Common mistakes in English by Finns

[Frypan]

Hi,

A Finnish friend has asked for my help with her already well spoken English. For the first lesson, I thought I'd approach from the avoiding common mistakes angle...

Things I've noticed like ...
"That costs much" vs "That costs a lot"
"I'll call to Mikko and ask" vs "I'll call Mikko and ask"
"one the other hand, on the other hand" vs "on one hand, on the other hand"

The problem is that I think I've become immune to these sorts of things now after living in Finland for a while. So maybe someone else can give me some tips on the common mistakes that Finns make, or what areas I should concentrate on or consider. Also pronunciation ideas (word stress, intonation etc). What differentiates a good english speaker from an average one?

--Fry

[khu]

Seems to me that it's commonly just a wrong choice of words, word that mean generally the same thing but are used in different ways grammatically, or have different shades of meanings that are idiomatic and aren't immediately obvious.

My girlfriend commonly says, for example, "She told that her job was terrible." Whereas, in most Englishes, you would either use the word 'said' in place of 'told' or use 'told' as as a transitive verb with a direct object (e.g., She told us that...) if I recall my grammar school lessons right.

The most obvious Finnishness of most Finnish English is, just the way they retain the stress on the initial syllable of words, phrases, and sentences. This is probably a pretty difficult thing for Finnish natives to change, much harder than for English speakers to drop when they learn Finnish!

[Hank W.]

Seems to me that it's commonly just a wrong choice of words, word that mean generally the same thing but are used in different ways grammatically, or have different shades of meanings that are idiomatic and aren't immediately obvious.

Englis is such an idiomatic language it really requires a lot of prcatice - there are far more "just is so" cases you use a phrase. The person's educational background (how many years of English) and exposure to natives (wathing Emmerdale on morning tv even helps) also directly correlates to phraseology. Someone learned English "on the job" may speak better idiomatic English, but goof up all the grammar.

My girlfriend commonly says, for example, "She told that her job was terrible." Whereas, in most Englishes, you would either use the word 'said' in place of 'told' or use 'told' as as a transitive verb with a direct object (e.g., She told us that...) if I recall my grammar school lessons right.

Well, I understand her saying she told me. Of course this mistake is due to the fact that in Finnish you can omit the "to me" or personal pronouns alltogether as they are clued from the verbs.

[Hank W.]

What differentiates a good english speaker from an average

http://www.bartleby.com/116/
The King’s English H.W. Fowler 1908

[Mook]

So Hank, are you saying that English is more harder than other languages as it's idiotic

(It is harder
it is more hard)

[Richard]

(It is harder
it is more hard)[/quote]

harder or more hard are ok, but not more harder.

Or was it a joke?

[Mook]

Or was it a joke?

In the last couple of days I heard a Finn interview the lead singer of the band green day. "More harder" was one mistake I noticed.

Maybe I need that flag back?

[Frypan]

This "more harder" mistake is just the sort of thing I'm starting to say myself and then quickly correcting!

[mookoo]

From my boyfriend I mostly see minor mistakes with prepositions and articles (a, an, the) i.e. leaving them off when they should be there, or randomly inserting them where they don't need to be. For example he would say:

Finglish: I spent most of day at bed.
English: I spent most of the day in bed.

Finglish: I am sitting at the couch.
English: I am sitting on the couch.

Finglish: It takes some time to fall to sleep.
English: It takes some time to fall asleep.

Finglish: I think I will go to store tonight.
English: I think I will go to the store tonight.

Finglish: I spent quite a much time at the Sweden.
English: I spent quite a lot of time in Sweden.
or I spent quite a bit of time in Sweden.

But really, although I pick up on a lot of mistakes from Finglish speakers, they are perfectly understandable. Its not so much of a big deal really. If Finns start speaking English TOO well, they would lose so much of their foreign charm Besides, most chicks find the accent VERY sexy And thats what is really important right?

[Frypan]

Good examples! "fall to sleep" I've heard often. And "taking a beer" vs "having a beer" is one that now springs to mind. (no, I'm not drinking).

[khu]

Good examples! "fall to sleep" I've heard often. And "taking a beer" vs "having a beer" is one that now springs to mind. (no, I'm not drinking).

Haha. I've encountered the latter -- when we are visiting my girlfriend's family, her dad has gone days without saying anything to me except 'Take more beer!' at mealtimes. (He appears to be afraid of making English mistakes and therefore doesn't use much english.)

[ajk]

"Finglish" is basically speaking Finnish but with English words. Even if the Finn knows all the right words he uses them like he would when speaking Finnish. Works the other way around too, and with all languages

[Hank W.]

Its the same "direct translation" kind of error English speakers do when learning Finnish. I mean you "smoke ham" or "smoke fish" but you "burn tobacco". Takes a lot of time getting the verbs to match. This taking a beer = ottaa olut is quite logical as in Finnish you can't "have" a beer (one has to pay for it)

[PeterF]

This taking a beer = ottaa olut is quite logical as in Finnish you can't "have" a beer (one has to pay for it)

It is not ilmaiseksi

[Hank W.]

So Hank, are you saying that English is more harder than other languages

No, thats "far more much harder" thank you very many for pointing that out.