Learning Finnish can be fun! We’ve put together simple tips to help you improve your Finnish as part of your everyday life.
Here are five practical tips for learning Finnish:
1. Study a little every day
Try to study Finnish every day, even if it’s just for 15 minutes. A small moment is always better than nothing.
Choose a time that fits naturally into your day. It could be with your morning coffee right after you wake up, or in the early evening before your evening routine.
If it feels hard to find the same time every day, you can also set a simple goal: read one page of your textbook or complete one exercise each day, whenever it suits you best.
2. Learn words in your daily life
Study words that you see and use every day.
A great place to practice food vocabulary is at the grocery store: milk, bread, apple—these words become familiar without you even noticing! You can do the same on the bus (ticket, stop, thank you) or at home by learning the names of household items and furniture.
You can practice anywhere by looking around and thinking about the names of things in Finnish. This is a great way to grow your vocabulary!
Tip: At home, you can put post-it notes on objects and write their names in Finnish.
3. Use Finnish whenever you can
Speak Finnish, even if it feels a bit scary. Making mistakes is completely normal! The most important thing is to use the language. Every time you use Finnish, you learn something new.
Start with something simple, like saying “hi” and “thank you” in a grocery store. When greetings feel easy, try ordering a coffee in a café or asking for a different size in a shop. These small moments build confidence and encourage you to use Finnish more and more.
Tip: If you have a Finnish-speaking friend, ask them to speak Finnish with you for 15 minutes every time you meet.
4. Use clear and structured textbooks
A good textbook helps you move forward in your studies. It gives you a clear path and helps you learn things in a logical order.
You can study with:
- a digital textbook or
- a printed textbook
5. Listen to Finnish every day
Listen to Finnish a little every day. Your ear will gradually get used to the language, and regular listening will help you understand spoken Finnish better over time.
On YouTube, you can find many Finnish-language videos that you can watch at your own pace, often with subtitles. If you’d like to follow the news and current events, try watching simplified Finnish news. As your vocabulary grows, you can also watch Finnish TV series with Finnish subtitles.
If you are using a Finn Lectura textbook, you can listen to the related audio materials in the Nova service. The audio supports your listening skills, and you can listen to the texts and exercises as many times as you like.
Give yourself time
Remember that learning Finnish takes time, and you will learn at your own pace. By studying and using the language regularly, you will keep improving, often without even noticing it.
Good luck with learning Finnish!