Military service or non-military option -- which best...
Military service or non-military option -- which best...
...for language-learning? I figure the latter due to the longer time taken but I dont know.
Based on some quick research, these are some of the vacancies that are currently available on the non-military side:legin wrote:Also, what exactly is the non-military option? I figure bringing food to old people and such like.
University of Turku, IT support/admin
Turunmaa hospital, courier/driver
The Alvar Aalto Foundation, admin
The Finnish Institute of International Affairs, admin
Ministry of Labour, journalist
...and so forth.
Some friends of mine who chose this option got some very interesting assignments and have benefited from it in their professional lives. I would suspect that there might very well be posts which can be done in English. All the vacancies can be found online at http://www.sivarikeskus.fi/
Ateeeeen -hut!
When push comes to shove, I must admit that I am too cynical regarding human nature in general to be completely anti-military.
That said, there's so much silliness in the army that you might consider skipping it, if learning the language is your primary interest. There are enough natives to satisfy the Finnish forests' itch to have someone crawling on all fours under the trees and firing blanks towards the invisible hordes of hostile, barbaric invaders from... erm... a certain direction!
Besides, I am rather sure that choosing the military option would only, in effect, enable you to learn about ten Finnish words, listed below
kiire
metsä
vihollinen
ase
maahan
ylös
puuhun
alas
tulta
asento
and
loma
Now, do your homework and learn what those mean - hey presto, no need to go to the army for language reasons!
The sivari options open for you would, I presume, also depend on the skills you possess. If you are an IT guru, it's easier to get a job at a university, for example. Check out the placements!
Aaaaat ease,
Res.Kers. Sammy
When push comes to shove, I must admit that I am too cynical regarding human nature in general to be completely anti-military.
That said, there's so much silliness in the army that you might consider skipping it, if learning the language is your primary interest. There are enough natives to satisfy the Finnish forests' itch to have someone crawling on all fours under the trees and firing blanks towards the invisible hordes of hostile, barbaric invaders from... erm... a certain direction!
Besides, I am rather sure that choosing the military option would only, in effect, enable you to learn about ten Finnish words, listed below
kiire
metsä
vihollinen
ase
maahan
ylös
puuhun
alas
tulta
asento
and
loma
Now, do your homework and learn what those mean - hey presto, no need to go to the army for language reasons!
The sivari options open for you would, I presume, also depend on the skills you possess. If you are an IT guru, it's easier to get a job at a university, for example. Check out the placements!
Aaaaat ease,
Res.Kers. Sammy
Nevermind, I just emailed the UK embassy. According to that site you have to find your own placement for the non-military option. That seems an impossibility since I don't speak Finnish and don't have any IT experience. I would rather not bother with the military option, but I suppose it's better than doing nothing.
Actually, purely languagewise the army might be better - as you live there 24/7 you will have quite an all around linguistic experience. The service is dull and for the most part not motivating, but outside the service hours you will encounter all sections of the society which is quite an experience. I must say I enjoyed those colourful conversations, I learned things about Turku and Satakunta dialects that I didn't want to know...