En ymmärrä

"Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things." ‒ Flora Lewis

So. I'm learning Finnish.... or at least I'm trying to!

This is my tenth year coming to Finland now (ok, I live here, but still) and despite owning books, CD's and a dictionary, I've struggled to add to my vocabulary and more that that, I've really struggled to understand conversation. In all honesty, this is mostly due to the fact that every time I was here in Finland, my friends were mostly speaking English or Swedish. They did inform me that it was a waste of time trying to learn if I wasn't here in Finland and having moved here, I now appreciate this fact.

I was looking into taking up some Finnish classes but over the years I have actually built a small vocabulary and I've studied the structure of the language and some grammar. This fact, coupled with my free time meant that taking up a part-time beginners class was a bit too slow for me. I committed to learning at home for a while with the aim of getting to B1 or B2 level by the time spring arrives. Hopefully by then I'll be in a position to take up a class and start having basic conversations. For now, it's mostly basic grammar exercises and adding to my vocabulary. I've already noticed a difference and started to realise just what a challenge it will be.

I started using this website: worddive.com and I've found it quite helpful. For me, I committed to 40 minutes per day, 5 days a week. Of course you can tailor your course as you need it and adjust the goals accordingly. These 40 minutes are just tests/exams/tasks so in total, I find myself doing about 90 minutes per day. I also use an app called Semper on my phone. You can create your own packages here to learn the words/phrases you want to lear and you have to answer a question every time you unlock your phone. This gives you regular exposure to the language andI believe that this is the real key to learning a language.... to have Finnish on your brain, all day, every day. I'm hoping to earn another certificate in a month or so. We'll see!

There is an added element to learning Finnish that I also discovered very quickly. There's a big difference between what you learn and how people actually speak. I'll give you an example as this was the first thing I noticed:

'Paljonko kello on?' .... This means 'what time is it?' however I quickly noticed that people actually say 'Paljon kello on?' I also learned that the 'ko' part is what turns this into a question. It just sounds easier the way people say it and so, rather than going by the textbook correct way of doing things, I think it's nice to know this, but to actually speak as the locals or natives do, (albeit in a very strange and weird foreign accent compared to theirs)

Why am I learning Finnish? It's true that I don't need to learn Finnish. All of my friends speak perfect English and I never have any issues in daily life. A few Finnish phrases will get you out of most situations where your counterpart doesn't speak English. For me, learning Finnish is a passion project. I want to be part of the society here and some day gain citizenship and I believe it's important therefore to speak the native language as best I can. I'm already in love with the culture here and while that's something special itself, learning a new language would be an amazing achievement for me personally and that's motivating in itself. 

I don't expect to be having any conversations in Finnish in the short-term but I try my best to understand and to learn something new every single day. I don't believe there's a single perfect approach to learning a language but there is one that's best for each one of us and this certainly seems to be working for me. I still require the confidence to use it in real-life situations and have infrequently tried my best, usually at a bar or in a shop. With that in mind, I'll leave you with another useful phrase for today:

"Anteeksi, missä on Stockmann?"