Small First: A better way to learn Finnish vocabulary?

DAL · Post by **DAL** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 10:42 pm

Tom and Jerry wrote:
DAL wrote: Remember, your brain is designed to recall things that do not fit neatly into their proper place, so using this to your advantage will help you immensely in your quest to learn Finnish. Otherwise, word lists are no different than trying to memorize the phone book
No, I don't remember. Are the brains in Seattle designed differently?

There are all kind of techniques to remember words. Small notes, listening or seeing, all may help.

Those who learn language and Finnish quite fast use long word lists and tables. Usually these people are from Russia or Germany. Again, English people are really handicapped, because they don't have good examples how to learn languages. So, for the average guy from Seattle, it takes a bit more time.

I am not sure if I should be offended by your comments…. but I am beginning to think I should be so inclined…no I thought about it, I am offended.

I assume that the brains that are trying to learn Finnish are along the same lines of the brains and cognitive thought processes that I have been studying for the past three years. Maybe the brains in Europe are different then?

You can learn a language by word lists, listening, seeing…I never said you couldn’t learn them that way. You can drive a car with your feet; it doesn’t mean it is the best way to do it. I am only suggesting that if you work with the cognitive processes of your brain and not against them it will be a more efficient process. Take it or leave it at that.

As for the people from Germany and Russia that learn Finnish quite fast and the English speakers who are handicapped, I assume you have some data to support this, or is this just another observation…you know, like what average guys in Seattle are like.

**Sponsor:**

Tom and Jerry · Post by **Tom and Jerry** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 10:56 pm

DAL wrote:
I am not sure if I should be offended by your comments…. but I am beginning to think I should be so inclined…no I thought about it, I am offended.

As for the people from Germany and Russia that learn Finnish quite fast and the English speakers who are handicapped, I assume you have some data to support this,

No need to be offended.

Yes, several teachers of the Finnish language noticed this. If the mother language is German or Russian, pupils learn Finnish faster.

For Germans that is likely due to the structured and precise grammar of their own language. As punctual you have to be to learn Finnish. Ordnung muss sein. Get a publication like

suomi toisena kielena tai vieraana kielenä written by Hämäläinen and Karlsson.

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

Learning a second language by English people is difficult, I noticed myself.

Imagine how fast you can learn if you know exactly the terms plural,genetiivi,adjektiivi,demonstratiivipronomit,genetiiviketjut,partisiipi perfekti.

It goes slower if you don't know these terms.

DAL · Post by **DAL** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:11 pm

If that is in fact the case, with Germans and Russians, the next logical question is why, from a cognitive standpoint that would be so. Interessssssting

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 2:12 pm

>> Learning a second language by English people is difficult, I noticed myself <<

Swedish should be a very easy language for you to learn. Swedish grammar is very easy, much less complicated than German grammar.

An example :

Jag bor i Sverige = I live in Sweden
Du bor i Sverige = You live in Sweden
Han/Hon bor i Sverige = HE /She lives in Sweden

Vi bor i Sverige = We live in Sweden
Ni bor i Sverige = You live in Sweden
De bor i Sverige = They live in Sweden

The conjugations are very easy!

Tom and Jerry · Post by **Tom and Jerry** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 2:24 pm

Swedish is easy, yes. It is for the Swedish nation, but otherwise you may easily think it is a dialect of Dutch and German.

http://www.kreativpedagogik.se

PeterF · Post by **PeterF** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 2:40 pm

Tom and Jerry wrote:Swedish ..you may easily think it is a dialect of Dutch and German.

Daah I thought that Dutch was at best a dialect of German or Swedish...at worst..a Symptom of a throat infection caught from sitting with fingers poked in holes in sea walls

T & J you know you have an advantage over native English speakers ..because to master your own Dutch language you must know/understand every gramatic name/clause /case..while we Native English Speakers can just about remember the basics of nouns and verbs and adjectives "The cat sat on the mat"..daah where is the adjective. You can add some colour or shape at random!..For cat and /or mat...that is all that is needed to communicate.
In Finnish...Musta Kissa istui mattossa... is easy but make the mat black instead of the cat and we enter the fun and games of the Finnish language.
Misss spell the mat and we have the cat sitting on a worm!

Tom and Jerry · Post by **Tom and Jerry** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 2:54 pm

PeterF wrote:
T & J you know you have an advantage over native English speakers ...because to master your own Dutch language you must know/understand every gramatic name/clause /case.....

The advantage is there, but not by speaking Dutch. Hmmm..........

The combination of knowledge of German and French is indeed quite useful today.

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 3:56 pm

>> ... Musta kissa istui mattossa ... Misspell the cat and we have the cat sitting on a worm. <<

That sould be "Musta kissa istui matolla".

Tuossa matossa on kahvitahra.

kahvitahra = coffee stain

musta matto = black carpet
mustalla matolla = on a black carpet

The cat sat on a worm = Kissa istui madon päällä. We would not say "Kissa istui madolla".

The adessive case ( lla/llä ) often means nearby,as in "Hän on saunalla" ( He /She is at the sauna ) . I hope that I used "at" correctly here.

Lawrence Perry · Post by **Lawrence Perry** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 4:46 pm

Good little lesson. That was fun. Good way to learn! Thanks.

LP

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 5:40 pm

Wouldn´t it be easier to learn words if they were given to you in a sentence, like "Pienet vihreät miehet ovat täällä!" ( Little Green Men are here! )

pieni vihreä mies = a little green man

It would certainly be less boring to learn new words in this way.

Minulla on hyvin yksinkertainen maku - haluan vain parasta.
( I have a very simple taste - I only want the best )

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 7:25 pm

Learning words by visual association :

http://www.unforgettablelanguages.com/frames_a14.html

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 8:22 pm

Learning Finnish - how and why? :

http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/LA/la/finnish.htm

"Time needed: About the same as German for non-Dutch speakers."

It surprises me that anyone can say this. English speakers find German a relatively easy language to learn ( compared to Finnish )

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Small First: A better way to learn Finnish vocabulary?

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