Lazy brit requires a couple of finnish phrases

rmblake · Post by **rmblake** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:52 am

Hi. Long time lurker, first time poster.

On Friday I make my first trip to Finland flying to Tampere from London Stansted, to stay with (and meet [arrgh!]) my girlfriend's parents.

Although I've not had much time to teach myself finnish before I go, (I tried signing on to an evening course at the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies near where I live, but they don't start until september!) I've already scraped together a good body of phrases from the existing threads in this forum ("Minulla on täysin rehelliset aikomukset tytärtäsi kohtaan." is essential!

), but there's a couple of phrases which I'd still like to know before I go, if anyone would be kind enough to provide a translation:

Towards the parents, when meeting them the first time:
"Pleased to meet you"

And to be used towards my Girlfriend (as I haven't seen her in AGES):
"I've missed you so much"

And I'm not too sure how this exact phrase would work in Finnish (as a Japanese student, the Japanese have a very humbling way of putting it), but as a "thank you for having me" gesture towards the parents, I'm giving a small gift, so I'm looking for something along the lines of:
"Please take this as a token of my thanks"

**Sponsor:**

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 4:50 am

Try saying something like this when you see your girlfriend:
'Onks nyt hywä fiiwis?'
(intended errors for those spelling nerds out there!)
Guaranteed to get a laugh out of her!!

sinikettu · Post by **sinikettu** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:08 am

rmblake wrote:
Towards the parents, when meeting them the first time:
"Pleased to meet you"

And to be used towards my Girlfriend (as I haven't seen her in AGES):
"I've missed you so much"

"thank you for having me" gesture towards the parents,

I'm giving a small gift, so I'm looking for something along the lines of:
"Please take this as a token of my thanks"

I will not spell them correctly but will try to give you the phonetics.

First meeting while shaking hands..
Howsker tut-toas-tuer.

When you meet "her" after so long time..

Mina olen Ika-voinuut sin-uar. kulta.

Thank you for having me...
I would just say..
Oli tossi hoover..kiitok-sear parl-yon.

When you give a present..it is enough to just say..as you actualy hand the gift to them.
Ol-kar..hoover..

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:24 am

Unless you are expecting an early inheritance and want the in-laws to die laughing, I'd rather rehearse real phrases with a tutor. Unless you can grab a Finn, this robot is about the best you can get

http://www.mikropuhe.com/demo.asp

Olkaa hyvä

sinikettu · Post by **sinikettu** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:31 am

Hank W. wrote: Unless you can grab a Finn,

Olkaa hyvä

Olka Hyvä

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:39 am

Olga hyvä, olkaa hyväilemättä, olkaa hyvä

JasonS · Post by **JasonS** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:18 am

Hei Sinikettu where can I sign up to your school of Finnish! Not to sound mocking but your phonetics brought a big smile to my face this morning.

I would just say to the parents a simple "House car tar-var-tar" when you meet them. Any more than that on your first trip to Finland risks either fits of laughter or embarrassing empty looks. I think just learning to say Kiitos will be a good start.
Good luck!

sinikettu · Post by **sinikettu** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:41 am

JasonS wrote:Hei Sinikettu where can I sign up to your school of Finnish! Not to sound mocking but your phonetics brought a big smile to my face this morning.

!

Not to sound mocking...so what do you sound like then..
I am an engineer not a teacher.
You do better..you are a Finn I am not.
Nobody else has made any sort of attempt at giving some phonetic help.
...
..

JasonS · Post by **JasonS** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:54 am

oops sorry sinikettu

I do admire your effort to help out.

I should have kept quiet but I just pictured an average lazy brit saying 'Howsker tut-toas-tuer' to a Finn and imagining their response

.

I agree with Hank's advice or otherwise why not get language help from the girlfriend.

rmblake · Post by **rmblake** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:59 pm

Thank you everyone for their help (and humorous comments), I've had a little practice with pronunciation before with my girlfriend (but the phonetic guide is a useful!), and attempted to pick up a little grammar with this insane 1950's teach yourself book I grabbed out of London University Library, but it's a horrible complex book, and I haven't gotten very far.

Usually when going abroad to another country I make some sort of effort to pick up a modicum of the language, mostly for the survival aspect.

For the Finnish language purists out there, I do intend to do something about starting to learn the language in September at one of the courses in London, but it's a matter of fitting it in around my degree course. But, if my Japanese experience is anything to go by, you can't get anywhere with a language without not being afraid of making a complete tit of yourself.

sinikettu · Post by **sinikettu** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:21 pm

rmblake wrote:a little grammar with this insane 1950's teach yourself book I grabbed out of London University Library,.

Burn it or throw in the sea....dont try to learn Finnish from it...I still remember the open words..Yö oli ohi ole kirkas päivä...and I have not seen my copy for at least 15 years...I think it was written with the sole purpose of protecting and preserving the Finnish language as a code only understood by Finns.

Just remember...moi kulta...that is enough....for the first few hours anyway

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:21 pm

Well, if you have learned Japanese, Finnish "works" the same way with syllables, so your pronunciation will not be that much off to start with.

enk · Post by **enk** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 5:47 pm

Or the persistent use of "olkaa hyvä" in books for foreigners? I've
heard that phrase maybe three times in the 15 years of I spent travelling to Finland and then living here.

The best phrases to learn always depend on where you live. My mother
made do with "Ei mustamakkaraa, kiitos" when she would come to
visit me in Tampere. Nowdays we would need to teach her: "Usko pois,
mulla ei ole kolikoita!" and "Ei, en halua graavilohta, saatikka nahkiaisia,
kiitos."

-enk

snowcelt · Post by **snowcelt** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:10 am

Hi Sinikettu,

Loved your phonetic attempts too. If this chap coming from Blighty is from the West country, Devon, or Gloucestershire, then I reckon your phonetics were bang on. It reminded me of characters from the Fast show (Ruuvi Löysällä) particularly, the guy who comes out of the shed, and always starts with "This week, oi be mostly.....", or Ted the gardener. Ohh-arrr! Ohhh-arr!

Hew-vaar Paaars-eee-oy-nen Sin-ew-le!

kevin.

snowcelt · Post by **snowcelt** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:15 am

Oops,

It should have been Hew-vaar Paaars-eee-ay-staa!

bloody grammar!

K.

PS: Get to Alko today before it's too late!!

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