Language course in Jyväskylä?

asela · Post by **asela** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:26 am

Hi I'm a newbie to this forum as well as to the Finland ! I'm Looking for a language course now.

Can anybody recommend me a Good Finnish language course in Jyväskylä ,that runs in the evenings?.
And also do you guys know any place in Jyväskylä where they teach German in English

Thanks!

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blaugrau · Post by **blaugrau** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:48 am

I can't recommmend any in particular, but you could try feeding Google the words "työväenopisto" (adult education centre) and/or more generally, the phrase "Finnish for foreigners", followed by the name of the town. The university in Jyväskylä is very likely to have a language centre and run Finnish courses, though it's possible they will be open only to their own students (or exchange students). For German classes, look at the same institutions, though I predict the probability of finding "German for non-Finnish Foreigners" classes in Jyväskylä to be close to zero.

Note that most adult education centres' academic year ends at the beginning of April, so there's a chance you can't join a course now. If there's a summer university in Jyväskylä (kesäyliopisto), there might be a chance to join a intensive course during the summer. But generally it's possible you'll have to wait until the autumn to join the courses.

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:25 pm

blaugrau wrote:For German classes, look at the same institutions, though I predict the probability of finding "German for non-Finnish Foreigners" classes in Jyväskylä to be close to zero.

Yes that would be like searching for a course on Peruvian folk dances, taught in Chinese, in Switzerland...

But yes the University language centre might have some courses also during the summer (?) - http://kielikompassi.jyu.fi/index.php... worth checking out whether they have so-called "open enrollment" courses where you don't need to be a student (but in that case I guess you'll need to pay something for the courses)

As a sidenote, the JYU Open University does have some courses in English, see http://www.avoin.jyu.fi/en/studies but as you might well expect, none of them are language courses...

Summer universities: http://www.kesayliopistot.fi

Karhunkoski · Post by **Karhunkoski** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:48 pm

Google "Finnish for foreigners" AND mervi AND Jyväskylä

It runs in the evenings, 3 different levels I think.

The course book is Hyvin Menee

You will need to supplement the course with LOTS, read LOTS of extra home study, telly watching, childrens books reading and conversation practice outside of the course.

Good Luck, any questions about Jyväs, just shout away.

ananga · Post by **ananga** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:51 pm

asela wrote:I'm Looking for a language course now.

University course started on January and will finish in April.
Also this Adult Education Center course will finish in April.
During summer there will be intense course (500 eur for 2 weeks.. yeah...)

I am in the same situation as you - would like to learn Finnish now. But I have been studying Finnis for a couple of month independentely, I speak very little, read children books, understand something and want to ignore all grammar!

yeah, I really believe that IS possible.
May be we can arrange for our own study group and find some student to help us for a modest price?

Small group and some student as a teacher would be nice.
What do you think?

blaugrau · Post by **blaugrau** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:24 pm

The fee for the course at the summer university (535 euro) sounds extremely ridiculous. I wonder if it is possible it's simply a typo? All other summer university Finnish courses seem to charge about 100 euro (which isn't exactly cheap maybe but then it's quite intensive). Maybe it'd be worthwile to e-mail to the contact person and double-check about that fee?

ananga · Post by **ananga** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:41 pm

as I understood this fee includes also accomodation, food, other activities.
It is more like a two-week camp.

then this price makes sense.

blaugrau · Post by **blaugrau** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:04 pm

mhm, i find it a bit ambiguous really:
"The fee includes the instruction and course material as well as some free time programme arranged by the Summer University. (Includes no accommodation for meals)"

Source: http://www.kesayliopistot.fi/finncult_2008.htm#Jyvask

ananga · Post by **ananga** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:23 pm

oh sorry.. my mistake then.
but then this price is extremely ridiculous.

EDIT:
I think this is what makes the price so high:
http://kesayo.jyu.fi/kielikurssit/suome ... vapaa-aika
appearantely it is not only language course, but includes also set of different extra activities.

blaugrau · Post by **blaugrau** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:29 pm

yes, sounds really ridiculous, and since the description itself is not very clear, maybe would be good to ask them for clarification..

asela · Post by **asela** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:41 am

Thanks for all the replies. I wrote to the university and from them also i received the same reply. (http://kielikompassi.jyu.fi/main.php?d1=250&d2=316)
I think best option would be to arrange a private class for a group.

Yeah as Sammy said Finding German class is not possible in this small Jyvaskyla . Best option would be to have a private class again.
cheers

Karhunkoski · Post by **Karhunkoski** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:54 am

asela,

did you find this:

Suomi
1214105 Suomi I, jatkokurssi (26 t)
Voionmaan koulu
9.1.–9.4. ke 17.00–18.30,
Mervi Huisman, HuK
Kurssimaksu 28 €
Alkeiden jatkokurssi. Oppikirjana Heikkilä, Hyvin menee, kappaleesta 9.

1214106 Suomi II, jatkokurssi (26 t)
Opisto
8.1.–8.4. ti 18.00–19.30
Mervi Huisman, HuK
Kurssimaksu 28 €
Jatkamme suomen kielen opiskelua. Oppikirjana Heikkilä, Hyvin menee, kappaleesta 17.

Suomen kielen harjoituskurssi YKI-tutkintoon (30 t)
Opisto
8.1.–18.3. ti ja to 16.30–18.00
Mervi Huisman, HuK
Kurssimaksu 39 € ja monistemaksu 10 €
Opiskelemme suomen kieltä Yki-tutkintoa silmälläpitäen. Harjoittelemme erityisesti vastaustekniikkaa. Testi on vaikea ja vaatii paljon opiskelua ja harjoittelua. Edellytetään vähintään 2–3 vuoden aktiivista suomen kielen opiskelua. Kielistudioryhmiin jako 1. oppitunnilla. Ryhmään otetaan vain 24 opiskelijaa. Sitovat ilmoittautumiset henkilökohtaisesti opiston neuvontaan 13.–14.12., jolloin myös maksut suoritetaan.

You can join these midway through the course and they publish the next seasons' course dates shortly before the end of this season.

If you need translation or info about how to join them, post back.

blaugrau · Post by **blaugrau** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:53 am

These courses end after easter though and only start again in the autumn.

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:07 pm

asela wrote:Yeah as Sammy said Finding German class is not possible in this small Jyvaskyla . Best option would be to have a private class again.

A minor sidenote - there certainly ARE German courses and classes in Jyväskylä, but they're most probably not taught in English. The "smallness" of Jyväskylä has little if anything to do with it.

But since Jyväskylä is very much a student town, perhaps you could strike a deal with some German exchange student visiting there, on an "each one teach one" basis. An informal way of learning, but could be fun. The university and the UAS both host a fairly large number of German exchange students each semester, I'm sure. You could ask the local student associations JYY and JAMKO ( http://www.jyy.fi & http://www.jamko.fi/ ) whether they have a noticeboard, mailing list etc that you could use.

mikebrads · Post by **mikebrads** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:53 pm

I have attended the summer course fours times now, and have always enjoyed it. The first couple of times my company paid, but after that I paid myself.
It is three weeks long, most of the other Summer university courses are only two weeks.

The quality of the teachers has always been outstanding (Jyväskylä Uni is apparently well known/regarded as a teacher training place), and the friendliness of the students (from all over the world).
But the *MASSIVE* thing is the free time program. Every day (and one weekend day) there is some activity that you can take part in. Some of these activities are listed on their site. It is these "extra's" that can really help. I think this "free time" program is unique to the Jyväskylä course (all of the others are just normal language classes that take place in the summer).
The course organises you into "ability" groups, but also taken into account is WHAT you want to study (grammer, speaking, listening etc).
Because there are multiple ability groups in the same course this allows for some nice student interaction helping each other out etc.

The course fee includes some of the activities, but not accomadation (which you would not need if you are living in Jyväskylä

). Also, if money is a problem, call them, and they might be able to help finding some sort of grant or bursary to help with the cost.

If you want to get started NOW, then try posting a note in wherever the "Finnish for Forigners" teachers are (if you want cheap), or I could forward you the contact details of my teacher from last year (she lives in Jyväskylä), although she will probably charge more than a studnet would.

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