Must Learn Finnish! Please Help.

[Jukka Aho]

Yes I thought of that a few times. But I do not know how to move a thread to another place on this website. Please let me know how if you do.

Only administrators/moderators can move threads around. I just sent a suggestion about that to the-powers-that-be via the exclamation point icon, so maybe one of them will. (Edit: OK, the thread has moved now.)

Thank you for your help ladies and gents. This language is very difficult. One moment I think I get it, the next I find some word that confuses me, then I am lost. I'm not very good at this. :?

Just keep asking questions about the words that confuse you. As a native speaker, it’s usually fun trying to come up with an explanation for why the things are the way they are... ;)

As for the pronoun se, you’ve surely noticed its inflection does not follow the usual pattern: some of the case endings are different, etc.

In short, it’s inflected in an irregular way, due to the language having changed over the time. Some of the older inflection (and usage) patterns have been preserved in the most used words. I’m afraid you’ll just need to memorize these irregularities. See here for the inflection table: VISK § 101: Demonstratiivipronominien taivutus. Check out the nearby related links in the sidebar as well.

Here’s yet another resource on pronouns and their irregularities.

[hiihtaja]

Hello

You can try this address:

http://suomiaapinen.blogspot.com/

[jahasjahas]

Now that the thread is back up...

I am currently applying for undergraduate schooling in Finland. I have been learning Finnish since September of 2011. -- I want to gain an in depth knowledge of the language.

Are you going to study in Finnish, or is it an English program and you just want some language skills to make your life easier here? That makes a huge difference.

[laciethier]

Now that the thread is back up...

I am currently applying for undergraduate schooling in Finland. I have been learning Finnish since September of 2011. -- I want to gain an in depth knowledge of the language.

Are you going to study in Finnish, or is it an English program and you just want some language skills to make your life easier here? That makes a huge difference.

I am studying in an English Program, but the field is in health care. I feel it is my responsibility to know the language. I cannot be taking care of ill and hurt individuals and expect them to translate for me. It is cruel in my opinion. I am trying to get as in depth with the language as I can before I get there.

[AldenG]

As for the pronoun se, you’ve surely noticed its inflection does not follow the usual pattern: some of the case endings are different, etc.

It's probably a little early in laciethier's Finnish-language career for me to make this observation, but what you describe is another example of how the "basic" form of a word in Finnish often is not really the basic form. As I wrote long ago in another thread, with verbs the infinitive is not the truly basic form of the word but a derived form. The really basic form is the simple imperative (Go! Eat! Come!) from which it is simpler to construct all the other forms than it is from the infinitive.

And with words like se and kuka, when you look at the inflected forms it is obvious that the real exception in the whole bunch is the nominative. You have kenen, kenelle, etc., and even the archaic nominative ken, but the modern nominative or "basic form" is kuka. So you can learn kuka as the basic form and learn 21 exceptions or you can learn ken as the basic form and learn 1 exception. (OK, probably a bit more than one if I gave it proper thought -- but one sees my principle.)

Se is a bit messier than kuka in that way. I'm not exactly sure what it all means to the learning process, but I do know this: one shouldn't learn nominative as the "real" word and then think of all the inflected forms as a footnote, a set of rules or manipulations to apply to the nominative. For the nominative is not even the most commonly used form of most words in Finnish, nor is it the most regular.

[kalmisto]

Anyways, keep the suggestions coming. I really appreciate it. Everything is helpful no matter how small or big. I have to learn this language. Not learning it is just not an option for me.

I think that it would be a good idea to try the Memrise method :
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=58330

[laciethier]

Anyways, keep the suggestions coming. I really appreciate it. Everything is helpful no matter how small or big. I have to learn this language. Not learning it is just not an option for me.

I think that it would be a good idea to try the Memrise method :
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=58330

OH MY GOODNESS! You are a godsend! I have not been able to find anything like this online or in stores. This is exactly what I needed, something to force me to THINK in Finnish, not just regurgitate to words and phrases I have memorized. This seems like the next best thing when I have nobody to speak Finnish with in person. Thank you so much. I'm so grateful.

[NicolaeDenut]

This might help (video lessons with my own daughter - they are really simple ...) and some lessons written by me, they are not so advanced either but they are really good - I think - to start.

http://whatsupfinland.com/english/?cat=11

[kalmisto]

You can try to memorize Finnish words by associating them with something that you already know. It is of course not always easy to find something that you can associate a new word with.

By using this method you should very easily be able to memorize the Finnish word for "violence" which is "väkivalta". Just think about Walt Disney ( Wacky Walt ) and his cartoons which very often had a lot of VIOLENCE in them.

pronunciation of "väkivalta" : http://tinyurl.com/7ezfjh8

and this might also help you remember the word "väkivalta" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCPMk9W3RZU

See this also ! : http://voices.yahoo.com/you-remember-ea ... 06453.html

"If you need to memorize something... you should imagine something that reminds you of it. And the picture that you think of should be somehow unusual... ridiculous, funny, out of the ordinary. This is very important. That's what makes the information easy to remember."

[kalmisto]

How to memorize the ( Hawaiian ) title of this song ?
http://www.metrolyrics.com/humuhumunuku ... tists.html

That is easy for me to do because I immediately see several Finnish words in that word monster.

First there is "humu" twice, then "nuku" twice and then "apua´a".

The Finnish word "humu": http://www.eudict.com/?word=humu&go=Search&lang=fineng

"Nuku" is the imperative form of "nukkua" ( to sleep ) meaning "sleep !" You say "nuku !" to one person. If you tell several people to sleep you say "nukkukaa !".
http://www.verbix.com/webverbix/Finnish/nukkua.html
( Do not be discouraged by the number of verb forms here ! You do not need to learn all of them ! )

"Apua´a" comes very close to the Finnish word "apua !" which is a cry for help.

[kalmisto]

Here comes another weird and wonderful Finnish lesson for your pleasure :

You have most likely heard about Nuku Hiva. Nuku Hiva looks like a badly spelled "Nuku hyvin !" which is Finnish and means "Sleep well !"

"Nuku hyvin !" we would say to one person. To several people we would of course say "Nukkukaa hyvin !"

Nuku Hiva is a paradise ( "paratiisi" in Finnish ):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuku_Hiva

Here is another paradise island called Nauru :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauru

"Nauru" is Finnish for "laughter".

And here is a charming little song ( from 1965 ) about a fantasy island :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s95ga1JSYKY

"Saari" is Finnish for "island".