Ovi Magazine Issue #12: Sexuality Published: 01-03-2006

use it, learning it from a book or
even in a class isn’t the same as actually
using it.”
One of the courses that Kevin attended
included a month’s work
experience, which he encourages
people to opt for, “You’ll learn
more useful spoken Finnish and it
is very good practice,” and he is
not alone in his appraisal. Speaking
Finnish in everyday life seems
to be the key to developing your
skills, since many of the courses
falter in this area. Both Tony and
David Cord, a 33-year-old American,
believe that there should be
more conversation-based courses
on offer for those wanting to learn
Finnish.
There are difficulties when testing
the skills learnt on a language
course in public, “The problem I
usually face is the pronunciation,
it can be complicated, which can
then cause a misunderstanding
with the person whom I am talking
to. Sometimes it is also difficult if
somebody realises I am English,
then they’ll want to try to speak
English to me, which doesn’t help
when I am trying to practise speaking
Finnish to them.”
us know what is going on around
us as everything here is in the local
language.” Justin’s course is
far more intensive, “This class is a
six month course and is five days a
week, seven hours a day; it is just
Basic Finnish.”
The purpose of Justin’s course is to
help him integrate into the Finnish
community, “When I first moved
here I found it difficult just to go
shopping. In your home country,
we take for granted how important
communication and understanding
is needed for the very basic
parts of life.” The realisation for
better language skills comes when
you receive the first electricity bill
in Finnish, visit the doctor, attend
your child’s school play or read
an instruction manual, as Justin
said, “We take communication for
granted.”
Most Finnish language courses are
based upon the ‘level system’. For
example, beginners are classed at
Level 1 and the Employment Office
believes that Level 3 is good
enough to find a job, although
some students consider the system
flawed. “The system reflects my
written Finnish, but not my spoken
Finnish. I am meant to have
level three written Finnish but I
don’t think that my spoken level is
that high. I think there should be a
change in the way that they grade
you; they should maybe do an
oral test as well as a written test. It
would give a better overall picture
of your level.”
Despite the many criticisms of the
language courses, everybody felt
that learning Finnish would improve
their chances of finding employment
and integrating fully into
the society, “You’ll constantly be a
visitor in a strange land if you don’t
learn it,” states Phil.
Even though Finnish is classed as
one of the hardest languages to
master, with 2,253 possible forms
of the Finnish noun ‘kauppa’, and
experts saying that it will vanish
by 2050, in the end learning a language
is merely about commitment
and realising that you have to use
your butt muscles and study, which
is what many immigrants are doing.
On the other hand, it is strange
that immigrants are not offered the
chance to learn Finland’s other official
language, Swedish, which
seems to be easier to learn, especially
for the German speakers.
Many of the language courses try
to teach Finnish to immigrants as
though it was a high school class
and this can be patronising to a
group of adults. The texts in the
books can be childish and boring,
but Phil suggests that more
effort should be put into making
them more interesting, “Try to find
something that interests you that
you want to read, such as a Finnish
newspaper, magazine or comic
- you need to want to read something.”
Ann Dee, a 26-year-old Indian,
and Justin Titus, a 26-year-old
American, are both on their first
language course. Ann has started a
three month two days a week class
at the University Of Helsinki and
is confident that it will help her
communicate better, “It will help