50 Languages https://www.50languages.com
book2 https://www.goethe-verlag.com/book2/
FSI/DLI
https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu
Finnish Study Group resources:
Finnish Profile
Supisuomea: Finnish course from YLE
Supisuomea videos on Youtube
Excited about Learning – Complete Finnish:
Tavataan Taas - Introduction to Finnish language and Finland is divided into two parts.
Grammar
"Iso suomen kielioppi" is "still the best available for Finnish but any edition of Fred Karlsson's "Finnish: An Essential Grammar" will be more than enough for a student of the language."
(Chung)
Suomea, ole hyvä! (Finnish, exercises are harjoitukset)
(Serpent)
Chung wrote:If I were to give advice right now to my monoglot Anglophone friends on how to start studying Finnish by themselves, I’d tell them the following:
1) Finnish is not English or some language whose speech community is clearly linked to FIGS as seen in the word stock of Greco-Latin origin (cf. “internationalisms” which in reality are dominated by (Western) Eurocentric vocabulary) and somewhat shared typology. Furthermore, Finnish grammar marks concepts in ways that we Anglos do differently or not at all. Take the experience with an open mind and resist the temptation to whine about how Finnish is so complicated compared to English. If learning it is that much of a pain, then ditch it. I and others (including Finns) don’t really want to hear much whining or cheap attempts at fishing for validation/sympathy as you exercise your lungs about your learning experience and the attendent struggle.
2) Use material on the internet as supplements rather than primary sources. Tutors are too expensive for most of us and the time difference when you’re not in the same time zones as Europe can make learning via Skype to be just too much of a pain. When learning anything online by yourself, it’s too easy to get distracted and goof off on forums or YouTube after doing 15 minutes’ worth of reading screenfuls of text or clicking boxes in online exercises. Learn the old-fashioned way with a textbook, course audio (if available) in a MP3/CD player, lined paper, and pen or pencil at hand. A reference manual on grammar and a bidirectional dictionary between English and Finnish are optional at the beginning. I’ve never been that big on flash cards, but if you are, then it’s up to you if index cards, mini-notebooks or Anki/Memrise are the way to go.
Unless you’re disciplined enough to learn Finnish on-line without paying a cent (or OK with going pirate on commercial textbooks), be prepared to set aside anywhere from $50 to $200 to get started learning Finnish on your own.
3a) Recommendation for ideal primary material at the start
- Finnish for Foreigners Vol. 1 (textbook, workbook, drillbook, audio) by Maija-Hellikki Aalto.
It’s available as of January 2019 from Audio Forum for $109.95 US in analog format; $39.95 US in digital format (CD-ROM has the texts in .pdf, and the audio in .mp3).
I've concluded tha this is the best course to get grounding in Finnish after a false start with “Teach Yourself Finnish” by Terttu Leney, trying out “Tavataan Taas!” which is in Web 1.0 style, and comparing it to other courses/textbooks for beginners such as "Suomen Mestari" (vols. 1-2), "Hyvin menee!", "From Start to Finnish", "Mastering Finnish", "Beginner's Finnish", and "Kieli käyttöön"
Dialogues are fairly short but get progressively more difficult and the author designed them intelligently enough such that she reuses a bit of vocabulary from previous chapters, and any new vocabulary is found in the adjacent word-list. She doesn’t have the bad habit of introducing structures or vocabulary that aren’t formally introduced or used extensively until several chapters later. Explanations of grammar are concise, in plain English, and done from a Finnish point of view. This is especially apparent when discussing the direct object as she does not present this concept as “accusative” since marking for the direct object in Finnish considers factors that are absent from accusative marking in German, Greek, Hungarian, Latin, relevant Balto-Slavonic languages, and Romanian. The result of this approach is that you’re forced to think about Finnish on its own merits instead of referring to unrelated languages, all the while getting ample practice in the assigned exercises of what you encounter in every chapter. In the words of phantomkat on Reddit (I think that she’s also on HTLAL) when using this course:On Jan. 16, ’19 in “What’s the best text book you’ve ever bought for your language?” phantomkat wrote: The dialogues are pretty boring, and there’s outdated words from the 80’s, but those exercises. They have you translating from both languages, answering and writing questions, filling in missing words, and straight conjugating sometimes. After every chapter of exercises I feel like I leveled up or something. They seriously make you practice those grammar points well enough to be comfortable.
The readings after every chapter are also pretty cool. They are more challenging, contain new words not in your textbook, but still use the grammar structures you have studied. They are great for reviews.
If you pair this up with another course (like Assimil) you really feel like everything’s clicking into place.
I wholeheartedly agree with the above.
If you’re really keen, you can move on to volume 2 (textbook, workbook, audio) of the series which is also available through Audio Forum as of January 2019 for $79.95 US in analog format, and $39.95 US in digital format.
3b) Recommendations for reference material at the start
- Suomi-englanti-suomi sanakirja (published by WSOY) or Suomi-englanti-suomi-perussanakirja (published by Gummerus)
These are solid two-way dictionaries in hardcopy that are suitable for beginners. Go with whichever is cheapest or easiest to obtain for yourself. If you’re lucky you can find second-hand copies of them on Amazon Marketplace or similar for less than their suggested prices which hover around 30 Euros (especially if you stumble on older editions). Run searches using their respective ISBN if you’d like.
- Finnish: An Essential Grammar by Karlsson or A Grammar Book of Finnish by White.
These are handy reference manuals on Finnish grammar in hardcopy and suitable for beginners in case the explanation in “Finnish for Foreigners” isn’t enough. As with the dictionaries above, get whichever manual is cheapest or easiest to obtain for yourself. The usual advice for spending a little less by getting older editions or second-hand copies also applies. Run searches using their respective ISBN.
As a free but sparser alternative for notes on basic grammar, print out the sections in Uusi kielemme.
4) Recommendations or ideas after finishing “Finnish for Foreigners” vol. 1.
- Complete “Finnish for Foreigners” vol. 2
- Continue your studies using the series “Suomen Mestari” starting at volume 2 if not volume 3 (the 1st volume could be far too easy or boring for someone who’s cleared volume 1 of “Finnish for Foreigners”), “Kuulosta hyvältä” (get both volumes, and watch the accompanying episode of every chapter on YouTube, stilted as they can be at times.) or “FSI Conversational Finnish” (it’s much easier to use this after gaining a background in basic Finnish when not used as originally designed to supplement in-class work at FSI)
- Improve your reading/listening comprehension with Ymmärrä suomea!, Korvat auki!, or if you’re up for it, Reagoi suomeksi! which will test your abilities to react orally in Finnish after hearing cues or clues in basic Finnish.
- Get acquainted with colloquial Finnish with any of the following: “Colloquial Finnish” by Abondolo, “Kato Hei!” by Berg and Silfverberg or Suomen Mestari (vols. 3 and 4) by Gehring et al.
- Take in simplified audio or video (including material meant for (im)migrants) such as Taste of Finnish (short dialogues in basic Finnish) or Suomitaskussa (videos of everyday life in Finland including demonstrations on how to interact with native speakers using simple language).
- Read short comic strips (with the help of a dictionary as needed) by Finnish artists or Finnish translations of syndicated strips. My recommendations to learners are Musta hevonen by Samuli Lintula, Oswald (discontinued, but the archive holding 7 years’ worth of weekly strips is still active) by Janne Toriseva, Harald Hirmuinen (Finnish translation of Chris & Dik Browne's “Hägar the Horrible” published in the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat), and Lassi ja Leevi (Finnish translation of Bill Watterson's “Calvin and Hobbes” also published in Helsingin Sanomat). There are several other comic strips that are free to read on the internet through newspapers or blogs, but I’ve found that the appeal of these four strips is generally greater to native Anglophones (especially the latter two since the authors are Americans). Native strips such as “Fok_It”, “Fingerpori”, “Kamala luonto” and “Viivi ja Wagner” might be more work for learners to grasp because the punchlines are more attuned to Finnish sensibilities especially by exploiting Finnish cultural references or puns in Finnish.
- If comic strips are too short, then try books for Finnish children especially those by Mauri Kunnas (his “Koirien Kalevala” is a cartoonish version of the national epic, Kalevala) or Nikke which is the Finnish translation of the collection of French short stories “Le petit Nicolas”.
- Travel to Finland, and if possible befriend Finns so that the language comes alive. It can get quite lonely and discouraging studying a language for which there’s no interaction with native speakers in the flesh or even hope of such interaction in the near future.
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After building a certain and solid background in Finnish, you’d likely consider moving away from textbooks and drills, and digging into more advanced material such as Selkouutiset (news in slow/simplified Finnish) if not regular authentic material for natives. If you’re a fan of the NHL, then why not read articles and game reports on nhl.com in Finnish? If you like to cook, then why not watch videos for recipes (not only of Finnish dishes) in Finnish?
