tiia's log (FIN, SPA, SWE, EUS)

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tiia
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Re: tiia's log (Finnish, Spanish, Swedish)

Postby tiia » Mon Oct 15, 2018 12:32 pm

Oh my... I really posted the last real update 2 months ago?

Okay so... I moved to the flat close to the forest. (Haha, as if there would be any flat really far from a forest in this city.) I sent applications, got rejected by at least two, but have an invitation for this week! :shock: I have very few information about the job so far, but it might be really interesting. Can I prepare myself for it? ehm.. not that much. Find proper clothing (hoodies, might not be appropriate, right? :D), maybe print myself some papers.
Writing applications in Finnish is still hard, but at least again some writing practice. I don't believe I write them without any mistakes, but I cannot send every single one to someone and have it corrected, especially if a deadline is already close. Of course I use the normal orthography check for all application related issues, because that's a minimum one should do and when I'm not sure, I try checking stuff via googling it.

Today's Finnish practice: Discussing about the heating, which didn't/doesn't work in my room. Now it was okayish, as the nights were rather warm, but imagine this when the temperature dropped below zero at night. (It already did.) I kind of managed to get the talking done today (and on the phone beforehand), but it was definitely one of the more difficult tasks as there were two craftsmen speaking rather fast.

Otherwise, I'm having again weekly meetings with my Finnish tandem partner, whom I had gotten to know in Germany just 1-2 months before I left. It's really great to have these weekly talks and learn a few words.


Then I finally went to Migri for the registration of the right of residence.* I don't know yet, whether I'll get it, because in my situation the only reason I can choose on which the right is based on, is "sufficient funds". Seriously? Seriously.
I have never seen any other person having to take this as a reason. It also meant, that the decision is not made directly when visiting Migri as it would be if you have a work contract or a spouse, but instead in some central office somewhere else. Yep, I'm an exception. As usual. Really, I kind of get used to never to fulfill any standard case. But the staff at Migri was nice and gave some more advice and what documents might put me into favour. Plus, if I don't get the right, I can just apply again. :D
But indeed I was lazy and used English during the visit, except when it came to my occupation, as the person seemed not to know the English word. I still think the English word is not too self-explanatory.
*In case you're wondering. This used to be done at the police stations until last year or so, but they moved it to Migri.

I did Anki two or three times again for Swedish. Why? Because my account got nearly deleted. But as Anki takes the length of inactivity into account, I can now put the next repetition for some words to 2 years. So probably I will never repeat them again? This might be an easy way to get rid of all the super easy words.

Spanish gets sometimes some practice at the language cafe. I don't really do anything else, although I once noticed, that watching TED talks in Spanish might be agood idea. I think there's still some Spanish routine missing. Anyway. it's nice to realise, that I can actually speak with people even though I lack words. A bit more fluency and I might be at the stage that I had been looking for, when I restarted learning Spanish. Or am I already at that stage? (My ambitions in the beginning were not too high.)

Pictures from the lake and forest a few minutes walking from my new room. Isn't it beautiful? Okay, but there're quite some noisy streets, too, so it looks much more idyllic on the pictures than it is in reality. A huge part of the lake's shoreline is on private ground. (I tried not to have the houses too visible.)
Lake.JPG
RockAndForest.JPG
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Last edited by tiia on Sun Nov 11, 2018 2:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: tiia's log (Finnish, Spanish, Swedish)

Postby Elenia » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:27 pm

tiia wrote:Then I finally went to Migri for the registration of the right of residence.* I don't know yet, whether I'll get it, because in my situation the only reason I can choose on which the right is based on, is "sufficient funds". Seriously? Seriously.
I have never seen any other person having to take this as a reason. It also meant, that the decision is not made directly when visiting Migri as it would be if you have a work contract or a spouse, but instead in some central office somewhere else. Yep, I'm an exception. As usual. Really, I kind of get used to never to fulfill any standard case. But the staff at Migri was nice and gave some more advice and what documents might put me into favour. Plus, if I don't get the right, I can just apply again. :D
But indeed I was lazy and used English during the visit, except when it came to my occupation, as


Good news about the flat, and I'm crossing my fingers for the interview! I don't know how similar it is between Sweden and Finland, but what you've said is already sounding pretty similar so: do you have proof of insurance that will cover you? I didn't, and was rejected on those grounds. In Sweden, you usually need proof of whatever cover your homeland offers - private insurance is an option, but it's prohibitively expensive and apparently usually gets rejected. My right of residence application under self-sufficiency got rejected on those grounds. You may already know this, or not need this, but just a heads up!

Also, gorgeous picture!
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tiia
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Re: tiia's log (Finnish, Spanish, Swedish)

Postby tiia » Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:13 pm

Elenia wrote:
tiia wrote:Then I finally went to Migri for the registration of the right of residence.* I don't know yet, whether I'll get it, because in my situation the only reason I can choose on which the right is based on, is "sufficient funds". Seriously? Seriously.
I have never seen any other person having to take this as a reason. It also meant, that the decision is not made directly when visiting Migri as it would be if you have a work contract or a spouse, but instead in some central office somewhere else. Yep, I'm an exception. As usual. Really, I kind of get used to never to fulfill any standard case. But the staff at Migri was nice and gave some more advice and what documents might put me into favour. Plus, if I don't get the right, I can just apply again. :D
But indeed I was lazy and used English during the visit, except when it came to my occupation, as


Good news about the flat, and I'm crossing my fingers for the interview! I don't know how similar it is between Sweden and Finland, but what you've said is already sounding pretty similar so: do you have proof of insurance that will cover you? I didn't, and was rejected on those grounds. In Sweden, you usually need proof of whatever cover your homeland offers - private insurance is an option, but it's prohibitively expensive and apparently usually gets rejected. My right of residence application under self-sufficiency got rejected on those grounds. You may already know this, or not need this, but just a heads up!

Also, gorgeous picture!


Good to know. I just tried to use the decision time checker online, result:
1. I cannot look up the estimated time for my type of case, because ehm "for EU citizens it should be done immediately when visiting Migri", which is obviously false in my case.
2. Residence permits for non-EU citizens based on "other grounds" take up 4-7 months after visiting Migri.
3. Residence permits for people with a degree from a Finnish University, who apply due to job search in Finland have an estimated time of 1-2 months.

Somehow I think that I either have gotten a job or left Finland before the decision is ready. :D
Last edited by tiia on Fri Oct 19, 2018 3:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: tiia's log (Finnish, Spanish, Swedish)

Postby Elenia » Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:36 pm

tiia wrote:
Elenia wrote:
tiia wrote:Then I finally went to Migri for the registration of the right of residence.* I don't know yet, whether I'll get it, because in my situation the only reason I can choose on which the right is based on, is "sufficient funds". Seriously? Seriously.
I have never seen any other person having to take this as a reason. It also meant, that the decision is not made directly when visiting Migri as it would be if you have a work contract or a spouse, but instead in some central office somewhere else. Yep, I'm an exception. As usual. Really, I kind of get used to never to fulfill any standard case. But the staff at Migri was nice and gave some more advice and what documents might put me into favour. Plus, if I don't get the right, I can just apply again. :D
But indeed I was lazy and used English during the visit, except when it came to my occupation, as


Good news about the flat, and I'm crossing my fingers for the interview! I don't know how similar it is between Sweden and Finland, but what you've said is already sounding pretty similar so: do you have proof of insurance that will cover you? I didn't, and was rejected on those grounds. In Sweden, you usually need proof of whatever cover your homeland offers - private insurance is an option, but it's prohibitively expensive and apparently usually gets rejected. My right of residence application under self-sufficiency got rejected on those grounds. You may already know this, or not need this, but just a heads up!

Also, gorgeous picture!


Good to know. I just tried to use the decision time checker online, result: 1. I cannot look uo the estimated time for my type of case, because ehm "for EU citizens it should be done immediately when visiting Migri", which is obviously false in my case.
2. Residence permits for non-EU citizens based on "other grounds" take up 4-7 months after visiting Migri.
3. Residence permits for people with a degree from a Finnish University, who apply due to job search in Finland have an estimated time of 1-2 months.

Somehow I think that I either have gotten a job or left Finland before the decision is ready. :D


Oh, the joys of bureaucracy :D
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tiia
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Re: tiia's log (Finnish, Spanish, Swedish)

Postby tiia » Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:35 pm

Since my last post I got so much Finnish practice! Wow. And I will get much, much more in the near future. But first I will be in Germany next week. And then..
I will start a new job!
In Finnish!

That went really fast. I don't want to tell too much more about the interview etc., but yes, it's a permanent work place perfectly suitable for my degree. Let's see how the work there will turn out in reality. Still feels like I had it here easier to find work than in the same situation in Germany. But what do I know? I didn't really apply for many jobs in Germany (maybe 3-5?) before I decided to go at least for the summer back to Finland.
Still is a bit weird that now I'm really aiming to settle down here. It somehow went so fast to come back here this year after all the time (nearly 5 years since I returned from the exchange), to decide, that it's not yet time to leave again.

And I also started knitting. Doing the second scarf now. (I call it the knitting-diet, because it keeps my hands away from food, when watching/listening youtube.)
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Re: tiia's log (Finnish, Spanish, Swedish)

Postby Elenia » Tue Nov 13, 2018 12:11 am

Morgana wrote:
tiia wrote:And I also started knitting. Doing the second scarf now. (I call it the knitting-diet, because it keeps my hands away from food, when watching/listening youtube.)

:idea: I don't have the munching problem, but I do have a "stops paying attention and/or falls asleep while doing listening-oriented activities" problem, and maybe I should take up knitting to solve that.


I don't know quite how serious you were being, but I find knitting really helps me with that. I've even been knitting in my classes :D
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Re: tiia's log (Finnish, Spanish, Swedish)

Postby tiia » Wed Nov 14, 2018 4:37 pm

Huh... Back from Germany and I'm waiting now for two parcels I sent to myself with more stuff. But I have now some winter clothes! And an easy reader for Germans learning Swedish. :D

Today was already the third work day. Friday there's also the company's pre-christmas party. I still have to learn to get out of bed so early in the morning. I guess it's now just as early as I can go. (I tried even earlier due to my studies for four years and it simply didn't work out.)
I also have to learn a lot of stuff for the job, as this particular area was not subject of my studies. (Maybe it would have been, if I had chosen 1-2 different study modules.)
And there's now so much Finnish. To be honest I'm very happy I didn't have to work too early in the language, because I guess it otherwise would have stressed me out a lot. I mean there's (nearly) everything in Finnish. The computer, the drawings, the talking etc. (There seems to be at least one computer programme that doesn't have a Finnish version.) I'm building a new set of technical vocabulary now. It's not that hard, as most of the times I can just understand the new words more or less, but better check the words just to be sure. But still they have to get into my active vocabulary. However, I have no doubts that they will go there at some point.
Honestly, I think the summer job in Finnish and English was a really good preparation.* Without it...
But it feels like I should make some grammar exercises again to avoid making too many stupid (grammar) mistakes. I should also write more.

It will be really interesting where my Finnish will be in one year from now, especially compared to English. Right now English is still easier, but when my brain gets Finnish input all day I notice, that Finnish becomes more and more dominant. The difference in the level is not that huge anymore, so that I think that at some point Finnish most likely becomes the language I'm more comfortable with.

In case anyone has questions, feel free to ask.

*edit: also in terms of bureaucracy it helped a lot, because they were used to foreign staff, so they knew how to handle this.
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tiia
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Re: tiia's log (Finnish, Spanish, Swedish)

Postby tiia » Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:03 pm

Today's Finnish question:
What's the usual way of expressing scales (mittakaava) orally? Like 1:500 or 1:50 or 1:250? I've probably heard someone saying it already, but I cannot remember...

edit: Wikipedia is helpful... it notes for 1:100 that it is read as "yhden suhde sataan", but really? I don't like declinating numbers, though scales at least don't use complicated numbers usually. But sometimes in everyday speech there are creative ways that are somehow easier. So... is there a simpler way than yhden suhde kahteensataanviiteenkymmeneen?
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tiia
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Re: tiia's log (Finnish, Spanish, Swedish)

Postby tiia » Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:58 am

My work-related Finnish vocabulary might slowly consolidate, anyway, this week I had been working more in English with the (one?) non-Finnish-speaking colleague. Lunch break conversations are still hard to follow, but that was the same in the summer and I think only half of it is language-induced, the other half might be based on not knowing the people so well yet.
Still, I haven't been doing much about Spanish and Swedish in the last months. Well, it's absolutely no surprise, but I think this should be changed somehow again.

So for Swedish I have been looking for courses, because having a suitable course worked quite well for me in the past. I found more or less two, that might work out from the level (while using the same book as before), the schedule and the location:
A. Swedish 5, using Rivstart chapters 14-16. (Swedish 6 would use chapter 17-20, but is location-wise too far away.) Contact hours: 39.
B. A fast review course of Swedish, using Rivstart chapters 13-20. Contact hours: 24.

Both start in the beginning of January and end during April. (The first one has 2,5h long lessons, the second one 1,5h). I'm really wondering, how one can be doing the Rivstart book that slow as in course A.
The prices are super low with just 32 and 38€, especially as I already have the book, which would be much more expensive here in Finland than in Germany (and I thought is was rather expensive in Germany...). While course A is probably more aimed at people such as me, who really learn Swedish anew, the review course tells that the teaching language (if not Swedish) is only Finnish, so no English option, which other courses do have. That might not be too bad for me, because it reduces the amount of mixing languages. And it underlines that course B is thought for Finns, who forgot their Swedish from school and have some old knowledge buried in the back of their minds.
However, because of the speed and my advantage of knowing German quite well, this is right now my prefered option, although the location and timing is maybe not as great as for course A.
Course B would be also a bit faster than the course I took at the university around a year ago, which ended around chapter 9/10. Though I did some chapters on my own, I'm also afraid that I didn't do anything for quite a long time and forgot quite something...

Any thoughts?

For Spanish I'm considering to look for a 1:1 language exchange, if I still get it somehow scheduled. But I wouldn't offer Finnish-Spanish, but German-Spanish or maybe also English-Spanish, if someone just wants to practise. I don't know how many Spanish speaking natives want to practise German. :?
Otherwise I would need to look at least for another TV series to continue with what I had been doing with Embrujadas (Charmed) at the beginning of this year. I suppose it really helped me to improve my listening skills. And having watched just one episode of Embrujadas today, after not doing anything for Spanish, it's good to see that my listening skills did not decrease due to doing nothing recently.

Oh, and I got myself a library card, because I was hoping to find some nice audio books in some language.

-------

Btw. I really like title of Cavesas new log: The year of changes - for me that was the motto of 2018, perhaps already starting at the end of 2017. And wow.. how has my life changed in this one year! Still constructing my new life here, but it's good for me to have more of a perspective what is going to happen and to be able to settle down a bit more. There will be still quite some follow up things going on in 2019, but I'm not expection too huge changes. I don't know how much the total amount of stress will be reduced, as there might be stress at work, but at least it's not immediately about my existance, my future and everything. It's calming me down knowing that next weeks, months and even years* I will go to work and also that I'm having some kind of regular income etc. It's still a bit overwhelming though that those decisions are done for now as everything went so fast and I haven't felt in such a "save" position for maybe the last 5 years? Or even longer? (My exchange year was a quite save time though.)
Met someone yesterday whom I had seen a very few times here, last time when I just ended the summer job and moved to the current flat. He also noticed that there was quite some difference or at least that the situation back then had made me feel quite stressed.

*Even if I realise that I'd rather look for another work place my whole perspective would be different once that I gained work experience.

PS. I just leave a link to the post withsome thoughts about moving to Finland to find a job or not from one year ago. I tried to get input from as many people as possible at that time...
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Re: tiia's log (Finnish, Spanish, Swedish)

Postby naqvisson » Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:51 pm

tiia wrote:My work-related Finnish vocabulary might slowly consolidate, anyway, this week I had been working more in English with the (one?) non-Finnish-speaking colleague. Lunch break conversations are still hard to follow, but that was the same in the summer and I think only half of it is language-induced, the other half might be based on not knowing the people so well yet.
Still, I haven't been doing much about Spanish and Swedish in the last months. Well, it's absolutely no surprise, but I think this should be changed somehow again.

So for Swedish I have been looking for courses, because having a suitable course worked quite well for me in the past. I found more or less two, that might work out from the level (while using the same book as before), the schedule and the location:
A. Swedish 5, using Rivstart chapters 14-16. (Swedish 6 would use chapter 17-20, but is location-wise too far away.) Contact hours: 39.
B. A fast review course of Swedish, using Rivstart chapters 13-20. Contact hours: 24.

Both start in the beginning of January and end during April. (The first one has 2,5h long lessons, the second one 1,5h). I'm really wondering, how one can be doing the Rivstart book that slow as in course A.
The prices are super low with just 32 and 38€, especially as I already have the book, which would be much more expensive here in Finland than in Germany (and I thought is was rather expensive in Germany...). While course A is probably more aimed at people such as me, who really learn Swedish anew, the review course tells that the teaching language (if not Swedish) is only Finnish, so no English option, which other courses do have. That might not be too bad for me, because it reduces the amount of mixing languages. And it underlines that course B is thought for Finns, who forgot their Swedish from school and have some old knowledge buried in the back of their minds.
However, because of the speed and my advantage of knowing German quite well, this is right now my prefered option, although the location and timing is maybe not as great as for course A.


Well i had taken a week long intensive course where they would cover one chapter of rivstart every day....and it lasted from 10 am till 2 pm...but believe me it was toooo much time and concentration issues arise....

I personally would not suggest you to go to the course rather i would humbly suggest you to do it by yourself while commuting plus a better option would be to come to Luckan for Swedish Language cafe...from september till december it was tuesday every week from 5:00-6:30 just next to kaampi....

Then there is also offered spoken swedish at Helsingfors Arbis but i know not if timings will be suitable for you...

Similarly there is another forum, "Nordic Forum" language cafe...but it is not that frequent...

Library resources are really great here...p.s. you can get 20 pages printout every day, free of charge :-)
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