Finnish what I started

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Sprachensammlerin
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Re: Finnish what I started

Postby Sprachensammlerin » Sat Dec 10, 2022 10:49 pm

Tännän on lauantai.

Today I listened to Finnish Pod 101 a bit and to Random Finnish Lesson Podcast. The latter is way above my level, but I did learn a word from context. At one point, you could hear a dog bark and the host said: "Minun koira haukkuu.", so I knew "haukkua" means "to bark". Two other words I took away from this podcast episode were "opiskella" (to study) and "kantaurali" (Proto-Uralic).

Now, I talk to myself, whenever I know how to express something in Finnish. When I take the dishes out of the dishwasher, I name them: kuppi (cup), lasi (glass), veitsi (knife), haarukka (fork), lusikka (spoon), lautanen (plate)... I comment on what I do: "Juon kahvia." (I drink tea.). In the shower, I thought of the sentences "Vesi on lämmintä." (The water is warm.) and "Vesi on liian kylmää." (The water is too cold."

I started with unit 8 in Duolingo and finally, it's getting interesting as many new words were introduced that help me build a little bit more interesting sentences. Here are my favorite Duolingo sentences from today:
Tajuan, että se on halpaa. I realize that it is cheap.
Poika, tajuatkö sinä, että tämä huone on sotkuinen? Boy, do you realize, that this room is messy?
Minulla on hiki, koska siivoan taloa. I am sweating because I am cleaning the house.
Tajuan nyt, että ne ovat rikki. I realize now that they are broken.
Sinä tiskaat ja laulat. You are doing the dishes and singing.
Miksi sinä korjaat outoa taloa? Why are you repairing the strange house?
Hyi! Tajuatteko te, että tämä asunto on sotkuinen? Ew! Do you realize that this apartment is messy?

Also, I reached a milestone in the Drops course. I learned 500 words so far. Of course, I can't use them all actively yet but I have a pretty good base now when it comes to food and also know some verbs around this topic like kiehautta (to parboil), hauduttaa (to simmer), kuoria (to peel) and kuutioida (to dice). Maybe I can start reading Finnish recipes soon.
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Sprachensammlerin
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Re: Finnish what I started

Postby Sprachensammlerin » Sun Dec 11, 2022 7:33 pm

Tänään on sunnuntai.
[I used to write "tännän" instead of "tänään".]

Four years ago, I visited Jyväskylä for a week to attend a conference. At that time I didn't really study Finnish but I posted some pictures of my stay on Instagram and commented with some Finnish expressions. For instance, I posted a picture of how dark it was at 1 pm (in November) and added some weather expressions that come in handy now:
Tänään on kaunis ilma. = It’s a beautiful weather today. [Aha! And back then I wrote "tänään" correctly.]
On kylmä. = It’s cold.
On pilvistä = It’s cloudy.
On puolipilvistä. = It’s partly cloudy.
On aurinkoista. = It’s sunny.
Sataa. = It’s raining.
Sataa lunta. = It’s snowing.

I also posted this.
Lake Päijänne has 1,886 islands. When I read about that in Finnish I was astonished that it said “the total number of islands is 1,886 pieces” (...kaikkiaan saaria on 1 886 kappaletta). Using quantifiers is something I know from East Asian languages, so I tried to find out if it’s a “thing” in Finnish too. I found something more important. Finally I can easily express the distance of 7.5 km: poronkusema. That’s the distance a reindeer can walk without having to urinate: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/poronkusema.
saari = island
kappale = a piece
poro = reindeer
kusta = to piss (vulgar)


It's always good to go back and review old stuff....

Today it's a week since I started writing this log and it's time to see if I meet my goals.
My goals for the first week (until 11th of December 2022) and the resulting new goals until 18th of December):
- finish the first 8 lessons on Pimsleur -> Done. I'm currently at lesson 9. -> New goal: Finish lesson 9 and 10. Do all the review exercises (I just bought the upgrade, didn't have the exercises before.)
- finish at least lesson 2 in Teach yourself Finnish -> Not done yet. I'm in the middle of lesson 2. I should find a better way to integrate it in my daily study. -> Finish lesson 2 and start lesson 3.
- finish at least unit 7 in Duolingo -> Done. All skills are legendary and I also completed all rapid reviews. I'm halfway into unit 8. -> Finish unit 8 and start unit 9.

Daily activities:
- analyze at least one sentence per day from "Minun Päiväni" -> Yeah, I'm doing it but it is really challenging. They claim that it's a story on A1 level. -> Keep reading a sentence per day.
- write every day at least 3 sentences in Language Writing Fun -> I think I wrote something on most days but not every day. -> Keep writing at least 3 sentences per day.
- speak every day at least 3 sentences in 30 Days Speaking Challenge -> Didn't meet my goals. Doing recordings is really a weak point for me, as I don't seem to find a comfortable time doing it. At home, I so often get interrupted or it's noisy. I got three kids... And I just enjoy writing so much more. -> Try again to speak at least three sentences per day.
- learn at least 5 minutes per day vocabulary with Drops -> Easy. Done. I reached a milestone of over 500 words. -> This week the focus is on reviewing (especially the Dojo) and finishing some lessons. I should avoid adding too much new vocab too quickly but rather focus on using the learned vocab in writing and speaking.

I'm just saving a link here to an easy reader that I might try after "Minun Päiväni": https://store.artemira.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Hanna-free-chapter-1.pdf.

Today, I started watching the TV series Deadwind in Finnish with German subtitles (Finnish subtitles weren't available). I don't understand much (well, close to nothing), but it helps to get used to spoken Finnish and I learned one word from context: "raha" (money).
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Sprachensammlerin
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Re: Finnish what I started

Postby Sprachensammlerin » Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:49 pm

Tänään on taas tiistai. Olen väsynyt.

Today I learned about the 6 verb types: https://uusikielemme.fi/finnish-grammar/consonant-gradation/the-finnish-verbtypes. In the beginning, I was like "ah, interesting, now I get it" but when I reached type 6, I felt a bit overwhelmed. And don't get me started on consonant gradation: https://uusikielemme.fi/finnish-grammar/consonant-gradation/verbtype-1-consonant-gradation.

Better relax with some beautiful Finnish music. I learned the word "kyynelsilmin" (with teary eyes) today and found the song "Kyynelsilmin" by Petri Laaksonen: https://youtu.be/Fp8m0kUuZLY. I've browsed through his songs. He sings slowly and clearly. Just what I need as a learner.
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tiia
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Re: Finnish what I started

Postby tiia » Tue Dec 13, 2022 10:25 pm

Well, you probabaly won't need the type 6 too soon anyway. Those verbs are mostly deprived from adjectives. Except maybe for paeta -> pakenen (to flee), you can just ignore them for now. In their basic form they can only be confused with verbs of the same group as haluta (type 4).

And btw as I said before: I don't think "Minun päiväni" is really a level A1 text. The topic and the words yes, but the grammar is not. Don't let the text disappoint you too much. Just keep trying.
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Sprachensammlerin
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Re: Finnish what I started

Postby Sprachensammlerin » Wed Dec 14, 2022 7:15 pm

Tänään on keskiviikko. Lunta sataa.

Ok, I budged. Reading one sentence per day from "Minun Päiväni" is boring. Instead, I read this story today: https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/selkouutiset/ujous_ja_hiljaisuus_2102015/8350028. The text contains a lot of words that I already know like moni, ujo, ihminen, sanoa, voida, haluaa, että, hiljainen, aina, vähän, keskeyttää, liian, paljon, myös, usein, koska, osata etc. Many words are easy to guess like psykiatri, sosiaalinen, reagoida, aktiivista, normaali, positiivista etc. I looked up all the unknown words for the first paragraphs and translated the sentences myself. I glanced over the rest of the story and then read it aloud, trying to get into a Finnish rhythm. Yes, I didn't understand everything, but I'm sure I got the general gist.

Some words that I learned from this text: ajatella (to think), miettiä (to think over, to ponder), tuntea (to feel, sense), esimerkiksi (for example), otta huomioon (to acknowledge) and vaikutta (to influence).
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Sprachensammlerin
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Re: Finnish what I started

Postby Sprachensammlerin » Thu Dec 29, 2022 8:27 pm

I've been busy with my work before the holiday season and then the actual holiday season, travelling to my parent's place and not having my computer with me, so I haven't written here for a while but that doesn't mean that I didn't study Finnish, of course. I made some progress with some activities, while I didn't pursue others.

What I didn't do: read anything in Finnish, learn vocab with Drops, make recordings in Finnish.

What I did do:

- work with Pimsleur. I'm currently at lesson 23 of 30. Even though the course is rather short and there's no Finnish 2 course, it'll still keep me busy for some time as I'm reviewing the previous lessons, listening to them again, doing the exercises and also studying the bonus cards with sentences that don't appear in the lessons. I'm learning them as chunks and they often seem to be quite colloquial phrases.

- work with Duolingo. The structure of the path changed in the app (stated the same on the webpage). The 23 units are now divided into "Intro to Finnish" (8 units), "Finnish Foundations" (10 units), "Personalized Practice" (5 units). I'm currently at unit 4 of Finnish Foundations, which is unit 12 in the undivided path, so I'm at the middle of the course. But as the last 5 units are only review, one could also say that I'm at unit 12 of 18, so after 6 units, there won't be anymore new content. One can imagine, that the Duolingo course doesn't take you very far. Compare the 23 units in 3 sections in Finnish to Spanish, where they have 211 units, divided into 8 sections: "Intro to Spanish" (8 units), "Spanish Foundations 1" (19 units), "Spanish Foundations 2" (20 units), "Spanish Foundations 3" (38 units), "Intermediate Spanish 1" (42 units), "Intermediate Spanish 2" (37 units), "Intermediate Spanish 3" (14 units), "Personalized Practice" (33 units)...

- watch the Finnish TV series Deadwind. I finished season one and am now watching season two. I listen to the Finnish original while reading German subtitles. Unfortunately, they don't have Finnish subtitles available. I seem to have changed the settings in Youtube from Spanish to Finnish subtitles though, so now, whenever I watch something on Youtube (no matter in what language), I get Finnish subtitles for that. Neat.

- listen to podcasts. This week I listened a lot to "Opi Suomea": https://www.opisuomeapodcast.com/. It's completely in Finnish, and only some English translations of single words are given. The host speaks slowly and clearly and even though it's still way above my level, I often get the gist of what she's talking about and I always learn some new words.

- write something in Finnish. I didn't write on a daily basis but after coming back from my parent's place, I started writing little texts with my limited Duolingo Finnish vocabulary. Since I learned a lot of nature related vocab with Duolingo, I took a picture of a black bear (https://unsplash.com/photos/FrRGjVMAwO0) and wrote a little story about it: "Pieni musta karhu haistelee punaista marjaa. Nam! Marja haisee hyviltä. Karhu haluaa jotain syötävää, mutta ehkä marja on myrkyllinen. Karhu syö yksi marja. Hyi! Tämä marja ei ole hyvä." I'll try to write a longer story, about the lynx and the hedgehog hugging trees, hiding in the forest, or standing in the stream, so that I can use that Duolingo vocab. Yesterday, I watched Avatar and though I can't explain the story in Finnish, I posted a picture of the main character Jake Sully and described him: "Jake Sully on sisukas mies. Hän on pitkä ja sininen. Jake on amerikkalainen, mutta asuu Pandorassa nyt. Hänellä on kaunis perhe: vaimo, kaksi poikaa ja kaksi tytärtä. Hän puhuu englantia ja na'via."
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Sprachensammlerin
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Re: Finnish what I started

Postby Sprachensammlerin » Fri Dec 30, 2022 10:01 pm

Today I went back to using Drops and reviewed the months of the year, which made me realise that I have completely forgotten all months, apart from joulukuu, December, because that is easy to remember as "Christmas month". But the other months didn't stick at all in my mind. So, I looked up what the names of the months mean: https://uusikielemme.fi/finnish-vocabul ... ish-months.

I just copy here an overview from this site: https://thisisfinnish.tumblr.com/post/1 ... anslations.
January = tammikuu (”oak month”; though back in the days tammi stood for “core/heart”)
February = helmikuu (”pearl month”)
March = maaliskuu (?? a mystery. could refer to maa, “soil”, as spring starts in the end of March)
April = huhtikuu (huhta means the slash-and-burn cultivation of evergreen forest… so “evergreen forests’ slash-and-burn cultivation month”. yeah.)
May = toukokuu (”seedtime month”)
June = kesäkuu (”summer month”)
July = heinäkuu (”hay month”)
August = elokuu (”life month”, through originally “harvest/crop month”)
September = syyskuu (”autumn month”)
October = lokakuu (”mud/dirt month”)
November = marraskuu (”O M E N O F D E A T H M O N T H”)
December = joulukuu (”Christmas month”)


Since I don't know most words behind the meanings of the months, I just have to memorise by heart, but I'm trying to create some mnemonics.
So, February, helmikuu, is a month for skiing and you should wear a helmet for skiing, so it's rather "helmet month" for me ["Wear a skiing helmet in February."]
In April, huhtikuu, you could be very surprised that already a third of the year has passed. In Germany, when you're surprised you can say "Huch!", ["Huch/Huh, it's already April!"]
Then as August, elokuu, is a month when one can travel, it's the ideal time to elope ["Let's elope in August."].
And in September, syyskuu, kids go back to school and have to systematically study again [Kids have to study systematically in September."].

Today I wrote about a hedgehog in Finnish in the FB group Language Writing Fun:
" Siilit on tosi söpöt eläimet, mutta ystäväni sanoo ettäne haisevat. Tämä siili elää metsässä. Sillä on nälkä. Se rakastaa omenoita ja matoja. Hys! Kuuletko tuon? Onko siellä kissa vai koira? Siili on piilossa kiven takana. Se on ilves! Siili on pulassa ja se on hyvin hiljainen. Ah, ilves juoksee pois! Siili voi syödä nyt."

Yeah, I have to put my weird Duolingo vocab to good use...
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Sprachensammlerin
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Re: Finnish what I started

Postby Sprachensammlerin » Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:47 pm

This month has been extremely busy at work, so I had to cut back on my language learning and only did the bare minimum for Finnish and a little bit of Chinese.

I'm currently at unit 15 (of 23) in my Duolingo Finnish course. I left the Duolingo FB group that I moderated because it got out of hand and I checked the group all the time. After leaving the group I also canceled my Duolingo subscription. Funnily, I still have unlimited hearts in lessons (no ads) and don't need to pay for legendary levels. The only difference is that I don't have a practice hub and have to pay for the speed challenges along the path. I can live with that. So, I keep going even though I find the Duolingo lessons mostly boring and not very useful. It's mainly all about going to coffee shops and talking about nature.

I finished watching three seasons of the Finnish TV series Deadwind. Unfortunately, the only option was listening in Finnish and using German subtitles. Now, I'm watching "Bordertown: Mural Murders" and there they also have Finnish subtitles. I even can watch with Finnish and German subtitles at the same time. The German subtitles aren't a word-for-word translation though.

The Finnish original:
Man 1: Tuttu? (An acquaintance?)
Man 2: Joo. Joku, jota ei haluis tuntea. (Yeah. Someone you wouldn't want to know.)

The German translation goes:
Man 1: Kennst du ihn? (Do you know him?)
Man 2: Ja. Leider. (Yes. Unfortunately.)

The subtitles convey the same meaning, but to really learn new words, I still have to analyze the Finnish sentences as the German translation has completely different constructions. But nevertheless, it's a step forward. Deadwind helped me to get used to the Finnish pronunciation and occasionally I would recognise some words and understand easy sentences here and there, but I wouldn't learn new things.
Last edited by Sprachensammlerin on Sun Feb 19, 2023 10:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Xenops
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Re: Finnish what I started

Postby Xenops » Sat Jan 28, 2023 8:23 pm

I think Deadwind is my favorite Nordic crime show so far. The first season especially is good.
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tiia
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Re: Finnish what I started

Postby tiia » Sat Jan 28, 2023 8:25 pm

Sprachensammlerin wrote:The Finnish original:
Man 1: Tuttu? (An acquaintance?)
Man 2: Joo. Joku, jota ei haluis tuntea. (Yeah. Someone you/one wouldn't want to know.)

The German translation goes:
Man 1: Kennst du ihn? (Do you know him?)
Man 2: Ja. Leider. (Yes. Unfortunately.)


I hope the word above was just missing by accident, as it changes the meaning of the sentence.

And for the first sentence, tuttu can also just be an adjective meaning "known". So coming from German that word means both "bekannt" and "ein/e Bekannte/r". You see how German behaves in a very similar way here.
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