No intensive courses in winter???

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Papu
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No intensive courses in winter???

Post by Papu » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:34 pm

Hi!

I´ve already posted once about lookinf for a good techer / language school in Helsinki, and I´ve gotten some good tips, but....

It seems to me that there are no intensive courses in Helsinki in Winter.
I am looking for a course that takes about a month and has 5 hours per day / 5 days a week of lessons - that kind of thing.

Can anyone confirm, if these couses really are only in summer?

Thanks!
Paul


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No intensive courses in winter???

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Rosamunda
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Post by Rosamunda » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:44 pm

Believe it or not the summer university does run a few courses in winter but they are mostly evening courses. You could also try the aikuisopisto in Töölö.

Which level are you starting at?

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Papu
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Summeruniversity in Winter

Post by Papu » Sun Oct 03, 2004 4:05 pm

Yeah, I´ve read that they offer courses, but I don´t know if these courses are intensive...
More like twice a week for 2 hours.

I´d be starting from level "Suomi 1" - which is basically smalltalk about picking mushrooms, the weather and the berry-harvest :-).

I was thinking of getting a group of people together and maybe doing a Berlitz course in February - It´s the most expensive, but with a group of about 6 people it would be affordable.

Paul
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Rosamunda
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Post by Rosamunda » Sun Oct 03, 2004 8:17 pm

IMO Berlitz is cr@p.... but I guess if it is OK for Celine Dion then.... go for it....

Some basics. You can't do part 2 unless you have done part 1.... Part one is grammar intensive (I don't remember anything about mushrooms or berries, though possibly the weather did come into it....) you will learn how to pronouce the Finnish alphabet (kind of essential) and the basic verb forms, numbers, time, singular genetive, nominative, locative (ie your first postpositions :cry: ) the first rules of consonant degradation "k,p,t rules" (or whatever the name is) and nominative plurals and the imperative......

I threw myself into Finnish when I arrived here and in retrospect it was a waste of money. Take your time, get familiar with the sounds, the basic vocab, look around.... and then, after 6-12 months, take an intensive course. I think intensive is great for part 3-4 but maybe not such a good idea for part one. You need time to digest the grammar and the vocab. There are NO short cuts to learning Finnish vocab.....

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kwallette
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Post by kwallette » Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:25 am

The summer university courses are intensive. At levels one through three they are four days per week at four hours per day for three weeks. They are good courses. Level four was three days per week, four hours per day, for four weeks. I just finished level four and have learned quite a bit. Not much help for conversation, though, as they do a good job of putting a lot of grammar into it. And trust me, 16 hours of Finnish courses per week is PLENTY plus the homework you will have. I think the only problem with the intensive courses is that you do miss out on a great deal of vocabulary.
I was just doing it, you stupid woman. I just put it down to come here to be reminded by you to do what I'm already doing! I mean what's the point of reminding me to do what I'm already doing...

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bretti_kivi
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Post by bretti_kivi » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:04 am

thinking about it, i got the most out of my summer courses simply because i already knew a lot of basic stuff - the consonant gradations (though not necessarily why) and the basic ideas of the language...

Bret
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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:32 am

I give a "bellringer's school" approach to Finnish pronunciation on 1:1 or very small group. You'll learn to read Finnish out loud so I understand you and don't laugh nor cry. I don't care if you comprehend what you read - dictionaries are for that. Being able to read out loud and write from dicatation makes that much easier so you can find stuff from the dictionary. Extra charges if I dress in black robes and whack you with a ruler on the knuckles or wear military boots to kick you for mispronunciation and make you run across the house with a backpack full of rocks for misspellings. (two of the most known incentives to learn perfection in French, don't see why it wouldn't work with Finnish ) :wink:
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.


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