options of learning finnish in Oulu

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The Wolverine
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options of learning finnish in Oulu

Post by The Wolverine » Wed Jul 09, 2003 4:19 pm

Hi all,

I'm coming to Oulu this aug to study, I just want to know what are my options of learning finnish in Oulu,

language courses in institutions
private coaching
in churches etc.,

Any help would be very mcuh appreciated.

Samy


"Whatjou doin'?"
"Thinkin'."
"Well, that's never a good sign, is it?"

options of learning finnish in Oulu

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PeterF
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Post by PeterF » Wed Jul 09, 2003 10:04 pm

Sammy..The college you are attending will certainly offer you the option of Finnish lessons and I think that is your best initial option.
They are usualy a couple of hours in the evenings twice a week and are probably very cheap if not free.
The church run course is to the best of my knowledge only available in Helsinki.
Private tutors are very expensive...(unless like myself and few others you marry one..then the cost tripples :roll: )....forget it.

You can start by doing some self learning/reading.
A Good light weight introduction is book called "From Start to Finnish"...you will find it in all good Finnish book shops it is not expensive..approx 25 euro.
I and most others who now think that they can communicate in Finnish wil tell you that our best Finnish teachers have been our Finnish friends who sit with us at lunch time etc and chat to us first in English and then slowly introduce a few more Finnish words and expressions..and correct our mistakes when we try to repeat them. Slowly slowly..
It is not a five minute task to learn a new language.

I think you have a saying in India.."The best way to eat an elephant is to cut it into bite sized pieces and to take a few bits every day for many weeks."

Next point is to consider how long you are going to be in Finland and how important is the language to you?
Your main course of study is your number one priority, you do not want to divert too much time into non essential studies..
I have friends who have lived here for over 10 years and can speak no more than a few basic Finnish words. They seem to be happy. They are more interested in Enjoying their life in Finland than spending time studying the language.
Stop worring about the language. I repeat it is not essential for an overseas student..Unless like many others you fall in love with the country (or someone :wink:) and decide to stay here when you finish your studies.

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ajdias
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Post by ajdias » Thu Jul 10, 2003 12:24 am

The best place to start looking for Finnish related stuff is caisa.hel.fi webpages.
Their english pages will only be available in October but I'm sure you'll manage with the finnish ones:

http://www.caisa.hel.fi/page.asp?_item_id=299 ( and then > Oulu lääni..)

If you are impatient to start you can try Suomen Kieltä Internetissä (Online courses) on the left column of the site. For instance "Tavataan taas" is quite an interesting course for beginners and you can download the whole course and burn it into a CD!

There are also some more links on this forum on the "links" section, I think, not sure.........

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The Wolverine
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Post by The Wolverine » Thu Jul 10, 2003 12:53 am

Peter Floyd wrote: Next point is to consider how long you are going to be in Finland .....Unless like many others you fall in love with the country and decide to stay here when you finish your studies.
I'm studying Internationa Baccaluarate Diplomo course in that school. Its a two year course (and a pre-university course). And I'm thinking of studying in a finnish university after this IB Diplomo. So thats my main reason that I'm stressing on learing the language. So if everything goes as planned I'll be in finland for about 5-6 years. and also I'm personally inclined to learn the language.


Sam.
"Whatjou doin'?"
"Thinkin'."
"Well, that's never a good sign, is it?"

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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Thu Jul 10, 2003 7:33 am

Ok, in that case you *do* need to learn Finnish, as the language of instrustion in most is mainly Finnish. Depends on your choice of faculty if and how much is available in other languages.

We're just making all these warnings so you won't get a shock. The shock is when they throw you in the ice after sauna :mrgreen:
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.


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