Welcome!



This introduction to Finnish language and Finland is divided into two parts.

In the first part, you will be introduced to a number of basic Finnish words used in everyday life. In the second part, you will learn basic grammar, and you may try out the words you learned in the first part by reading the story. Both parts will give you an all-round presentation of Finnish culture, offering web links to various Finnish sites for you to explore.

If you have problems with the audio, you can find some help here. 


A
  Hello! 
Life in Finland
Finland
History of Finland
  
B
  Let's study Finnish
Vowels | Diphtongs | Consonants
The alphabet
Say!
Finnish names
Country, language, nationality
  
C
  Greetings
Numbers | Addresses
Numbers excercise 1, 2 and 3
When?
What is the time?
     
D
  Interrogatives
The weather
The compass
The seasons
Months and ordinal numbers
Adjectives
Colours
  
E
  Important words
In a restaurant
At a hotel
In the department store
In town


  A
    Pleased to meet you!
Now I ask you
Personal pronouns
Conjugation
Excercise on conjugation
Negative in the verb form
Possessive pronouns
Who has? / Who has not?
Asking questions
Useful phrases
 
B
  I work outside the home
Now I ask you
Do you remember the word?
Types of verbs
To be, do, and see
Excercise on verbs
 
C
  I am at home
Where? - Where (from)? - Where (to)?
To visit a place <=> Where?
Where is?
To go somewhere => Where (to)?
Where (to)?
Where?
From where?
Consonant gradation (k, p, t) in verbs
Consonant gradation (k, p, t) of nominals
   

 
  Finnish courses at the
Language Centre of the
Helsinki University
Further help for studying
   
 
D
  Family Kemp
Partitive
to like + something
The Kemp family travel to Finland
On board the ship
The ship arrives in Helsinki
  
E
  At Renata and Timo
Must
Declension of nouns,
adjectives, pronouns
and numerals
The next day
About the history of Helsinki
Walking in the centre
of Helsinki
In Suomenlinna
In the restaurant
  
F
  Sightseeing in Helsinki
In the art museum
As a tourist in Helsinki
Shopping
At the grocery
The Kemps go sightseeing in Helsinki
  
G
  The Kemp family visit other parts of Finland
The tour goes on
At the Pinja hotel
In Tampere
Visiting other cities
After the tour
  

 
  Word list
(not yet available)
Links NedStat
Downloads
 

Finnish for foreigners - Tavataan taas!
Suomen kielen kurssi ulkomaalaisille tai suomea vieraana tai toisena kielenä opiskeleville.
University of Helsinki Language Centre
Language Services
P.O.Box 33
00014 HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
tel. 09-191 23234

This course and text material is (C) Marjukka Kenttälä
Layout and implementation (C) Jan Wagner
English translation by Irma Talonen
Audio recordings (C) University Of Helsinki Language Centre
Photos (C) Jan Wagner, Marjukka Kenttälä, Jukka Rydenfelt

Opi lisää suomen kieltä! Puhu suomea!
Finnish for Foreigners