Finnish lessons

[Algren]

Good evening to all,

Given I'm motivated to come to work and to live in Finland, i started to learn finnish by myself thanks to a finnish learning method (Assimil with 4 audio cds).
I think it's great to familiarize with the language, and enables to follow simple conversations, as well as to broaden vocabulary.
I'm practising everyday (and with pleasure!) and nearly reaching the end of it. However, i'm going to get bored soon, without things to learn. (I thought about memorizing the whole French-finnish dictionnary, but i grew tired after 3 pages... )
I thought maybe foreigners in Finland, or finnish people, could advise me some other good methods or lessons, and why not with teachers, in France around Paris, but also in Finland, once i'll be there. Are there lessons to go to in the evening (in Helsinki for eg)?

Kiitos avustanne.
Nähdään !

[Perttunen]

Bon soir!!

I was just practising Finnish with a method I found in the yle web page page (the Finnish tv9).
It is free and I think is very useful as it fits to any level, there are also many chances, explained in english and finnish.
http://oppiminen.yle.fi/suomi
it is currently my main method, which I use with the helo of a dictionary (ilmainensanakirja.fi) and a notebook to learn the vocabulary. But maybe before try to figure out the main grammatical rules, the subfixes and stuff.
Good luck!

[Algren]

Kiitos paljon.

I think this is maybe the most difficult, grammatical rules and subfixes. I learnt french words i didn't even know for it : Illatif, addessif, etc...
But once you get the trick, i think you did a big part of the job. Luckily, i really take these learning lessons as a game and enjoy it. Let's hope it lasts!

[Cod]

..translate this daily, then when you've improved...listen and transcribe it

http://yle.fi/radiopeili/podcast/selkouutiset.xml

[Algren]

I surfed on the forum and saw the kielikoulu section with all its very precious data (actually most of the data of this site is very precious)...maybe my post should be moved there actually.

[Rosamunda]

Algren... when I lived in Sainte Geneviève des Bois (91) there was a teacher (French) giving Finnish lessons to small groups, the course was organised by an association that was financed partly by the municipality. If you are interested, I could find out if the course is still running.

One of the best books for self-learning Finnish is "Finnish for Foreigners" (as some of the explanations are in English). There are new ones coming out all the time but the majority of them are 100% in Finnish (ie no explanations in Finnish and no translations) which can be a little daunting for some beginners. If you need a grammar book then Leila White's is probably the best.
Penelope
(la même qu'à salutfinlande.net)

[Algren]

Salut Penelope !

Kiitos avustamme!

[onkko]

Salut Penelope !

Kiitos avustamme!

You dont want to say "kiitos avustamme", you are thanking yourself and some group for help (me)
Kiitos avustanne = thanks for help to some group (te), kiitos avustasi = thank you for help (sinä)

[Algren]

Tottakai, kiitos Onkko!
Stupid mistake in fact, with -mme, -nne for you (te).

Much progress still to make, with what we call "desinences" also....not easy, but i'm motivated.

[Rabs]

you seem to be really motivated learning the language! I am thinking of consulting doctor for lack of concentration. can't believe the longest i can last learning finnish is 2 minutes, after that..... yawn ... yawn.....

[onkko]

Tottakai, kiitos Onkko!

eipä kestä. Now translate that

[Algren]

Toivon, että se on sama kun "Ole hyvää"!

[EP]

Don´t mention it.

Sort of Finnish "ole hyvä".

[onkko]

Yes its "dont mention it" but literally its something quite different. "(it) doesnt endure" or something, i cant translate it Kestää have had multiple meanings and this saying is holding one of the old meanings so its quite hard to understand if you dont know what that sentence means. Yes i intentionally wanted to confuse you

iGS Web (10.03.2004) Mistä tulee sanonta "ei kestä kiittää"? Miksi juuri "ei kestä"?
Kyseessä on vain vanhahtava ilmaisu, joka on jäänyt fraasina elämään. Kestää-verbillähän on useita merkityksiä. 1. Kannattaa (painoa), 2. ajallisesti: jatkua, olla tietyn mittainen, 3. sietää, suvaita, pitää puolensa, 4. kannattaa, kelvata, maksaa vaivaa. Tämä viimeinen merkitys on nykyään harvinainen, paitsi tuossa "ei kestä kiittää" tai "eipä kestä" muodossa. Siksi se kuulostaa oudolta. 1960-luvulla koottu Nykysuomen sanakirja (WSOY 1992) antaa muina esimerkkeinä tästä merkityksestä jo hieman vanhahtavilta kuulostavia lauseita: "Ei se juuri kehumista kestä", "Siinä olikin sellainen kysymys, joka kesti pohtimista ja arvelemista" ja "Kyllä sitä kestää ämmien puheista selvää ottaa!". Sen sijaan Gummeruksen suuri suomen kielen sanakirja (2004) vaivautuu kirjaamaan ylös enää vain muodon "Ei kestä kiittää". Eli "ei kestä kiittää" voisi olla "ei tarvitse kiittää" tai "ei kannata kiittää", mutta onneksemme 'kestää' on kestänyt edes tuossa fraasissa.

[Jukka Aho]

[the verb] Kestää have had multiple meanings and this saying is holding one of the old meanings

To summarize the passage you quoted, one of the older meanings for the verb kestää is “to be worthwhile”, “to pay off (the trouble)”. Thus, phrases such as Ei(pä) kestä or Ei kestä kiittää simply mean “It’s not worthwhile to (even) thank about it” or “It’s not worth it to thank about it”.

In other words, according to the recipient of your gratitude, the good deed was insignificant enough as not to warrant any explicit thank-yous. The idea is fairly close to “Don’t mention it”.