By Hannu Arvio, Finnish teacher at Institut Nòrdic
At Institut Nordic, you can experience what the Finnish language is like and how to learn it.
- What is Finnish like?
- What’s the best way to learn it?
- Finnish has a reputation for being complicated – is it true or is it a myth?
- Could I learn it?
These are some of the questions that cross the minds of people who are thinking about studying Finnish, and to which we hope to provide answers.
However, it is difficult to give an accurate answer because everyone is different, and our ability and way of learning languages vary. Some people can devote a lot of time to studying, while others don’t even have time to open the book between classes.
Also, we live in different environments; it is not the same to learn Finnish living in Finland, in a completely Finnish environment, as it is to attend class once a week, outside the country.
Let me give you an example of a Spanish learner.
One of the most important aspects in assessing whether Finnish is complicated for a Spanish speaker is its distance from Spanish. Undoubtedly, learning Portuguese or Italian is much easier than learning any language that is so different from one’s mother tongue, as is the case with Finnish.
If you ask any Finnish speaker if it has been difficult to learn their language (Suomi, in Finnish), they will answer that it has not been difficult at all and that they did not even think they were learning anything. Like any speaker, a Finnish speaker also learns to communicate fluently in his or her mother tongue without realising that he or she is doing something extraordinarily labyrinthine.
But for those who do not have Finnish as their mother tongue, Finnish is undoubtedly something different. It differs from Spanish in many ways, and that’s where its main difficulty comes from, but not everything is like that.
Below, you can see some of its typical aspects. Yes, it is obviously very different when compared to Spanish, but, on the other hand, it has particularities that are not so complex.
Suffixes
All kinds of suffixes are added to the words, which function as prepositions, possessives, plurals, direct complements, or even as gesticulations or intonations. In fact, Finnish grammar revolves very much around suffixes, which sometimes form a long tail behind the word that provides a lot of information:
- boat = laiva
- by boat = laivassa
- on my boat = laivassani
- on my boat? = laivassaniko?
- in my boat (insisting) = laivassanipa
- on my boat (more moderate) = laivassanihan
- on my boats as well = laivoissanikin
In addition, it is sometimes necessary to establish a root in order to make consonant changes or add the necessary suffixes:
- Helsinki+ssä = Helsingissä (in Helsinki)
- vesi = vedessä (in water)
- syödä+maan = syömään (to eat)
The changes caused by suffixes can give Finnish learners a headache, but there is a logic to them, and you don’t have to learn them by heart. Almost all of them can be consulted on the Internet, for example, in the Kotus (Finnish Language Institute) dictionary.
Absence of gender
Neither nouns nor pronouns have gender. In that sense, Finnish is practically a neuter language. For “he or she”, the same word is used: hän.
Own vocabulary
As a language that does not have its roots in Latin, Finnish has a very different vocabulary.
In addition, in order to maintain its originality, its own words have been promoted, and even today, it generates neologisms from its terminology.
For example, when you open an application on your cell phone, in Finland, you open sovellus, which comes from the verb soveltaa, “to apply”.
Of course, spoken Finnish is sometimes very adventurous and looks for influences from outside. Often, the word appi or äppi is used for “application”. In any case, students of Finnish have to pay a lot of attention to learning vocabulary and keeping it active.
Pronunciation
Speaking Finnish phonetically well does not entail any difficulty for a Spanish speaker. It’s simple; it’s something you learn without any extra effort, just by listening and speaking the language.
Verbs
The verb tenses are not complicated. There is one present and three past tenses. Finnish has six main verb groups and hardly any irregular verbs.
However, it has a lot of verbs, and they define each action exactly, so you have to learn a lot of them. The conjugation is similar to that of English: each person conjugates:
- Puhua = to speak
- Minä puhun = I speak
- Sinä puhut = you speak
- Hän puhuu = he/she speaks
- Me puhumme =we talk
- Te puhutte = you talk
- He puhuvat = they speak
Future
Finnish has no verb tense for the future. It simply uses the present tense, which is usually accompanied by a time expression, such as “tomorrow” (huomenna), “in summer” (kesällä) or “next year” (ensi vuonna).
Spoken language (puhekieli)
Standard Finnish is one thing, and spoken Finnish is another.
Puhekieli is a variation of Finnish, economised for more informal use when communicating in an environment that allows it.
It is a mixture of dialects, ways of speaking and generational and cultural differences. It is not the same for everyone, but it varies according to who is speaking and in what context:
- minä olen = I am (standard Finnish)
- mä oon = I am (puhekieli Finnish in southern Finland)
Cases
Finnish has no prepositions, but what it does have are 15 cases, each with its own plural.
Most of them correspond to prepositions, but some of them have no equivalent in English. Therefore, it can be a bit difficult to get the hang of them.
Here are some declined cases:
- on boat = laivassa
- of boat = laivasta
- to the boat = laivaan
- by boat = laivalla
- the boats (plural determined) = laivat
- boats (plural indeterminate) = laivoja
It is important to maintain motivation…
Learning Finnish requires, above all, enthusiasm, discipline and motivation.
At the beginning of the enormous task of learning a new language, there is usually a lot of enthusiasm, but as soon as the first difficulties arise, the motivation is in jeopardy. During those low moments that every language learner faces from time to time, the best thing to do is to think about the future.
Remember again why you decided to study Finnish and what it can bring to your life.
… and live in Finnish
Attending a Finnish class is an effective way to learn the language, but it is often not enough, especially if the language is not spoken in the learner’s environment.
In this case, it is better to start creating it yourself. There are many ways: applications, mailboxes, social media, etc., can be set up in Finnish.
Likewise, there are many and varied resources in that language to turn to: music, radio programs, series, movies, educational apps, literature, blogs or YouTubers’ videos.
However, the most important thing is to meet a Finn and, in addition, to maintain the relationship in Finnish.
