Future Finn looking for some help.

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undertakerfreak
Posts: 84
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:57 pm

Future Finn looking for some help.

Post by undertakerfreak » Mon Jan 22, 2018 3:24 am

I will be moving to Finland within the next year or so to be with my soon-to-be wife. That gives me plenty of time to do some independent study of Finnish before I actually live there and start taking classes.

I've kept a notebook to take notes from various sources of information I've come across online. However, my notes seem really scattered and unorganized. I began with basic greetings, then numbers, then days of the week, really rudimentary stuff like that. But beyond the basic stuff, I have this feeling that I'm not learning the language in the correct order. On one page, I have some stuff about genitive. On the next, I have some "useful adjectives" that I found, and two or three pages later, more random stuff.

I guess my question is: when it comes to learning how to form a proper Finnish sentence with the correct suffixes and conjugations and whatnot, where should I really begin? Tenses? Verb types? Noun cases? I've done a little reading on consonant gradation, but I feel like there's something I should have studied BEFORE I got into that.

Any help and/or resources would be greatly appreciated. Again, I will be a future resident, so I will be taking official classes, but I really want to learn as much as I can on my own.



Future Finn looking for some help.

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biryvih
Posts: 116
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2017 12:04 am

Re: Future Finn looking for some help.

Post by biryvih » Mon Jan 22, 2018 12:05 pm

Hei,

I was trying to learn on my own and it was a painful experience :D as you said, everything feels scattered and confusing. I took a course with these guys, Gimara Oy. I think you can take your first lesson free ( I am not sure) and it would be online.

Maybe it was a bit expensive( 60e/m), but it worked for me. The teachers taught me in my way, instead of traditional "school" way. So, you can take a free class from them (I hope) and hopefully it will help.

(I am not affiliated with the company in anyway, I just found them better than many other "Finnish teachers" that is why I am recommending)

Cheers.

007
Posts: 632
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:01 pm

Re: Future Finn looking for some help.

Post by 007 » Mon Jan 22, 2018 6:21 pm

Off-topic (I went off while replying to the OP)

My suggestion would be:

Learn while doing things that you enjoy. E.g. if you enjoy watching videos, watch them with Finnish subtitles. If you enjoy writing, just rewrite Finnish stories/essays that you can know meaning of etc. etc.

I think the problem most students make (ok.. may not be actually considered a problem by some) is that they try to construct sentences on their own... trying to form a decent sentence by browsing through all the stuffs that they've learnt in their brain. No wonder they soon get exhausted, lose motivation, and start thinking negatives.

Learn and regurgitate, and repeat the process. There's a very little invention or creativity required from your part (student) to hold a general conversation either in written or spoken form.

(I am sort of an anti-grammar person. I suffer from its drawbacks, of course, but at least, I can glide through with my progress much easily without much pressure.)
“Go where you are celebrated – not tolerated."
"Aina, kun opit uuden sanan, opettele samalla sen monikko!"

metsämurmeli
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 5:16 pm

Re: Future Finn looking for some help.

Post by metsämurmeli » Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:44 am

If you cannot afford Gimara (I do not know them), I suggest to follow a book in the beginning. Finnish grammar is formidable, to say the least. But not necessarily super difficult, or boring. It is difficult to iron out mistakes learned early on. Plus, a book gives you a structure to follow. For a first insight I think Terttu Leney's "Complete Finnish" is pretty good. Another one is Leila White's "From start to Finnish". The CDs are usually crazy expensive, but worth it, IMO. Maybe you could find them second hand. The actual use of a language you only learn by using it. Maybe your soon-to-be wife could look over sentences you are writing. Or listen on skype to your first introductions. :)


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