On Private Lessons...

[rob34]

Today in my Jiu Jitsu class someone asked "mitsä oot kotoisin" (where are you from) and I replied "teksasista" (from Texas).

Then the oft-asked question was "how long have you lived in Finland", to which I reply "about 3/4/5 years".

The usual response is "holy cow, you speak good Finnish for only living here X years", followed by a personal story of a brother-ín-law or so and so who has lived in Finland for 10 years and barely speaks a lick.

I attribute all of my personal progress to the private lessons that I have had (I visited the owner of uusikielemme.fi for 100 hours).

Furthermore, I believe that individual lessons help enhance a personal responsibility and enthusiasm for learning the language.

If you have the funds, I strongly recommend private lessons. The payoff is immense. I can't tell you how many times I've been in a corporate meeting that "devolved" to Finnish, at which point someone apologizes and I retort "ei mitään, jatkakaa vaan", pulling the ace out of my sleeve.

By the way, I still attend "private lessons": I arrange a (cheap) conversation hour once per week with a uni student. It keeps a regimented practice routine.

Good luck / lycka till!

[tuulen]

...I attribute all of my personal progress to the private lessons that I have had (I visited the owner of uusikielemme.fi for 100 hours)...

Inge is a good Finnish language teacher, I recommended her, and she will not hesitate to challenge a student. http://www.uusikielemme.fi/

[petwik]

Hi, I wanted to ask you where you have found your student that you ahve private Finnish lessons with? I am looking for private Finnish tuition for my Belgian husband. We live in Espoo. We would not like to pay for any professional services, but rather a student with whom he could learn the basics and to understand the language. Any suggestions are welcome.
Regards, Petra

[AldenG]

Just remember that the best producers at anything are not 10% better than the rest, they are often 5x to 10x better than the rest. I don't know that anyone has studied teachers in that way, but studies of productivity in a number of business/professional areas have established the principle.

That's not to say you necessarily get what you are paying for merely by paying more or paying less. But a truly excellent teacher, if you can identify one, is worth the truly excellent rate they may be charging -- and in terms of results produced, may in fact be a bargain even at the premium rate.

[Aino]

How much does a private tuition cost? Thanks.