I want to study in Finland... But I'm completely lost.

Lola1221 · Post by **Lola1221** » Mon Oct 10, 2016 1:21 am

Hi Guys!

My name is Ana María, I'm 20 years old and I live in Colombia

I'm studying foreign languages at the Universidad del Valle, 6th semester. It's a Licenciatura, which means I'm studying to become a teacher (French or English teacher)

Why Finland? What about USA and England, or maybe France?

I'm so **** tired of the situation in my country . I guess you know: poverty,the recent plebiscite, corruption, FARC... It's quite a long list...

People just complain about everything, they are used to bad news, to murders, and to a horrible education system.. And everyone knows Finland has the best one.
It'd be awesome to go there and learn, not for staying there, but for coming back to my country and actually do something for my people. I LOVE COLOMBIA, and I'd never change my mind about it. I guess we all love our country even if it sucks.
I know becoming a teacher in Finland is very hard... Besides, I don't speak Finnish... But my English is fine so... I might have a chance... a tiny one...

The thing is that I'm lost... I don't know where or how to start...
Which University? Which program? How to get there? What options do I have?

So it'd be awesome if you guys could help me... Enlighten me a bit..

Y si de casualidad hay un colombiano por ahí en las mismas que yo, o que ya anda por allá, sería genial ponernos en contacto.

Thank you

**Sponsor:**

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Oct 10, 2016 9:25 am

There are lots of answers on this website (the official portal for students wanting to study up here):

http://www.studyinfinland.fi/

Note, tertiary education is no longer free for non-EU students starting 2017

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Mon Oct 10, 2016 10:31 am

Rosamunda wrote:http://www.studyinfinland.fi/

Literally the first result when Google "how to study in Finland"

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Mon Oct 10, 2016 12:44 pm

Lola1221 wrote:And everyone knows Finland has the best one.

That should be amended almost always with "for Finns".

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Mon Oct 10, 2016 12:51 pm

Upphew wrote:That should be amended almost always with "for Finns".

Or non-Finns who are in the country from a very young age.

betelgeuse · Post by **betelgeuse** » Mon Oct 10, 2016 2:52 pm

Beep_Boop wrote:
Upphew wrote:That should be amended almost always with "for Finns".
Or non-Finns who are in the country from a very young age.

Plus the fact that it's really only about the primary education system.

leisl · Post by **leisl** » Mon Oct 10, 2016 9:18 pm

Finland is, indeed, only the best education system in the world for primary school children (no argument from anyone who knows).

But one small caveat is: teachers also find Finland fascinating, perhaps explaining why someone wants to study here - ie, not for the amazing university education but for the chance to get into the primary school system.

Ana María, your chances of teaching in Finland are close to nil without really high Finnish skill. It does not help you really for us to give you detailed info on how to possibly make it happen without Finnish, or by coming here and building Finnish skill while studying, because you will very likely waste years and lots of money and end up with nothing. It is kinder for us to be blunt. Finland is a highly-educated society and Finns see no advantage to having someone who speaks good English, because every qualified teacher here speaks English, and many of them have a MA and speak excellent English. Teachers are always multilingual here - meaning there's still nothing special about a native Spanish speaker, since many of the Finnish-born teachers have studied Spanish for years and "think" they are just as good as a native.

I'm sorry. Yes we have a few people teaching without Finnish. But they're in oversupply as they are the spouses of Finns and stuck here anyway, and all competing for the few jobs we have.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Oct 10, 2016 10:44 pm

leisl wrote:Finland is, indeed, only the best education system in the world for primary school children (no argument from anyone who knows).

But one small caveat is: teachers also find Finland fascinating, perhaps explaining why someone wants to study here - ie, not for the amazing university education but for the chance to get into the primary school system.

Ana María, your chances of teaching in Finland are close to nil without really high Finnish skill. It does not help you really for us to give you detailed info on how to possibly make it happen without Finnish, or by coming here and building Finnish skill while studying, because you will very likely waste years and lots of money and end up with nothing. It is kinder for us to be blunt. Finland is a highly-educated society and Finns see no advantage to having someone who speaks good English, because every qualified teacher here speaks English, and many of them have a MA and speak excellent English. Teachers are always multilingual here - meaning there's still nothing special about a native Spanish speaker, since many of the Finnish-born teachers have studied Spanish for years and "think" they are just as good as a native.

I'm sorry. Yes we have a few people teaching without Finnish. But they're in oversupply as they are the spouses of Finns and stuck here anyway, and all competing for the few jobs we have.

You are off topic. The OP was asking about study opportunities in FInland. She never said she was looking for work, either as a teacher or anything else.

By the way, the OECD PISA rankings are compiled based on tests carried out on 15-yr-old children ie - not primary school kids. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/
Therefore, PISA is not only measuring the effectiveness of primary education but also the whole system of comprehensive schooling.

As for university teaching, nowadays the faculties are full of teachers and lecturers from all over the world. Not just Finns. Where I have been teaching the Spanish teachers come from Spain and Central America. The French teachers nearly all come from France. Most have qualifications from their own countries and also from Finland. Teachers in tertiary education are often continuing their studies themselves (PhD, post-Doc), and most are required (or encouraged) to continue doing research parallel to their teaching commitments. The competition for university posts is fierce (it is not uncommon to have 100 applicants for a post) so I would stick my neck out and say that the ones who do get the jobs are probably fairly well qualified. As always, there are variations from one faculty to another and from one university to another. It is not necessary to speak Finnish: the higher you go in academia, the less likely it is that you will be taught in Finnish. (I might also dispute the idea that all university teachers have excellent English - but it would be anecdotal. Certainly in things like engineering, the level of English proficiency is not guaranteed!)

If you are interested in studying education and would like to continue your studies in Finland - take a look at Oulu: http://www.oulu.fi/university/node/41797 Also, some of UAS run English-medium-instruction postgrad programmes in Vocational Teacher Education (eg Haaga Helia, HAMK etc)

Lola1221 · Post by **Lola1221** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:50 am

Thank you guys very much...

If you are interested in studying education and would like to continue your studies in Finland - take a look at Oulu: http://www.oulu.fi/university/node/41797 Also, some of UAS run English-medium-instruction postgrad programmes in Vocational Teacher Education (eg Haaga Helia, HAMK etc)

I'll search there... And on the web page you gave me.

And yes... I said I want to learn from you, not being a teacher there. My wish is to come back to Colombia and apply what I learned.

Finland Forum

Find information about moving to, living in and life in Finland