish language skills significantly past the intermediate stage. As a life-long learner and teacher of Finnish myself, who did not grow up in a Finnish-speaking family, I can share with you what I did to help my fluency significantly, while I was at that most frustrating stage between beginner and highly proficient. There is nothing easy about these methods, but as they say things that are easy aren’t always the most worthy endeavors anyway. Here they are:
1. Live for an extended period of time in Finland.
Having friends and family visit, while I lived in Finland made the time extra special! My little sister was often my conversation buddy while growing up, as no one else in our family has spoken Finnish since our maternal great grandmother
Although this isn’t always possible, it is the number one way you can help improve your Finnish language skills. It is so much easier to be surounded by the language and the culture than to have to recreate those things for yourself. I also recommend that you chose to live somewhere other than Helsinki, which is very cosmopolitan and thus more challenging to use Finnish in because most Finns there are willing and able to speak a lot of English and there are many immigrants who are at various spots in their Finnish language exposure and knowledge, so the default is often English. When I lived in Tampere, it wasn’t so difficult to use Finnish and to be naturally exposed to it, much more than English. When I lived in Oulu a few years after that, it was even easier and I had even been thanked by several Finnish people for using Finnish. My friends in Helsinki report that they have hardly used Finnish at all outside of studying the language at university. Kind of a bummer, but it makes sense, when you consider that capitols are often immersed in international English.
2. Find a native (and credentialed) Finnish language teacher to tutor you.
This is a powerful investment in your language development. The reason is that often times by the time someone is at the intermediate level, it is hard to gauge where their skills and challenges are, unless you are working with a skilled teacher. The reason I recommend a native speaker (although I know many non-native and highly proficient EXCELLENT teachers of Finnish in the US), is because they will have a lot more perspective into the wide variety of nuance in Finnish. There is never only one way to communicate something and native speakers are simply better at helping figure out if what you are saying works and how to change it to add nuance.
3. Watch Finnish shows with the Finnish subtitles on.
Usually watching a movie or a show is relaxing and a way to check out, so if you are hoping to do that, save this activity for another time. Active watching, means that you are really paying attention to not only what is being said, but how it is being said, and maybe even why (culturally) it was said at all. I know… This is a lot to keep track of. That is why it can’t be thought of as simply watching a show or movie, but rather should be thought of as leveraging a show or movie to help you further your Finnish language skills. It isn’t always possible to turn on Finnish subtitles while streaming a show, but there should be subtitles available on most DVD versions of shows and movies from Finland. When streaming, I like to use YLE, as most of them have a subtitle option available and there are several options available around the world (although not all, unfortunately!).
4. Listen to Finnish radio, especially talk segments.
My favorite shows are podcasts on YLE or streaming Radio SuomiPop (mainly because most of the songs are in Finnish too!). Podcasts with interesting topics about history or culture could serve a dual purpose of teaching you something new while exercising your Finnish listening skills. Oftentimes, students of Finnish get stuck on feeling confident with audio meant for language learners that is slowed down and planned for language learning and struggle to move into consuming audio that is produced by and for native Finnish speakers. It is essential to challenge yourself with media made for native speakers (maybe a few minutes at a time to work your way up to a whole program), if you are ever going to feel like you are moving past the intermediate level.
5. Read books in Finnish.
Finnish sanaseinä (word wall) that I built in my student apartment in Tampere and brought back with me to MN, when I returned.
When doing this, I strongly recommend starting with one or several books in selkosuomi or Finnish for learners of Finnish. This will build your practice of reading in Finnish and help you eventually move to a book written by and for native speakers. A good selection of these kinds of books can be found on Hanna Männikkölahti’s webpage. Once you have read one or two books in this more simplified Finnish, pick a shorter book or a book for kids to read next in native-level Finnish and eventually move to novels and other books in Finnish for native speakers.
6. Challenge yourself to write more in Finnish.
Whether this is a grocery list, letters to Finnish-speaking friends, or daily diary, it is important to take time to write in Finnish whenever you are able. The nice thing about writing a grocery list is that theoretically it is easy — words from the dictionary. A diary doesn’t need to be shared with anyone else, so it shouldn’t feel as intimidating as writing a letter might. Committing to the Finnish you know though, through writing letters and other messages in Finnish is an important step though, as there is often great reward in taking the risk of maybe not writing completely accurately.
7. Change your phone and other tech into Finnish.
This is easy and can teach you a set of technology vocabulary that is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, no matter what you do for work and hobbies. How to change language settings can be found online and althogh not every device is capable of operating in Finnish, most cellphones and computers are at this stage, regardless of where they were purchased.
8. Find a conversation partner or group.
Time with Leila White’s - A Grammar Book of Finnish, is time well spent.
This is a really fun and more social way to elevate your confidence in using Finnish in everyday situations. I recommend trying to keep the conversation in Finnish only. If you are meeting up with a friend, try using it at the store together (although probably not with employees…) or do a walk and talk. Coffee shop meet ups are fun too, but may get boring after a few. If you don’t think there is anyone around you can meet with in person, you could try meet ups online. I also welcome you to join in our free weekly Finnish conversation hour that has a new theme each week!
9. Take notes about everything you encounter that is new and review from time to time.
Although it may feel like it is slowing down your progress while watching a show or reading a book, forcing yourself to dwell on new information for a minute or taking time to wonder why something is structured the way it is, allows you to go deeper into the language and build a better base for yourself.
The more you can integrate the above into your daily activities, the easier it will become for Finnish to feel natural for you to use and eventually maybe you will be able to say you feel fluent! Good luck and enjoy the process!
What do you think? Do you have other language learning tips that have worked for you when studying Finnish or another language? Share them in the comments below or send us an email!
Getting Finnish practice in while visiting Jyväskylä
The main thing, is to keep the main thing, the main thing : )
