We know children can learn a new language or learn two from birth.
Has anybody here got any experience of learning Finnish at 50 plus. I need to become fluent - I'm not talking about for holidays but emigration.
I have the 'Teach yourself Finnish' by Terttu Leney - even sleep with the CD playing!
Learning Finnish late in life
Background: I'm 48.... bilingual French and English with a few other languages learned and long since forgotten (Russian, German, survival Hungarian) and I'm a certified language teacher with a few (3-4) years teaching experience.
I started FFL Part one when I arrived in Finland in 2001. Did Part two straight away and then had a break. I had ZERO Finnish when I started, not even any passive vocabulary. I found it a real struggle, especially memorising the vocabulary (not many shortcuts), but the grammar was OK (I find grammar "fun" but that is, I agree, perverted and probably something to do with my teaching background). When I started Part 3 I found it a whizz.... but I had already been in Finland for nearly 4 years by then and my passive vocabulary had increased substantially.
Now that I am working again I find it VERY difficult to maintain my Finnish: I'm talking English all day.
But, even at 50 I think it is possible to learn a language from scratch. Every learner is different so it's impossible to give a secret recipe for success but my advice would be.... do an INTENSIVE course (or two, or three) to start with and try and find a mix of grammar based courses (like the ones offered by the university) and some conversational courses (try your local community). More and more research is pointing to CLIL as an effective way of learning a language. That means, learning a language THROUGH something else. So go on a cookery course, golf, photography, upholstery... whatever grabs your interest and muddle through in Finnish. Try and pick a hands on course where you will be DOING stuff with other students. There are some multicultural arts and crafts groups in the Helsinki region (doing just that kind of stuff) - they are mostly for women though.
And force yourself to talk to people. I had a big breakthrough when we got a dog.... people would stop and talk to me when I took the dog out for walks!
I started FFL Part one when I arrived in Finland in 2001. Did Part two straight away and then had a break. I had ZERO Finnish when I started, not even any passive vocabulary. I found it a real struggle, especially memorising the vocabulary (not many shortcuts), but the grammar was OK (I find grammar "fun" but that is, I agree, perverted and probably something to do with my teaching background). When I started Part 3 I found it a whizz.... but I had already been in Finland for nearly 4 years by then and my passive vocabulary had increased substantially.
Now that I am working again I find it VERY difficult to maintain my Finnish: I'm talking English all day.
But, even at 50 I think it is possible to learn a language from scratch. Every learner is different so it's impossible to give a secret recipe for success but my advice would be.... do an INTENSIVE course (or two, or three) to start with and try and find a mix of grammar based courses (like the ones offered by the university) and some conversational courses (try your local community). More and more research is pointing to CLIL as an effective way of learning a language. That means, learning a language THROUGH something else. So go on a cookery course, golf, photography, upholstery... whatever grabs your interest and muddle through in Finnish. Try and pick a hands on course where you will be DOING stuff with other students. There are some multicultural arts and crafts groups in the Helsinki region (doing just that kind of stuff) - they are mostly for women though.
And force yourself to talk to people. I had a big breakthrough when we got a dog.... people would stop and talk to me when I took the dog out for walks!
penelope
Thanks for your very detailed and informative reply. I should be ok really as my Son (English) and daughter - in law (Finnish) both did English philology at Helsinki university. However they seem to talk to each other in English and when my daughter stayed with them last summer they talked mostly English!
At the moment I'm trying to learn with my 15 yr old daughter. There is however one problem - I was doing my secondary education in England at a time when grammar was not taught (believe it or not) there was a blief that children would learn better if it was accepted that 'good English is as the people speak it!' The result of this misguided philosophy is that it makes learning a new language difficult as I dont know my own grammar - therefore the grammar of a new language means I have to learn English grammar first. I have two teaching certificates - a further and adult teaching cert and a nurse teaching qualification which should make me well qualified to teach any subject - but languages would be difficult. I will certainly look into doing the English as a foreign language qualification - but it wont be easy!
Thanks again
Jim
Thanks for your very detailed and informative reply. I should be ok really as my Son (English) and daughter - in law (Finnish) both did English philology at Helsinki university. However they seem to talk to each other in English and when my daughter stayed with them last summer they talked mostly English!
At the moment I'm trying to learn with my 15 yr old daughter. There is however one problem - I was doing my secondary education in England at a time when grammar was not taught (believe it or not) there was a blief that children would learn better if it was accepted that 'good English is as the people speak it!' The result of this misguided philosophy is that it makes learning a new language difficult as I dont know my own grammar - therefore the grammar of a new language means I have to learn English grammar first. I have two teaching certificates - a further and adult teaching cert and a nurse teaching qualification which should make me well qualified to teach any subject - but languages would be difficult. I will certainly look into doing the English as a foreign language qualification - but it wont be easy!
Thanks again
Jim
finnish for foreigners
I have been a language teacher for 5 years (belgian dutch); my pupils were from different backgrounds, different age and so on.
I think there are different factors that can have an influence on whether yes or no one can learn a language: age, motivation, whether you are in the country where the language is spoken, etc...
But I surely do agree that learning the language 'in action' is still the best way. I think that it is also very important to learn the language in its 'natural environment'.
But, alas, to learn finnish correct, you first really need to go through some basic grammar.
Anyway good luck. And I would recommend the manual 'Finnish For Foreigners'...
Raskarhu
I think there are different factors that can have an influence on whether yes or no one can learn a language: age, motivation, whether you are in the country where the language is spoken, etc...
But I surely do agree that learning the language 'in action' is still the best way. I think that it is also very important to learn the language in its 'natural environment'.
But, alas, to learn finnish correct, you first really need to go through some basic grammar.
Anyway good luck. And I would recommend the manual 'Finnish For Foreigners'...
Raskarhu