Babylon Hill. Finnish language: how to learn on your own
Finnish is not considered in simple language. But learning Finnish is quite possible. You can even learn Finnish on your own by listening to news in simplified Finnish. In this case, you will only need a basic understanding of Finnish grammar, basic lexicon and desire. At the same time, learning Finnish will be simple and even interesting. What is simplified Finnish and where can you find such news? This is what we will talk about.
I want to tell you how to learn Finnish. If you follow my recommendations, then within 2-3 months you will notice significant progress in Finnish. Why am I suggesting this to you? Because I tested it on myself, and this method really works. I have been studying Finnish for ten years now and I must say that I have come across various methods, most of which did not justify themselves. For example, I don’t really believe in the technique of immersion in a language environment, when you go abroad to study a language. This is especially doubtful in Finland, since Finns, as soon as they see that you speak Finnish poorly, will immediately switch to English. Therefore, the Finnish environment is unlikely to help you significantly improve your language in short term. There are also various cutting-edge language courses that promise you knowledge of the language in a few weeks or months. I tested the courses myself, and they do not work. Courses are needed to get basic knowledge about language – basic grammar and basic vocabulary. And then you need independent work. There is no way to learn a language without it. To work independently you need to find it interesting, easy and simple. And now I will tell you how to make learning Finnish as simple and interesting as possible for you. First of all, I recommend that you watch short video a program about simplified Finnish, and if you still have questions, continue reading.
There is a TV channel YLE in Finland. This is something like our first channel, only here, in addition to TV, there are also newspaper publications and even Finnish radio. All this is available not only if you have a TV, but also via the Internet at www.yle.fi. This allows you to learn Finnish online.
The Finnish news channel YLE has a section with text news and a section for television and video programs, which can also be watched offline. The amount of news and programs is huge. But this is all in everyday Finnish, and at first you are unlikely to understand anything. However, the site also has a special section for Finnish learners - something like “Finnish online” or “learn Finnish”. This news is in simplified Finnish. This section is called “selkouutiset”: http://yle.fi/uutiset/selkouutiset/. Simplified Finnish means that the news is read by a professional announcer, using as much simple sentences and basic Finnish vocabulary.
Try listening to the daily news block, it's only 5 minutes long. Just press the play button and listen. I suggest you the following. You listen to this Finnish news, and if something or everything is not clear to you, then you read the text below, which repeats word for word what the announcer said. Here you understand the dictionary, write down words if desired. After that, you listen to the news again. If you do this every day (and these news come out almost every day), then after two or three months you will be surprised at the result... You will begin to understand Finnish! I guarantee you this. It's very simple and only takes 15-25 minutes if you listen to the block twice and write down the vocabulary words.
You don't have to listen every day. The news is stored in the archive for some time and you can simply select a couple of days a week for classes.
Besides being simple, it is also interesting. It’s interesting to listen to what the Finns talk about there. I must, however, warn you that the Finnish news, even on such a training channel, is very biased. We are constantly told that there is no democracy in Russia. But in reality there is no democracy in the West, including in Finland, sad as it may be. The fact is that all the news about Russia, Ukraine, the Middle East, Syria, Libya, etc. represent only one pro-Western view of the situation. Often Finnish news simply lies. Let me give you one illustrative example.
Since the news is stored in the archive for a couple of months, you can listen to it late. This is what happened to me this summer. I returned from vacation and in the fall I began to listen to the news for the middle of summer. You, I'm sure, remember that in mid-July a Boeing was shot down over Ukraine. It is still unknown who shot him down. However... Finnish news knows everything in advance. Immediately after the disaster, the Finns began to blame militias from the southeast and even Russia for this. This is on the second day after the disaster! At the same time, naturally, the Finns do not have any reliable sources and references, so they simply write “many believe” or “many believe that the plane was shot down by militias with the support of Russia.” And this is simplified news for non-Finns!
In general, it’s very strange for a developed democracy... In my opinion, this is just stupid propaganda. And the results of this propaganda have already demonstrated themselves in Ukraine. Do the Finns really need war?? More precisely, not to the Finns, but to those who control them...
However, read and listen to Finnish news yourself. I guarantee you that your Finnish language will move forward, and you will also learn a lot of interesting things about Finland and, among other things, about the so-called “Western democracy”...
You can find out why Finnish only seems difficult to us, and read more interesting materials about the Finnish language.
Website of Alexander Demyanov with a very good section on the Finnish language. Extensive section on grammar. There are links to a basic course for beginners, exercises, and adapted texts in Finnish. Also contains a good list of Finnish language textbooks and links to others useful resources to learn Finnish. In my opinion, on this moment the most comprehensive resource for learning Finnish for Russian speakers. Alexander's VKontakte group http://vk.com/public65909410
Tavataan taas. Finnish for foreigners. Finnish in English. The first part is a basic selection of everyday words and expressions, the second is basic grammar. Words and expressions can also be presented in audio form, and there are also small exercises in electronic format.
7. http://www04.edu.fi/suomeaolehyva/ Suomea, ole hyvä!
Finnish language course in Finnish. 3 parts, includes grammar and exercises that can be done online
8. http://oppiminen.yle.fi/suomi-finnish/supisuomea Supisuomea— basic Finnish language course in Finnish. Includes short thematic videos (you can also watch them on youtube.com, search using the keyword Supisuomea)
8. http://hosgeldi.com/fin/ A good vocabulary trainer for beginners. Directions: Finnish-Russian and Russian-Finnish. You can listen to the words, there are exercises for writing words and composing phrases. You can subscribe to the newsletter and receive a daily portion of new words to memorize in your inbox.
9. http://www.suomen.ru/ Archive of online lessons on Finnish grammar. There are exercises, lists of new words. Sometimes there are minor vocabulary errors, which knowledgeable people immediately correct in the comments to the lessons. These lessons have not been updated for the last few years, but they can be used as a base.
10. http://www.verbix.com/languages/finnish.shtml Verb conjugation: in the search field you need to write the infinitive, the program will show other forms of this verb
11. http://vk.com/puhua Page “Finnish every day” (thematic collections of words for beginners)
12. http://papunet.net/selko/ Thematic texts in “simple” Finnish, sometimes supplemented with short video files
13. http://www.worddive.com/ru/yazyk-kurs/finnish-for-immigrants - free online Finnish language course for immigrants
14. http://www.loecsen.com/travel/0-en-67-52-90-free-lessons-finnish.html - Finnish language course from Loecsen
15. http://www.uuno.tamk.fi - a portal for initial acquaintance with the language and culture of Finland, developed for participants in student exchange programs
16. https://ru.wikibooks.org/wiki/Learning_Finnish_language - “Learning Finnish” - course for foreigners on Wikibooks
AUDIO AND VIDEO
17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHVGKi6x7cQ&list=PL874A415D066843B8— Supisuomea channel — one of the best Finnish language video courses Anastasia Magazova steals texts
18. http://areena.yle.fi/tv/ohjelmat/uutiset Current news in video format, available for viewing by those living outside Finland
19. http://yle.fi/uutiset/selkouutiset/ News spoken by an announcer at a slower pace than regular news. You can listen to audio and read news text at the same time
20. http://areena.yle.fi/tv The main link through which you can go to different video sections (opened using the Selaa button) - documentaries, TV programs, sports, children's cartoons and programs. Unfortunately, not all videos can be watched if you are outside Finland (this information is indicated in the additional information (Näytä lisätiedot) under each video file. Katsottavisa vain Suomessa = available for viewing only in Finland, Katsottavisa ulkomailla = available for viewing outside Finland)
21. http://finnish4u.blogspot.fi/p/kuulostaa-hyvalta.html Episodes of the Finnish language video course for beginners Kuulostaa hyvältä, with translation for each episode.
22. http://www.katsomo.fi/ section Kaikki ohjelmat/KATSOTTAVISSA ULKOMAILLA. Broadcasts, news, programs that can be watched outside of Finland
23. - resources for learning Finnish from Finnish 101
24. http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/fi.htm - Finnish patter twisters with audio dubbing
TEXTBOOKS
25. Mullonen M., Hämäläinen E., Silfverberg L. “Opi puhumaan suomea / Learn to speak Finnish,” St. Petersburg, publishing house “M.G.V.”, 2007 (previously published under the title “Speaking Finnish /Puhutaan suomea). The textbook is accompanied by CDs with audio materials. Good tutorial for self-study Finnish.
26. V. Chernyavskaya. "Finnish language. Practical course", St. Petersburg, "Glossa", 1997. A well-known Finnish language textbook for beginners.
27. Hannele Jönsson-Korhola, Leila White. “Tarkista tästä. Suomen verbien rektioita «, FINN LECTURA OY. A very useful dictionary of verb control. A real lifesaver.
28. Silfverberg L., Hämäläinen E. “Kiva juttu! Suomea venäjänkielisille / Finnish language for Russian speakers", FINN LECTURA OY AB, 2005. A good textbook for self-study of the language, there are excellent thematic collections of new words. Grammar explanations are given in both Russian and Finnish. There is also an accompanying audio course.
29. Zhuravleva A. “Finnish grammar in tables and diagrams”, St. Petersburg, publishing house “KARO”, 2009. The basic grammatical rules of the Finnish language are collected in tables and diagrams. A very useful publication, provided that the student has a certain vocabulary, because... grammatical examples are given in phrases, not individual words, and are also translated as whole phrases. There are very useful notes (in Russian) on certain conditions for the use of any grammatical forms.
30. Leila White. “A grammar book of Finnish”, Finn Lectura, 2006. Well-structured, practical Finnish grammar - in English!
31. Majakangas Pirkko, Heikkilä Satu. "Hyvin menee! 1. Suomea aikuisille”, Otava publishing house. Recommended in Finland for teaching Finnish to foreigners. The textbook contains a lesson dictionary of new words. Continuation of the textbook - Kuparinen Kristiina, Tapaninen Terhi “Hyvin menee! 2. Suomea aikuisille”, Otava publishing house. There are audio courses for both textbooks.
32. Vitaly Chernyavsky (namesake of V. Chernyavskaya:)). Feature article " Brief grammar Finnish language”, exists in .pdf format As far as I understand, this publication was not published in print and exists only on the Internet in .pdf format
33. Chertok M. “Finnish language. Basic course"(according to the Berlitz method), publishing house "Living Language", 2005. A textbook for beginners, teaching spoken Finnish in the format of dialogues, there are exercises. The recording was made by native speakers.
34. Saunela Marja-Liisa. Collections of exercises on vocabulary and grammar of the Finnish language in the series “Harjoitus tekee mestarin” (parts 1-4), from basic to advanced grammar. There is also a fifth book in the series with answers to the exercises: “Harjoitus tekee mestarin. Ratkaisut osiin 1-3"
35. Susanna Hart. “Suomea paremmin”, Finn Lectura, 2009. A textbook for those who already speak Finnish at the first or second levels.
36. “Finnish for the lazy”, publishing house “Meridian”, audio course of Finnish language vocabulary for beginners, in 4 parts. The course is designed to memorize everyday words with gradual complication and transition to memorizing everyday phrases. No grammar. Words/phrases are repeated twice, with translation. Some listeners are annoyed by the voice of a Russian-speaking woman who voices the translation :) but if you don’t focus on this, you can quickly expand your vocabulary.
DICTIONARIES
37. http://www.sanakirja.org/ Hint: if you cannot find a translation of a word from Finnish into Russian, look for a translation from Finnish into English, in English version more vocabulary content
38. hhttp://po-finski.net / Online Russian-Finnish and Finnish-Russian dictionaries, translator of small text fragments, small phrasebook (contains a selection of phrases of congratulations on various occasions and small thematic selections of words)
39. http://ilmainensanakirja.fi/ Translates a given word into several languages at once, including Russian. Translation from Russian into Finnish available
40. http://www.ets.ru/udict-f-r-pocket-r.htm Finnish-Russian dictionary Polyglossum
41. http://en.bab.la/dictionary/english-finnish/
42. http://www.freedict.com/onldict/fin.html Directions: English-Finnish and Finnish-English
43. http://kaannos.com/ Translation from Finnish into Russian and from Russian into Finnish is available
44. http://www2.lingsoft.fi/cgi-bin/fintwol Word form analyzer: when entering a word in the search field in any form (case, number), it determines the dictionary form of the word, part of speech, indicates the number (units/sg, pl/pl), cases; for verbs indicates conjugations by persons, numbers, tenses, etc. A very useful dictionary, because... It’s not always easy to understand what word is hidden in what we see (a link to this dictionary and an explanation of the principle of its work was given by Alexey Isaev in the topic “Good Finnish language textbooks” in the group Learning Finnish! Opiskelemme suomea!(
It is possible to learn Finnish, and the number of foreigners speaking the language is constantly growing. For this article, we asked friends and colleagues to tell us which textbooks they use when learning Finnish and to give tips for mastering it.
In recent years, many Finnish as a second language textbooks have appeared on the market – so many that it is impossible to cover them all in one article. A visit to a bookshop in Helsinki revealed textbooks written for speakers of English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Swedish, as well as books written only in Finnish, regardless of the student's native language (often accompanied by a separate bilingual word list).
Those we talk to here come up with surprising suggestions for teaching aids and a variety of incentives, including proven ones practical advice and an action plan for Finnish language learners at all levels. In fact, we received so many recommendations that we had to split the article into two parts.
An absolute classic and a new look
“Suomea suomeksi,” is already in its 20th reissue and is still relevant. Photo: thisisFINLAND
ThisisFINLAND staff: Suomea suomeksi Eila ja Ossi("Eila and Ossie"), by Mika Lamminpää (ed. Gummerus), tutorial, supplemented by a CD aimed at immigrants. Both books are written in clear, straightforward and practical language exclusively in Finnish (in Eila and Ossi three pages of Finnish-English dictionary are included, with space to add a third language if desired).
Take action, don't give up!
Celia from France: my first book was Le finnois(“Finnish”), by Tuula Laakkonen (ed. Assimil). This book allowed me to study Finnish when I lived in France. The lessons, which contain cultural information and humor, are well designed. They make it easy to learn the language. I achieved a satisfactory level and would recommend this book to native French speakers.
Suomen mestari(Finnish Champion), volume one, was the second book I used during the Summer University courses in Turku. After learning Finnish on my own, I enjoyed taking classes and deepening my language knowledge. The well-written book enriched my vocabulary and strengthened my grammar.
Celia's recommendations: To achieve a decent level of knowledge, you will need strong motivation. Plus, when learning any foreign language, you will always encounter ups and downs. I intended to give up studying completely several times, but since I really wanted to visit Finland, my motivation was strong and I continued studying the language. Now I speak Finnish almost fluently and I can’t even explain how great I feel when I watch movies without subtitles, speak Finnish at the bank and talk about all topics with my friends. So take action, don't give up!
Let's learn right now
This path is not used in winter - but you may have realized that even without being able to read this sign. Photo: flickr/Tomi Tapio, cc by 2.0
Stanislaw from Poland: When I came to Finland 24 years ago, I studied from a textbook Finnish for Foreigners(“Finnish for Foreigners”) by Maija-Hellikki Aaltio (ed. Otava) on courses at the University of Tampere. In my opinion this is very good book. The grammar and logic were clear to me. I learned a lot of words, which was important at the beginning of my studies.
Stanislav's recommendations: Good method– watch Finnish television and read subtitles. I did this and made a conscious effort to remember some key words for future reference. It is also very useful to communicate with Finns - ask them to correct your proposals. It is important to start learning the language right now.
Finnish couldn't be easier
Daria from Russia: For me, the most suitable books are children's books. For three reasons:
1. Illustrations and common words make it easy to identify what you like. 2. I have little son. It is much more interesting to read books in such pleasant company. We are learning together. 3.The language is generally easy to understand, and the books are not long at all.
One of my favorite books - Kummamumma(“Funny Granny”) by Oili Tanninen (ed. Otava). I bought it at a flea market because of the illustrations. Later I discovered that the text is very useful in Everyday life. My other favorite book is Leonardon suuri unelma ("Leonard's Dream"), by Hans de Beer (ed. Lasten keskus). The text consists of simple, useful words. The dialogues are simple, but emotional, which helps you learn to express thoughts in different ways. The penguin in the book doesn't just talk about the weather - he describes it this way: “Eipä taida olla tänään lentosää” (It seems like the weather will be bad today), so you learn something new.
Finnish language champion
The title “Suomen mestari” hints that you are on your way to becoming a master or champion of the Finnish language. Photo: thisisFINLAND
Florian from Germany: Series Suomen mestari(“Finnish Champion”) is intended for those who are learning Finnish from scratch, as well as for those who know Finnish and want to improve it. Chapters focus on specific topics, and grammatical concepts are reinforced through numerous writing, speaking, and listening activities. A CD is included separately. The lessons and associated exercises have many illustrations, which is really helpful. I would recommend this book for tutoring.
Florian's recommendations: Finnish grammar is manageable - it is quite systematic with a few exceptions, but phrases can be difficult to pronounce, so learning words is crucial. Mastering spoken Finnish is a separate challenge.
With contributions from Peter Marten, Sabrina Salzano and Sara Vihavainen, May 2014.
Learning Finnish is like immersing yourself in another world. It has different rules and laws, original logic. Many people are afraid of its grammatical structure. The notorious 15 cases, postpositions, non-standard verbal controls, alternating consonants can discourage even starting to study it. However, not only difficulties, but also pleasant surprises await the person who dares to conquer this language. Finnish contains a huge number of borrowings from Russian. The word tavara, for example, means goods, and viesti means news or message. Words are read as they are written. The stress is always on the first syllable. Finnish has few exceptions and no articles. And all difficulties can be eliminated with the help the right approach to its study.
Suitable textbooks and tutorials are the first step to success
You should start by choosing a textbook that is suitable for independent work above the tongue. There are many of them on the Internet and in bookstores. But which one should you choose?
One of the best is the manual by Chertka M. “Finnish language. Basic course" from the Berlitz series. Each lesson contains lexical and grammatical material, as well as voiced dialogues on topics typical of everyday life: shopping, receiving guests, going to the movies. To consolidate what has been learned, the author gives exercises with keys for self-control.
A good tutorial is " Short course Finnish language" by Koivisto D. It perfectly explains the basics of grammar, provides various exercises with answers and texts for reading.
Beginners will find the “Textbook of the Finnish Language” by V. V. Chernyavskaya useful. With its help, you can master the lexical and grammatical minimum necessary for a basic level. The material in it is presented somewhat scatteredly, so it is recommended to use it as a supplement to the main course. With these study guides you will learn Finnish from scratch on your own. basic level. But what to do next?
The next step is study guides published in Finland
Having mastered the basics, you can proceed to more serious publications. These are textbooks created by native speakers and published in Finnish.
Suomen Mestari is rightfully considered the best. It clearly and concisely presents grammar and many listening tasks. The manual will help develop skills in understanding oral speech and improve pronunciation. The author writes in simple language, so there should be no problems understanding the rules.
The Hyvin Menee textbook will allow you to gain a good vocabulary and significantly enhance your grammatical training. It is divided into two parts. The first one is dedicated literary language, and the second - colloquial. Upon completion of the course you will reach level B1.
What about those who have already mastered the language well? The Finnish textbook Suomea paremmin is suitable for advanced levels. With its help you can pass the language test for citizenship.
Objective necessity: reference books and dictionaries
Textbooks alone are not enough for serious language learning. You need to have a good grammar reference book at hand. A self-instruction manual often cannot provide comprehensive answers to all questions. For beginners, N. S. Bratchikova’s book “The Finnish Language” will be useful. Handbook of Grammar". It is divided into sections, each of which is dedicated to a specific part of speech and has its own color. For example, green is for adjectives, and blue is for verbs. This design makes it easier to find the desired topic. The grammatical material is collected in tables and provided with comments.
Questions can also be raised by unfamiliar words in foreign language textbooks or reference books. Dictionaries are used to solve this problem. They are necessary for people who have seriously taken up the Finnish language. For beginners, electronic versions and specialized Internet resources are suitable. However, the best option would be solid paper publications, such as the “Big Finnish-Russian Dictionary” by I. Vokhros and A. Shcherbakova. It contains about 250 thousand lexical units on various topics and will help in almost any situation.
Video and audio courses to help Finnish learners
For people learning Finnish on their own, special video and audio courses are created. By studying them, you will increase your passive and active vocabulary, develop the skill of listening to foreign speech, and consolidate your grammar.
Check out the Supisuomea video course, developed with the participation of the Finnish broadcaster Juleisradio. When creating it, the authors paid attention to both official and spoken language. The video course covers topics such as home and family, food, and gifts. It covers basic grammar.
An audio course “Finnish while driving” has been created especially for car enthusiasts. It will help you learn to understand foreign speech and speak correctly on simple topics. After listening to it, you will learn the most common expressions in colloquial speech. However, you should not expect that you can quickly and easily master the language with the help of audio and video courses. Finnish will remain a mystery to you if you trust only this source of information.
Online resources are a storehouse of useful information
In addition to the textbooks listed above, there are many useful online resources for learning Finnish. Worthy of attention is the project of Alexander Demyanov “Finland: language, culture and history”. You can find a variety of information on the site. There are Finnish language lessons for beginners, grammar materials, exercises of varying degrees of difficulty with attached answers for self-control, video and audio courses, reading texts that definitely won’t be boring. Among them are tales by Timo Parvelo, written simply and with a sense of humor. The author also posts articles about the culture, cinema, music, literature and history of Finland. The site is suitable for different levels of language proficiency.
Natalia Savela’s project “Site about the Finnish language, Finland and...” is also of interest. It will be useful for beginners. There are lessons on the Finnish language with exercises on grammar and vocabulary. The words on the site are voiced and accompanied by illustrations. The author offers visitors materials about Finland, in particular about holidays and obtaining a visa.
Communication with native speakers is the best practice
An important component of learning a foreign language is its application in practice. Communication will bring more benefits than phonetics. It’s good if your interlocutors are native speakers. If you don't know anyone from Finland, use specialized resources. One of them is the Italki website. In the “Language Exchange” section, find a Finnish interlocutor who is interested in learning Russian. You can also practice Finnish on the Suomi24 Internet resource, in thematic groups social networks VKontakte and Facebook. There you can find both native speakers and people studying it. For live conversations, use Skype.
Fun Finnish: a learning app 50 languages
What other resources are suitable for people who decide to learn Finnish? For beginners, the app for Android 50 languages will be useful. Download it from the Play Market, activate your account and get started. Here you can learn the alphabet, numerals, words on various topics. Each section is voiced and equipped with test tasks, for example, you need to understand the inscription or recognize a word by ear. There is a lot in the application vocabulary games, and also has a voiced picture dictionary.
Maximum immersion in the language will provide quick results
The more foreign language you have in your life, the faster you learn it. Listen to Finnish radio on the Internet. Watch TV shows and movies in your target language. Read adapted or original books, online magazines, newspapers. Change the language on your tablet and phone from Russian to Finnish.
Practice writing, reading, listening and speaking equally, and then you will achieve your goal: master a foreign language. Learning Finnish is not that difficult, the main thing is desire and regular practice.
Finnish is the most popular language among course participants northern languages Scandinavian School. Finnish language courses are suitable for those who are in one way or another connected with Finland through work, family ties or own real estate in Finland, as well as for those who are simply interested in the Finnish language, culture, and history of Finland.
Finnish language at the Scandinavian School is:
At the Scandinavian School courses, Finnish language training is taught by highly qualified teachers, authors of exclusive programs that provide the opportunity to learn how to express your thoughts about various events and phenomena. In Finnish language courses you will be able to gain knowledge of Finnish grammar and vocabulary, as well as information about culture, history, modern life in Finland.
To study the Finnish language, the most modern textbooks by Finnish authors, audio and video materials are used, which provide a real opportunity to master the Finnish language and acquire skills to further improve this knowledge. As additional literature for classes and home reading, our teachers have collected a large number of Finnish manuals, books and magazines.
As part of the course, the phonetics and vocabulary of the Finnish language are studied, much attention is paid to grammar and, on its basis, conversational practice, reading, translation, and listening comprehension. During the learning process, a large number of practical examples are considered, and excerpts from modern periodical literature are used. The main textbook used for training is Suomen Mestari with a set of audio materials on CD.
Especially for students studying Finnish, the Scandinavian School has developed a unique Finnish language internship program at a college in Ruokolahti in Finland. Language internship is the right way move to the next higher level of Finnish language proficiency and gain invaluable experience unique training and language practice.
For those who are already learning Finnish and have an average level of knowledge of the Finnish language (from level A2 and above), within the walls of the Scandinavian School there is a Finnish conversation club, within which you can always hear the living Finnish language and communicate with a native speaker.
We consider one of the most important achievements to be that the Embassy of Finland in Moscow trusts us to train its employees and officially recommends Scandinavian School courses for everyone who wants to study Finnish in Moscow.
Finnish language (Finnish suomi, suomen kieli) - belongs to the Baltic-Finnish subgroup of the Finno-Volga group of Finno-Ugric languages and is part of the Uralic language family; the closest relatives of the Finnish language are Karelian, Estonian, Vepsian, Mordovian, Udmurt and Hungarian languages. Finnish is spoken by the majority of the population of Finland (92%), as well as by ethnic Finns living outside Finland - in Sweden and Norway, in the province of Finnmark, among the Finnish diaspora in the USA, Estonia, Russia (mainly in the Leningrad region and Karelia).
The Finnish language has many vowels and no sibilants, which makes the language very melodious. The word hääyöaie has seven vowels per consonant. This feature allowed the author of The Lord of the Rings, John Tolkien, to take Finnish as the basis for the language of the elves.
Course tutorials:
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Forms of training
Group training
Group training is the most accessible and popular form of training at the Scandinavian School. When studying in groups, a fixed lesson schedule is used, focused on certain days and training time. You can choose the most convenient schedule of classes in the evening, daytime, morning, both on weekdays and on weekends.
The basic Finnish language course when taught in groups lasts about two to two and a half years, depending on the chosen class schedule. At the end of the basic Finnish language course, the level of knowledge, as a rule, corresponds to level B1-B2 according to the European language portfolio system.
After completing the basic Finnish language course, you can improve your acquired skills at the Finnish Conversation Club or at our special language internships in Finland and Moscow.
For those wishing to pass the state exam in Finnish, special individual preparation is possible.
Most of our teachers recommend group learning as the most effective method learning the Finnish language, as it allows you to simulate the situation of live communication in class, get acquainted with different speaking styles, exchange interesting and useful information on the issue of learning Finnish.
Currently, more than 20 Finnish language groups are studying at the Scandinavian school.
If you have already studied Finnish and want to continue your studies further, you can always come to us at free testing or run the test in in electronic format. At the Scandinavian school, they will definitely select a group that suits your level.
Express Finnish course
In 8 lessons you will learn to talk about yourself and confidently conduct dialogue in a store, restaurant and transport.
The course guarantees the acquisition of active vocabulary at the everyday levelwithout boring and difficult grammatical rules using the oral advance method.Already in the first lesson you will be able to express yourself using ready-made structures in an atmosphere of fun and friendly communication!
This course is for those who are traveling to Finland for the New Year holidays and for those who wants to gain basic communication skills in Finnish in record time!
Summer Intensive Courses
Intensive Finnish course is a short-term (2-3 months) Finnish language course, which is held several times a year for those who need to quickly and effectively master basic communication skills in Finnish and information about the country of the language being studied. The class schedule includes up to three classes per week. During the training you will receive the minimum vocabulary necessary for communication on simple everyday topics, and the basics of grammar. After completing the intensive course, you can continue studying in one of the groups of the basic Finnish language course.
Individual training
If you have a difficult schedule, a shift work schedule, or simply want to study Finnish one-on-one with a teacher, we can offer you an individual form of training. This form of training allows you to create a class schedule taking into account your wishes for time and intensity of classes, and receive the full attention of the teacher during the lesson.
Distance learning
Distance learning is a new form of learning, dictated by today’s busy pace of life and modern information technology. Training takes place remotely according to a pre-agreed schedule using the Internet. This form of education is also suitable for those who live outside the capital and have an irresistible desire to learn Finnish. With the use of appropriate programs, this is available to anyone, even if you live in another city. Distance learning at the Scandinavian school is effective, reliable and exciting.
Corporate training
For employees of companies and organizations, we offer personnel training both at the Scandinavian School and on the job. It is possible to train groups of different language proficiency levels and individual employees. Our experienced teachers will test employees, offer a program taking into account the specifics of the company's activities and select the necessary training materials and literature.
Currently, under corporate training conditions, we conduct classes for employees of the Embassy of Finland in Moscow, Nordea Bank JSC, Intego-Logistic LLC, and the Moscow representative office of Statoil ASA LLC. Our listeners were also employees of companies such as VR-GROUP LTD. (Finnish Railways), law firm "Castren & Snellman", international group of companies "Lindab".
Professional education
For Finnish language teachers, the Scandinavian School conducts special professional internships on Finnish language teaching methods with invited specialists from Finland and Karelia. During such an internship, you will learn what new trends are emerging in the field of teaching the Finnish language, what features need to be taken into account when teaching students of different levels of training, what new methodological manuals are published both in Finland and in Russia. Participation in a professional internship is a great opportunity to increase your professional value and exchange invaluable experience and interesting ideas with colleagues.
Maria Chertok: “Don’t be afraid to speak Finnish!”
The teachers of the Scandinavian school are our pride. Not a single generation of our students has successfully completed their studies and has excellent language skills. Last week we had an open lesson in Finnish. Students learned about the features of the language, learned the most important words and expressions and even briefly talked about themselves.
Express course in Finnish
"The Express Course in Finnish is great option for those who want to speak a little of the local language while in Finland. This is also a great option for those who have not yet decided whether they want to learn this language.
I can say for myself that thanks to the professionalism of our teacher Alexey, the desire to study this language more deeply appeared!” - this is the review our student Olga wrote after completing the Finnish language express course.
This course turned out to be so popular that the Scandinavian School is opening a new enrollment for a short conversational express course in Finnish!
Start of classes: March 2019.
Timetable of classes: on Saturdays from 11:00 to 14:00.
Price: 6,500 rubles.
Beginner group lesson schedule and cost
| Start of classes | Class time | Price (for adults) |
Price (for schoolchildren, students** and pensioners) |
Teacher | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day off. | |||||
| March 24 | 14:30 - 17:30 Afternoon classes (once a week) SUNDAY | 8,500 rub. 7,700 rub. per course 16 academic hours cheaper per level | 7,700 rub. 6,900 rub. per course 16 academic hours cheaper per level | Klokov Alexey | Remaining: 1 place |
| Express course. | |||||
| 30th of March | 11:00 - 14:00 Express classes(once a week) SATURDAY | 6,500 rub. 7,700 rub. per course | 6,500 rub. 6,900 rub. per course | Klokov Alexey | Remaining: 3 places |
| Evening classes. | |||||
| April 2019 | 17:00 - 18:30 Evening classes(2 times a week) Tue Thu | 7,200 rub. 6,100 rub. per block 16 academic hours | 6,500 rub. 5,500 rub. per block 16 academic hours | Remaining: 6 places | |
| April 2019 | 19:00 - 21:15 Evening classes(2 times a week) Tue Thu | 10,800 rub. RUB 38,800 per block 24 academic hours cheaper per level | 9,800 rub. RUB 35,200 per block 24 academic hours cheaper per level | ----- | Remaining: 5 places |
| Finnish conversation club with a native speaker | |||||
| Every week | 19:00 - 21:15 Evening classes | 4,000 rub. per block of 4 lessons | 4,000 rub. per block of 4 lessons | ||
Cost of classes
Group training
Evening time
With a one-time payment of one level 96 ac. hours (4 months) - 38,800 rub. RUB 34,900 (for adults)
With a one-time payment of one level 96 ac. hours (4 months) - 35,200 rub. RUB 31,700 (for schoolchildren, students and pensioners)
Block of classes: 24 ac. hours per month - 10,800 rubles. 9,700 rub. (for adults)
Block of classes: 24 ac. hours per month - 9,800 rub. 8,800 rub. ()
Morning time on weekdays
With a one-time payment of one level 96 ac. hours (4 months) - 31,300 rub. RUB 28,200 (for adults)
With a one-time payment of one level 96 ac. hours (4 months) - 28,400 rub. RUB 25,600 ( for schoolchildren, students and pensioners)
Block of classes: 24 ac. hours per month - 8,700 rub. 7,800 rub. (for adults)
Block of classes: 24 ac. hours per month - 7,900 rub. 7,100 rub. ( for schoolchildren, students and pensioners)
Weekend
With a one-time payment of one level 96 ac. hours (6 months) - 45,900 rub. RUB 41,300 (for adults)
With a one-time payment of one level 96 ac. hours (6 months) - 41,500 rub. RUB 37,400 ( for schoolchildren, students and pensioners)
Block of classes: 16 ac. hours per month - 8,500 rub. 7,700 rub. (for adults)
Block of classes: 16 ac. hours per month - 7,700 rubles. 6,900 rub. ( for schoolchildren, students and pensioners)
Individual training
Classic private lessons(at school): 1 lesson (2 academic hours) - 2,800 rubles*
Individual lessons on-site: 1 lesson (2 academic hours) - 3,100 rubles*
Distance individual lessons: 1 lesson (2 academic hours) - 2,000 rubles*
*the number of classes planned within one month is paid in advance
Course teachers
Schweichheimer Natalia Konstantinovna
Senior teacher of Finnish language, methodologist, supervisor of Finnish language internships
Ufimtsev Georgy
Finnish language teacher
Kurbatov Timofey
Finnish language teacher
Chertok Maria Markovna
Finnish language teacher
Inkina Natalya
Finnish language teacher
Zhemaletdinova Tamara
Finnish language teacher
Pavlova Elena
Finnish language teacher
Gal Yulia
Finnish language teacher
Finnish language teacher
Vezlomtsev Dmitry
Finnish language teacher
Konovalova Tatyana
Finnish language teacher
You can study remotely either individually or in a group.
Classes are held in small groups of 4-6 people. If you missed a class, you can always watch the recording of the class. We are currently recruiting for groups of a basic online Finnish language course, lasting 3 months.
Course objectives: to develop correct pronunciation, teach students to understand simple expressions from slow and clear speech related to everyday life, find information from simple texts, respond correctly to cues, be able to talk about themselves, about their family, about their apartment, about their working day, travel, hobbies.
For ease of learning, we chose a professional web service for organizing webinars clickmeeting.ru
Participating in the webinar is easy:
Finnish conversation club
If you are already at ease with grammar and have an active vocabulary, then the only thing left to do is: how to put all this wealth together!? If you are still in doubt, then we have known the answer for a long time - “Scandinavian Friday”!
Finnish Conversation Club "Scandinavian Friday" is held with the participation of native Finnish speakers. And there is a simple explanation for this. Language is not only a means of communication, but, first of all, a means of getting to know the culture and traditions of a people, an opportunity to understand their worldview, and who, if not a native speaker, has sufficient competence in all such matters.
Finnish Conversation Club "Scandinavian Friday" is a real help for those who do not have enough conversational practice in the Finnish language in everyday life, and for those who have already completed the basic Finnish language course and want to improve their conversational skills.
Finnish Conversation Club "Scandinavian Friday" hosted by Riina Ruhanen .
|
Riina Ruhanen "Hei! Minun nimeni on Riina ja tulen Helsingistä. Olen sosiaalinen ja avoin persoona, jolle työskentely erilaisten ihmisten kanssa on luonnostaan helppoa. Ammatiltani olen vaatesuunnittelija-pukuompelija, mutta pääasiassa olen työskennellyt pukeut Minulla on useiden vuosien kokemus asiakaspalvelusta ja osaamistani tällä alalla olen syventänyt merkonomi opinnoilla. Erilaiset ilmiöt ja tapahtumat kiinnostavat minua. Joten siellä missä tapahtuu toivoisin myös minä olevani. Erityisesti musiikki on lähellä sydäntäni, unohtamatta kokkailua ja lukemista." |
Finnish Conversation Club "Scandinavian Friday" takes place on Fridays from 19:00 to 21:15.
cost of a one-time visit - 1200 rubles,
cost of a subscription for 4 visits - 4,000 rubles.
Language internships in Finnish in Finland
They are one of the hallmarks of the Scandinavian School. We have developed a number of unique programs that take place several times a year, both in Finland and in Moscow, specifically for students learning Finnish. A language internship in Finnish is a sure way to move to the next, higher level of Finnish language proficiency and gain invaluable experience in unique learning and language practice.
A language internship in Finnish provides a real opportunity to consolidate and improve the knowledge acquired during the learning process; it includes phonetics, conversational practice with native-speaking teachers, modern, lively vocabulary of the language being studied and is a dynamic continuation of foreign language courses.
Finnish language internship in Finland in Helsinki
from 5 to 10 August 2019.
Finnish language internship will take place at the college Sofia Kultturikeskus in the city of Helsinki. The cultural center is located on the rocky Kallvik peninsula on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, a twenty-minute drive from the center of Helsinki, surrounded by a mighty pine forest and sand dunes. Picturesque coastline gives a special flavor to classes. The windows of double rooms with all amenities offer views of the lake and pine forest. The territory of the center is a nature reserve with rich history and cultural heritage, where you can meet hares and woodpeckers. The center has good equipment: modern classrooms for classes, a swimming pool, saunas.
The internship program will be led by Ulla-Maija Rouhiainen- organizer and teacher of courses on intercultural communication, teacher of history and geography, Finnish language, certified guide-translator, author of books on the history and culture of Finland.
Education– 5 academic hours per day (total 25 academic hours).
Accommodation– in double rooms with all amenities.
Nutrition– four meals a day on a buffet basis.
Upon completion of training, a certificate of completion of an internship in Finnish is issued.
Intensive language internship- this is a sure way to move to the next, higher level of Finnish language proficiency, gain invaluable experience of unique learning and language practice.
Please note that the number of internship spots is limited.