FINNISH CLASSES IN JAN?

[TrishPaakkonen]

Does anyone know where I would look for Beginning Finnish classes in the Helsinki area, hopefully taught by someone who speaks fluent English and in a class that is limited to less than 15 students? The class I have recently dropped out of met 2 nights a week here in Espoo and consisted of about 35 people and an instructor who was unable to explain basic concepts in English.The book we used had no information in English to help me . Im at a loss and have a very upset husband who believes that after 3 short months in Finland, I am unmotivated


Trish Pääkkönen, recent drop out
paakkonen@aya.yale.edu

[eashton]

Does anyone know where I would look for Beginning Finnish classes in the Helsinki area, hopefully taught by someone who speaks fluent English and in a class that is limited to less than 15 students? The class I have recently dropped out of met 2 nights a week here in Espoo and consisted of about 35 people and an instructor who was unable to explain basic concepts in English.The book we used had no information in English to help me . Im at a loss and have a very upset husband who believes that after 3 short months in Finland, I am unmotivated :(


Trish Pääkkönen, recent drop out :(
paakkonen@aya.yale.edu

Well, a lot of the Finnish for Foreigners classes are taught in Finnish since they teach a wide range of people with a lot of different native languages. http://www.helsinki.fi/kksc/language.se ... index.html has classes in the spring. They are good classes but much of it is in Finnish. Most of the teachers will explain stuff in English if you don't get something though.

It's a difficult language and it's easy to be discouraged early on when things just aren't clicking the way other languages may have. I've been here almost 10 months now and am on the 3rd course and it's a hard slog. Most Finns will speak to you in English the moment you try to speak Finnish which doesn't help much in the speaking department. I also find it very frustrating to go through the classes without any conversation just rules upon rules upon rules upon vocabulary jammed into your head without a real handle on how to use it.

There is a book and CD in Aketeeminen titled "Mita Kuuluu?" which helps you to hear the language. It's very well done and it will help you immensely to hear it and distinguish between words. I find it helpful.

It's dark out and it easier to get discouraged now. Tell your husband he didn't have to learn English in a few months as an adult and perhaps have him help you. My own husband isn't much of a help but he's sweet enough to try :)

Oh, and I almost forgot - http://www.finn-guild.org/english/infoc ... tance.html - Finn Talk is an excellent course text and CD in English. It's a bit spendy but available locally. If you can't find a copy I can certainly lend you mine.

[Tom and Jerry]

Hi Trish,

The courses mentioned on the pages of
http://www.helsinki.fi/kksc

are simply the best in the Helsinki area. You can even contact the teachers beforehand.

http://www.helsinki.fi/kksc/language.se ... sto_5.html

I can tell you however that Finnish is for the English speaking extra difficult, because the English speaking people don't want to give up their own concepts of grammar. They are constantly looking for a subject and an object and Finnish doesn't work that way.

[Tom and Jerry]

and an instructor who was unable to explain basic concepts in English.

No wonder, the English grammar simply doesn't have the same constructions as the Finnish ones. A case is clear, but how to explain the partitative in English.

Or the negative verb ei, or the partitive with a negative word?

[Constanze Pettersson]

Hi Trish,

I just moved to Finland and therefore I am facing the same problems as you do (German native speaker). Today I started looking for Finnish courses in Helsinki area and was happy to find this homepage. In case you want to have some company attending a Finnish course for Beginners I will be happy to join you, therefore please let me know which course your are planning to join. As we say in German "Geteiltes Leid ist halbes Leid" - divided pain is half pain - sorry for the bad translation. That would be great!!!

Happy new year and hope to read from you. Constanze

[Hank W.]

because the English speaking people don't want to give up their own concepts of grammar. .

..or alphabet. They are constantly trying to change sounds of letters and find a difference between a q, c and g...

But Trish, you shouldn't give up; there has been some dicussion here how some courses fit for some people and some other courses for others. And while you're at it, enroll the Dear Husband to Portugese or French course... that'll keep him quiet about language learning for a while...

[Ace]

http://kulttuuri.hel.fi/caisa/index_en.html

Free
Small classes
Beginners course in English

Finnish language courses in Caisa

Enrollments for the courses in person either on 15th Jan or 19th Jan 2004 at 10-12 hrs in Caisa’s lobby/ Mikonkatu 17 C, 2nd floor.

Courses are free of charge.

Please, ask for more, tel. 169 3984 (after 7th Jan.)

After 7th Jan registration forms can be obtained from the Caisa's info-desk.

Get there early to get in the queue to sign up, when I did the courses there they're were always loads of people wanting to sign up, everyone dropped out though and the classes became small quickly. The teachers English is OK and these courses helped me a lot when I first moved to Finland plus they're easy on the pocket. Now my Polytechnic forces Finnish classes upon me, so I don't attend Caisa anymore, I will go back there in the future though.

[Guest]

I'm gonna try to get in at Työväenopisto
Choose from the menu Kurssihaku and then in the box Aineala choose Suomi. That gives a list of possibilities, for grammar courses and conversation courses and such. It's a lot cheaper than Kesäyliopisto.

[Rosamunda]

When I first arrived 2 years ago I did Part One and Two at the Aikuisopisto in Helsinki. There was a lot of grammar and it was hard going, and if I missed a lesson it was extremely difficult to get back into the gist of it. The teacher spoke no English to begin with (there were several students on the course who did not speak English) but she did answer specific questions in English if asked. I think it is a mistake to start too early when you arrive, now after two years here I am ready to go on to Part Three and I think I have made good progress on my own thanks to the initial study. The grammar is not so difficult as it is quite logical and there are few exceptions. Most English/American people don't know much about grammar anyway so just try and learn some basic survival phrases (it's called a lexical approach) and build on those as you improve your vocabulary. I don't think I will ever speak Finnish as well as my other languages but I can understand more and more all the time. Your partner can help by talking to you in Finnish (ie where's the newspaper, what's for dinner etc etc!!!!) And in case nobody warned you already, the Finnish taught in school has no resemblance to "street" Finnish anyway which is extremely demoralising.
I also did a Swedish course in Tapiola and it was rubbish. The teacher translated everything into Finnish and English and we wasted half an hour in the language lab each lesson (some teaching relic of the 70's era). It was cheap but not very structured, half the students never turned up and the other half never bothered to buy (borrow or steal) the book. You generally find the more expensive courses have more committed students. I also did a conversation course at the Aikuisopisto which was really useful for practising the stuff learnt on the other course.
My kids are getting 6 hours of Finnish a week at (primary) school and their progress is even worse than mine. I think that teaching Finnish as a foreign language is quite a new thing and many of the teachers have never received formal foreign language teacher training so they are really just teaching Finnish the same way they would to young native speakers. Their methods are antiquated and boring.
I find listening to the Tv and radio helps : YLE 24 on Capital FM has a slow Finnish news bulletin every day. Also just reading HS, Metro, etc and even children's books. And renting Finnish dvds with English subtitles.
Good Luck.

[Tom and Jerry]

... The teacher spoke no English to begin with (there were several students on the course who did not speak English) .... Most English/American people don't know much about grammar anyway so just try and learn some basic survival phrases (it's called a lexical approach) and build on those as you improve your vocabulary.
Good Luck.

Most English people should keep that in mind. They don't know much about grammar anyway. That is very important to remember when critisising your teacher. It makes it also difficult to learn languages like Finnnish. Instead, the lexical approach may be a very efficient method for some: just learn the phrases.

[Tom and Jerry]

On these dates you can enter your name for these courses.
Monday 12 January and Tuesday 13 January

These courses are very good and relatively cheap.


http://www.helsinki.fi/kksc/language.se ... minen.html

Kursseille ilmoittautuminen

Kurssit arabiasta viroon
Ennakkoilmoittautuminen kursseille on pakollista. Kursseille voi ilmoittautua joko esittämällä maksukuitin Kielipalvelujen toimistossa tai faksaamalla/postittamalla maksukuitin ja ilmoittautumislomakkeen täytettynä toimistoon.

Ilmoittaudu mielellään viimeistään kaksi viikkoa ennen kurssin alkua.

Ryhmät täytetään ilmoittautumisjärjestyksessä.


Suomea ulkomaalaisille

Ilmoittautuminen kevään 2004 Suomea ulkomaalaisille -kursseille osoitteessa


Yliopistonkatu 3 (Porthania) ala-aula

maanantaina 12.1.2004 klo 16.30-19.00
kursseille Suomi 1, Suomi 1+2 intensiivi, Suomea valealkajille
ja tiistaina 13.1.2004 klo 16.30-19.00
kursseille Suomi 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Suomi 3+4 intensiivi, Kielioppi, Keskustelu


Maksukuitti mukaan! Ilmoittautumisen voi hoitaa joku muukin kuin kurssilainen itse.

Ryhmät täytetään ilmoittautumisjärjestyksessä. Ilmoittauttuminen on sitova, katso "Maksujen palautus".

Huom! Kurssille voi ilmoittautua vain maksukuittia vastaan.

[Tom and Jerry]

More evening courses here. When looking for these, you have to find them with the word (hakusana) 'suomi'. Today is the ilmoittautumispäivä.


http://www.opisto.hel.fi/

Perhaps you find this useful.


---------------

Suomi, perustaso 1b
041180 Kurssin tiedot
Jatkokurssi syksyn -03 kurssille. Myös uusia opiskelijoita voi daan ottaa, jos on vapaita paikkoja. Ääntämis- ja kielioppiharjoituksia. Tavoitteena oppia puhumaan, tuottamaan ja ymmärtämään yksinkertaisia viestejä, jotka auttavat selviämään arkielämässä.
Aika: 12.01.2004 - 07.04.2004
Maanantai klo 13:00-15:15
Keskiviikko klo 13:00-15:15
Paikka: Opistotalo, Helsinginkatu 26, 00530 HELSINKI

Kurssilla on vapaita paikkoja 9






Suomi keskitaso 3b
041186 Kurssin tiedot
Kurssi edellyttää n. 2 vuoden suomen kielen opintoja (n. 200 tuntia). Kurssilla kuunnellaan, luetaan, keskustellaan ja opiskellaan kielioppiakin. Se on jatkoa syksyllä 2003 alkaneelle 3a-kurssille, mutta avoin myös muille.
Aika: 12.01.2004 - 05.04.2004
Maanantai klo 16:00-18:15
Perjantai klo 16:00-17:30
Paikka: Opistotalo, Helsinginkatu 26, 00530 HELSINKI

Kurssilla on vapaita paikkoja 11






Suomi, perustaso 2b
041183 Kurssin tiedot
Jatkoa syksyn -03 kurssille. Uusia opiskelijoita voidaan ottaa mahdollisuuksien mukaan, jos opiskelija osaa suomen kielen alkeet.
Aika: 12.01.2004 - 07.04.2004
Maanantai klo 15:30-17:45
Keskiviikko klo 15:30-17:45
Paikka: Opistotalo, Helsinginkatu 26, 00530 HELSINKI

Kurssilla on vapaita paikkoja 13






Suomi, keskitaso 4 b
041189 Kurssin tiedot
Keskitason kurssi, jolla käsitellään kielioppia ja puhekielen rakenteita. Kurssilla luetaan erilaisia tekstejä ja keskustellaan paljon. Kurssi on jatkoa syksyllä -03 alkaneelle 4a-kurssille, mutta on avoin myös muille.
Aika: 12.01.2004 - 05.04.2004
Maanantai klo 18:30-20:45
Perjantai klo 17:45-19:15
Paikka: Opistotalo, Helsinginkatu 26, 00530 HELSINKI

Kurssilla on vapaita paikkoja 7






Suomi, perustaso 3a
041184 Kurssin tiedot
Perustason kurssi, joka edellyttää n. 2 vuoden (180-200 t) opintoja. Tavoitteena ymmärtää ja tuottaa yksinkertaista puhetta ja kirjoitusta, hallita peruskieliopin tärkeimmät kohdat sekä keskeinen perussanasto.
Aika: 13.01.2004 - 06.04.2004
Tiistai klo 18:30-20:50
Perjantai klo 16:00-18:25
Paikka: Opistotalo, Helsinginkatu 26, 00530 HELSINKI

Kurssilla on vapaita paikkoja 8



http://www.opisto.hel.fi/

[Ace]

Worth grabbing a free metro today there were some adverts for beginners finnish classes in there

[dw]

i got my finnish courses through työvoimatoimisto about a year ago, i have done four levels (5hours a day every day) since last february. its incredibly hard going and while i do know lots of grammer and stuff now its just taking time to "settle" into my brain. english is my mother language, so as some other people pointed out above it can be hard to get the sentance structure sorted out. but the irish language sentance structure is somewhat similar so its just a matter of practice.

the biggest problem i find is the lack of speaking in finnish that i do. but thats my own fault but thats the biggest thing i think, if you do go to language courses, when you get home after them.. you have to practice!!!! and you have to go over the course work, every single day!. try to balance it with the slangi spoken finnish.

dw

[dw]

also, i signed up for the level 3b in the työväentoimisto last night. first class on monday. so hope that goes well. its 32euros for 2nights a week till mid april. its 70hrs altogether. a link to työväentoimisto is in a previous post.

there was a bit of a queue, so get there early.

dw