British girl hoping to move to finland

by **Carlylarly** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:13 pm

Good evening all, I am hoping to move to Finland after I qualify as a nurse in 8months. I know that the degree isn't the same in Finland, so I was wondering what jobs I could do instead.

I know I will have to study the Finnish language. I fell in love with the country and the people and will be going back for four weeks in August, but I want it to be more permanent.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

**Sponsor:**

by **Kutittaa** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:11 pm

Not much to say except good luck, and the quality of work you find depends on the quality of your Finnish.

by **tuulen** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 3:43 am

It seems that your best bet could involve two actions on your part.

1) Along with your present British nursing qualifications, which are an asset, you will need Finnish nursing qualifications, which could involve further schooling in Finland.

2) For you, fluency in the Finnish language is NOT optional, and that requirement could be FAR more challenging than anything that you have seen of the study of nursing.

In other words, I suspect that your adaptation of Finnish nursing requirements could come easily to you, but that the Finnish language could be a bugbear of a challenge.

by **Carlylarly** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 2:05 pm

Thank you both for your replies. I have every intention of learning the Finnish language and I plan to stay for many years, so it will be worth it :-)

by **Kutittaa** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 4:40 pm

It'll take years to start learning Finnish so make sure that you get right into it. You'll have to learn a lot of job specific words as well, as well as just the lingo. It's going to be really hard.

by **tuulen** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:48 am

Carlylarly wrote:Thank you both for your replies. I have every intention of learning the Finnish language and I plan to stay for many years, so it will be worth it

As an English speaker, your first and main challenge will be in learning the grammar, the linguistic rules, of the Finnish language, which are night and day different than English.

A well and long-proven Finnish grammar is published in English: Finnish: An Essential Grammar, 2nd edition by Fred Karlsson and published internationally by Routledge.

Finnish is a language which without a working knowledge of and ability with the grammar, not a Finnish dictionary and not a Finnish - English dictionary could be accessed.

Again, your primary study MUST be of the grammar of the Finnish language, as without that your Finnish language study will then go exactly nowhere.

That is the beginning, but that is not the end of the challenge, for then there are vocabulary and syntax which also are night and day different than English.

As your fellow native English speaker, let me assure you that any study eventually leading to a successful mastery of Finnish will be a supreme challenge, please.

In other words, get going on your Finnish language studies NOW, for you have not a moment to waste, as you now have a unique challenge. The best of good luck to you!

by **Carlylarly** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:59 pm

It will definitely be a challenge, but I am willing to try my hardest as that's how much I want to move to Finland. If I fail at least I can say that I tried. I am looking for those books as we speak :-)

by **Rosamunda** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:06 pm

Personally I prefer Leila White's Finnish Grammar book. The Karlsson book is just cringingly old fashioned and unfriendly. I would also disagree that grammar is the ONLY way to learn Finnish. Even if you understand ALL the rules of noun inflection and consonant gradation you still won't be able to order so much as a burger in Makkari unless you have THE WORDS ie vocab. And BTW no one (no one) speaks Finnish like Mr. Karlsson - so the best thing you can do is get on an INTENSIVE language course (as many hours per week as you can manage) eg like this one http://kesayo.jyu.fi/kielikurssit/suome ... nd-culture which enabled one of my kids to make MEASURABLE progress each summer.

by **tuulen** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:16 pm

Rosamunda wrote:And BTW no one (no one) speaks Finnish like Mr. Karlsson

Yes, but Karlsson teaches "standard" Finnish, kirjakieli, which is not one of the Finnish dialects.

Kirjakieli, or standard Finnish, is the language of business, government, higher education and most of media.

A foreigner does well to learn standard Finnish first, as it is founded on the Finnish dialects.

And, if all else fails, kirjakieli can be understood by almost everybody in Finland.

A British nurse now seeks to become a Finnish nurse, and kirjakieli is the first language that she should learn.

by **Carlylarly** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:39 pm

Thank you got your reply Rosamunda. I will check out the intensive language course. Your advice is appreciated :-)

by **Rosamunda** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:41 pm

Yes, but Karlsson teaches "standard" Finnish, kirjakieli, which is not one of the Finnish dialects.

....so does Leila White, only the examples in her book are more "communicative" whereas I found Karlsson's book to be way too academic and rather out of date. I can't give any comparative examples because I gave my copy of Karlsson's book away.

But to be honest, kirjakieli won't get you far in any job which involves communicating with the general public. For sure, they (the general public) will be able to understand you (the foreigner) but that doesn't mean that you will understand them- And by the way, I live here. Understanding spoken Finnish (not newsreaders on TV but real people on buses, in shops and colleagues at work) is for me the hardest thing of all.

by **Carlylarly** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:52 pm

What nationality are you Rosamunda?

by **tuulen** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:16 pm

Rosamunda wrote:I found Karlsson's book to be way too academic and rather out of date.

Well, I am a mechanical engineer, and I can be VERY academic! And so I do appreciate Karlsson's book.

But I also have read Leila White's book, A Grammar Book of Finnish, and it too is very good, very detailed.

Yes, kirjakieli is not the everyday language in Finland, but kirjakieli is the right place for a foreigner to begin.

by **mvgrogan** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:20 pm

I am an English woman living in Finland, learning Finnish...

I started learning about 16 years ago when I met my husband and I went to various short course and looked at a number of books over the years. We moved to Finland full time about 5 years ago and then 3 months ago I finally started a full time language course.

Based on my own experiences, I believe it takes time to build up enough vocab AND grammar to make communication in Finnish easier. I have struggled all the way through and am only now gathering to confidence to use the Finnish I know.

I have a whole stack of language books and I have found Leila White's books to be very accessible. Karlsson is good but not user-friendly whereas White is easy to dip into. We actually use Leila White's book (in Finnish not English) as our course text book! I use my English version at home as a reference LOL!

If you are in the London area, contact the Finn-Guild, they run language courses as well as offering lots of advice and support. They also run Saturday schools all over UK where you can meet Finns in UK and their families - great for language practise!

Good Luck with the big move... I know several English women who have done the same and one who is training as a nurse here (in English!). Feel free to PM me.

Maria

by **Rosamunda** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 3:09 pm

Carlylarly wrote:What nationality are you Rosamunda?

Mostly Brit, but I moved here sort of from France, married to a Finn who speaks a multitude of languages. Three kids who are more or less (less rather than more) trilingual now. Somehow I don't think I will live long enough to become fluent in Finnish. Unfortunately I work pretty much full-time so I don't have the chance to take intensive Finnish lessons and I can't really afford to take a sabbatical just to learn Finnish. And, double whammy, my work does not help me much to learn Finnish.