getting rid of Finnish accent

[Rob A.]

That could be because you know there is word "finnish" and probably most/many of english speakers dont, thats something what came in mind.

Which reminds me...when I was young and a Boy Scout we had to occasionally perform group "skits"....campfire stuff. {Aside: I see from wiktionary there is a sort of Finnish equivalent to "skit"...sketsi...Gosh, who would have thought it....]

And I remember one such skit that a group performed....a play on the names of different nationalities....and of course, "Finnish" involved the word, "finish"....what else would you use...

[Karhunkoski]

That could be because you know there is word "finnish" and probably most/many of english speakers dont, thats something what came in mind.

Good point, hadn't thought of that, after all Finland ends somewhere south of Tampere if you look at many "European" maps Many Europeans don't even know about the place, which is good IMO.

[onkko]

That could be because you know there is word "finnish" and probably most/many of english speakers dont, thats something what came in mind.

Good point, hadn't thought of that, after all Finland ends somewhere south of Tampere if you look at many "European" maps Many Europeans don't even know about the place, which is good IMO.

Well people who matter do know and i can assure that being a finn is a plus
Somehow we have managed to get good reputation all over world even if we are violent drunkards

[Pursuivant]

- So you are Finnish?
- No, I'm Donewith

[llewellyn]

We Finns are the worst English speakers in the Nordic countries. ( There are of course exceptions but most of us sound very bad. )

Really? I think the flat Finnish accent can sound quite ugly but at least it's not pure comedy like your average Swedish accent with the really funny high pitches in odd places... But I would say that English is a really difficult language to get the pronunciation right, I'm otherwise very fluent but mostly I don't even try for perfect pronunciation as it really is impossible. I used to have a little red book as my bible: "English pronunciation for Finns" (probably not in print any more), which really went into spesifics, so I could at least understand why the hell I couldn't do it.

[kalmisto]

We Finns are the worst English speakers in the Nordic countries. ( There are of course exceptions but most of us sound very bad. )

Really? I think the flat Finnish accent can sound quite ugly but at least it's not pure comedy like your average Swedish accent with the really funny high pitches in odd places...

Here is a Swedish guy speaking English:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tkjsk5q ... re=related

I do not claim that he does not have a Swedish accent but the accent is not that thick and his pronunciation is good. Most Swedes under the age of 50 speak very good English, not perfect, but good.

Here is a Finnish guy speaking English :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhM6p6afSlQ

That Finnish guy speaks better English ( better pronunciation ) than most Finns but he is still far behind the Swedish guy.

Listen to Skavlan ( a talk show host from Norway ) introduce this Swedish-Norwegian talk-show program :
http://svtplay.se/v/2713817/skavlan/del ... 975,1,f,-1
Skavlan introduces the show in Norwegian.

38 minutes and 20 seconds ( time corrected by kalmisto ! ) into the clip an English guest comes in and Skavlan switches into English. It is amazing how well he can suppress his Norwegian accent. It is easy to hear that English is not Skavlan´s mother tongue but I am still impressed.

I have heard quite a few Swedes, Norwegians and Finns speak English and I must say that Swedes and Norwegians usually have a much better pronunciation and intonation than Finns.

The reason for this is of course easy to understand: the gap between English and Finnish is much wider than the gap between English and Swedish.

[llewellyn]

Well, I take your word for it though I have also been in position to compare the various Nordic accents and in our lovely Ballycoolin call centre Finns did not stand out as bad at all while many Swedes for example were, hmm, somewhat funny with their mad pitch. I suppose my social circles are relatively cosmopolitan, but maybe you have not either met quite regular Scandinavians. Anyway, not a big deal, I'm sure you nearer the truth than me!

[kalmisto]

Here is an interview in English with Tarja Turunen and Liv Christine ( a Norwegian artist ) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGh3lyJd ... re=related

Tarja´s English is not so good but it is of course better than that of the average Finn.The good thing is that her English is easy to understand. Her English should be better because English is her working language. She would need a private coach in English.

[tuulen]

Here is Matti Vanhanen speaking English: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyJgMujr ... re=related

My late father-in-law was raised in Forssa and he could speak English quite well, with only a slight Finnish accent. My mother-in-law was raised in Kemi and she speaks English but pronounces English with a very strong Finnish accent. He could be easily understood, but she can make English incomprehensible! She taught me how to pronounce Finnish language.

My wife is from Kemi, and she has Finnish citizenship.

[kalmisto]

Renny Harlin tells us why it is so difficult for a Finnish actor to land a role in an American movie :
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/viihde/renny- ... 27452.html
( The text in the background reads "Viiden päivän sota" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T4xW69lpvc )

Harlin is of course the director of "Five Days of War ".

Finnish accent - according to Renny - is the stumbling stone of most Finnish actors. "There is a miracle medicine to success and that is a perfect accent", he says.

Mikko Nousiainen is in "Five Days of War" but he does not play an American. I have not seen the movie but I think that Nousiainen plays a Russian soldier and speaks English with a Russian accent.

[Karhunkoski]

Listen to Skavlan ( a talk show host from Norway ) introduce this Swedish-Norwegian talk-show program :
http://svtplay.se/v/2713817/skavlan/del ... 975,1,f,-1
Skavlan introduces the show in Norwegian.

30 minutes and 20 seconds into the clip an English guest comes in and Skavlan switches into English.

To save anyone else spending time spooling around that clip, trying to find the English language part, it happens at 38 minutes and 20 seconds.


The card-guessing part is particularly good.

[tuulen]

He could be easily understood, but she can make English incomprehensible!

My mother-in-law pronounces "English" as a four syllable word: En-ge-lis-ha

[Jukka Aho]

He could be easily understood, but she can make English incomprehensible!

My mother-in-law pronounces "English" as a four syllable word: En-ge-lis-ha

That’s pretty strange even for a Finn...

[tuulen]

He could be easily understood, but she can make English incomprehensible!

My mother-in-law pronounces "English" as a four syllable word: En-ge-lis-ha

That’s pretty strange even for a Finn...

You could be right, but my mother-in-law pronounces English with a very strong Finnish accent. I can understand her, but otherwise she really can make English incomprehensible.

She is college educated, in Finland, but is now in her mid-80s, so from long before English was taught in Finland.

[Jukka Aho]

My mother-in-law pronounces "English" as a four syllable word: En-ge-lis-ha

That’s pretty strange even for a Finn...

You could be right, but my mother-in-law pronounces English with a very strong Finnish accent. I can understand her, but otherwise she really can make English incomprehensible.
She is college educated, in Finland, but is now in her mid-80s, so from long before English was taught in Finland.

What I meant was that even if you read the word “English” as if it were a Finnish word — subject to similar pronunciation rules as any written Finnish word when read aloud — it’s still two syllables: /eŋ-liʃ/ or /eŋ-lish/. Well, maybe someone could even say /en-ɡliʃ/ or /en-ɡlish/, or replace the /ɡ/ with a /k/, or drop the /h/ since the consonant clusters in that word are rather “foreign” for a supposed Finnish word. But it’s a bit difficult to imagine how that four-syllable pronunciation came about. ;)