The Finnish language is a mixture of old and new, with both old and modern influences.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not as exciting as it could be, and Finnish is a perfect language for those who are just starting out.
Here are ten tips to help you learn Finnish.
1.
Try to learn the vocabulary from memory.
The word for “labor” in Finnish is Årei, which means “laying hands”.
So learning a word like “laid hands” will help you understand what the word means.
2.
Get familiar with the sounds of Finnish.
In Finnish, the consonants /ʃ/ are pronounced differently depending on the syllable.
You might hear the /s/ sound for “somewhere”, and the /t/ sound in the “t” sound for an “t”.
The /r/ sound is also used in the word for a “road”.
This is called riä, which literally means “road” or “roadway”.
Learn to recognise the vowel sounds that are pronounced.
Learn to pronounce /r/, /t/, and /s/.
3.
Learn the Finnish alphabet.
The Finnish alphabet is divided into 8 groups: – ē-a-e, – ə-a, – ŋ-e-a – ʃ-e – ͠-e ʒ-e The first letter in each group represents a consonant.
Learn which consonant the letter in the group represents and then use the letter you see in the alphabet to pronounce the sound.
For example, the letters “r” in “s” and “u” in the letter “a” would be pronounced the same way.
4.
Learn a word you have never heard before.
The first time you learn a Finnish word, you might hear it as “laitu”, or “lappa”, or just “lä.”
Learn to tell which letter is which word and then read the word out loud.
For instance, “lá” in a word would be a word for an ɔ in the first letter of the alphabet.
To learn the pronunciation, take the first word you hear and then repeat it out loud and try to pronounce it.
You will be amazed at how different words sound.
You’ll be surprised at how much you can get away with when you learn something new.
5.
Learn your friends’ Finnish.
It’s not the language itself that is the challenge.
You need to learn what you’re hearing and how you can use that to your advantage.
If you have a friend who speaks Finnish and you’re in a language class, you’ll learn a lot of the same vocabulary.
So when you’re with your friends and they say something you don’t understand, you can try to figure out what they’re saying.
6.
Learn Finnish words from memory and write them down.
Remember that words in Finnish are pronounced the way they sound.
That means the sounds you hear when you say the word are the words in your head.
So make a list of your favourite words in the language and write down them.
You should try to remember the words you’ve learnt and write it down.
7.
Learn how to spell words.
It can be really easy to get lost trying to remember a word in Finnish.
But if you don´t have the vocabulary, it will be much easier to find the right word for you.
To make sure you’re on the right track, learn some Finnish words, and then try to spell them out loud or write them out on paper.
If they don’t sound like the words that you are looking for, try pronouncing them out in Finnish or translating them into your own language.
8.
Learn other languages.
It takes a while to get used to your new Finnish friends and learn a language, but once you have some basic vocabulary and you feel comfortable speaking it, it’s a great way to improve your Finnish language.
To improve your English language, check out our list of tips for learning the new language.
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