Do you speak some Finnish but struggle to understand what people say to you? I know what it’s like. I’ve had this problem with other languages. I used to dread phone conversations in English. Don’t even get me started on what it was like to listen to French at first…
I know that a lot of Finnish learners feel that not understanding people is one of the biggest reasons they may resort to English more often than they’d like.
I’m trying to come up with a way to help you bridge the gap between the Finnish puhekieli and kirjakieli (standard Finnish). I want to show you that there are lots of recurring patterns that you can spot if you look closely – and suddenly, it starts to make sense. And of course, above all, you need to practise listening.
I’ve made a little sample of a content type I hope you’re going to like.
If you’d like to listen to the sample, you can get access to the content by clicking here.
This is what you’ll find:
a short audio of me giving someone directions in Helsinki (I spoke in puhekieli, clearly but not too slowly)
a PDF with a translation of what I say
a PDF with a time-coded transcript of the puhekieli version AND comments regarding the differences between puhekieli and standard language
a PDF with a standard Finnish (or close to standard) version
a PDF with the key vocabulary (in basic form)