Moving to Finland (with no job)

sheepish · Post by **sheepish** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:05 am

Golly gosh, is it only me? Or do others suspect fluency in Finnish in 9 months could be a bit of a exagerration????????????

**Sponsor:**

mookoo · Post by **mookoo** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:20 am

I think you could get a working knowledge of Finnish in 9 months. Enough to sqeeze out some basic communication. But fluency means that you are speaking Finnish as naturally as if it were your own language ... and that takes time ... LOTS of time. But I am sure everything sounds like fluent Finnish to someone who doesn't speak it at all.

bretti_kivi · Post by **bretti_kivi** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:31 am

good to hear about the job stuff, and if you get invited to interview say where you got the link

definitions of fluency are available here:
http://culture2.coe.int/portfolio/inc.a ... evels.html

anything less than B2 is as far as i'm concerned not "fluent" - i certainly don't consider myself fluent even though i'm nearly there; my German is not quite C2 after 7 years living there. But B1 is generally enough for the basics of life and living, i think this is generally "Suomi III" at the universities.

ach ja, another point: "Scandinavia" generally means the old Monarchies of the nordic countries and Finland and Iceland are not part of this! Scandinavia = Sweden, Denmark, Norway and nothing else. "Nordic" is the better group term IMO - you could end up offending people. I note with interest that you don't hear "fellow scandinavians" here...

Bret

Daniel · Post by **Daniel** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 9:13 pm

I didn't mean to start a argument about semantics, apologies for that. It's good to know that I can expect to take a lot longer to learn the language than I expected, so as not to come over there, try & be totally discouraged by the (seemingly) slow progress.

I do appreciate the information provided though, it is always valuable.

Ema · Post by **Ema** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 2:18 pm

Moving to any country is a huge thing. Of course there are lots of difficulties, but that's also the fun part of it, that you have something new, new friends, new home, new life and new challenges. You can never be totally ready for everything in your life. So, just pack your bag, come here and have fun

Penny · Post by **Penny** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 3:13 pm

Yeah, I agree with Ema. Life's an adventure.

Daniel · Post by **Daniel** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 10:57 pm

Those are more encouraging words. After applying for a position at F-Secure Wednesday I felt a little encouraged, and received a call back from them this morning so, fingers crossed, something good will come of this & it will all just seem like it's meant to be (more than it already is). I'll keep you all posted though.

sloth · Post by **sloth** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 9:31 pm

Ta all for your replies,
lots to think about and some stuff to read.

Penny · Post by **Penny** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:07 am

sloth lives!

Daniel · Post by **Daniel** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:18 pm

So are you in Finland now Sloth? How's that all going? Sorry for hijacking your thread.

Kayser_Soze · Post by **Kayser_Soze** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 7:51 am

Krash wrote: I'm confident that I can get a very good grasp of the language within 6 months

It is good to be confident, but not over the top. But then again, you may be the next Einstein.

brendating · Post by **brendating** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:39 pm

I speak 3 languages and 3 dialects fluently and you think thats super eh! But I have lived in Finland soon 8 years and my Finnish is only B1... (doesn't seem to get any better)

I agree with Bret - it's really not easy to learn Finnish in Helsinki (or capital area) as it's so easy to lapse into english... You don't even need to say "Do you speak English?" wherever you go, coz they usually do.

Op999 · Post by **Op999** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 4:35 am

...not saying I am, but suppose I, too, move to Finland without a job, how could I go about doing that? Currently in the States, I'm a Web designer (although I work for myself and, in reality, I work a lot under the table.) So far, most of my work allows me to telecommute, which means I could physically do my work in Finland. Yet, if I were to move there, I'm sure I would have to apply as a business owner. Any advice as to how a person in my shoes could move to Suomi w/o having to get a ...sigh..."real" job and without having to say "I do"? -- Op

RSH · Post by **RSH** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 9:15 am

Under the jobsd study thread here bb/viewforum.php?f=20 there are 2 stickies at the top about setting up your own business in Finland. There is also a thread about working for say foreign clients while based in Finland which is what I do. A lot of questions can be answered there, though there is a leniency in the last post about UK tax there is a lengthy one elsewhere about US tax which might help.

MPballet · Post by **MPballet** » Sun May 08, 2005 4:32 pm

I know this is a personal question, but how much money are you planning to move there with? I wonder what would be a safe amount. I'm going through it too :/

Finland Forum

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

Moving to Finland (with no job)

fluency

Thanks again

welcome back

Re: Me too

so...back on the topic of the original post