Puhutko suomea?

With this post- I have actually gotten A LOT of questions from curious Finns and friends, and so I decided to write a blog post about it. As always, I am NOT going to sugar coat it. I feel like I need to give honest answers. I mean otherwise, this blog wouldnt be realistic and it wouldnt portray Exchange in the right way. (And as a warning: This blog post is NOT meant to be negative in ANY way!) Mostly, I will only be embarrassing MYSELF! :D

And this post is going to be a whole MIX of just random stuff...

As you all know, I have been on my Exchange in Finland for 5 months now! :D

Which is CRAZY thinking that its already HALF WAY OVER....however, what comes with that is also my language skills. Which I KNOW I post about A LOT, but its one of the biggest parts of my exchange, and its something that is very important to me. Which brings me to jump right into what im going to tell you next:


I honestly think that finding opportunities to PRACTICE and LEARN Finnish is MUCH, MUCH harder than the actual Language!

Although my host family speaks to me in only Finnish, it is VERY difficult to find people who are willing to speak to me in Finnish. They always ask me questions or say things like, "Finnish will NEVER be useful for you.", "No Exchange Student has ever learned Finnish!", "Youll never speak it again after this year, so its okay if you never learn it."

(I feel as though before I go on any more with this post, that I need to clear some things up- people are NOT trying to be rude by not speaking to me in Finnish. Until very recently, not many foreigners have gone to Finland. So naturally, Finns are not used to hearing their language spoken incorrectly or with a heavy accent; and therefore some people actually CANT understand me when I speak Finnish sometimes! And some people try to be really nice and speak to me in English, becuase most Finns can speak English fluently, and they think I cant speak any Finnish.)


SO many people ask me how im learning Finnish, and other people are asking me how to get people to speak Finnish to them, and so I decided to make a post that reveals all my silly little secrets when it comes to learning Finnish and how I feel about it.

Sometimes, I actually have a strong dislike for having my native language be English. SO many people want to practice their English; however I dont WANT to speak English anymore! And even when I speak to them in Finnish, THEY REPLY back to me in English as soon as they hear my accent! (Its a struggle just to ORDER something in Finnish without the person switching into English.) 

But... I WANT to learn Finnish. Ive put A LOT of work into studying Finnish, and I have spent SO many hours memorizing hundreds of verbs. (LITERALLY. I have memorized over 300 verbs.) And I just wish that the language would FINALLY just come to me!

 I have to remember to not be offended or taken back at people not wanting to speak Finnish with me...I eventually realized that it must be MUCH more interesting for them to practice English, and that its much easier and faster to maintain a conversation in ENGLISH- because it is a language they all already know almost fluently. I needed to realize that it is NOT fun or interesting AT ALL if my language skills are not good enough to do so in Finnish...

After realizing this, I came to terms with it- and decided that I had to come up with SOME way to be able to speak Finnish, and to do what I came here to do and LEARN Finnish.

And this is what some Finns are curious about, and they ask me about how I do it. I have ALSO been asked by a lot of Exchange Students about how they can get people to speak to them in Finnish. Which I honestly STILL struggle with! (However I am not sure if my secrets will work anymore after I tell all of them on this blog post haha!) 

(I decided to do a two-in one sort of thing with this. So each number will give answers to both questions.)

1. Just ASK 

 

I myself have not had much luck with this one, but it is the EASIEST way to approach it. People DO NOT mean to be rude or insult your language skills- but they just typically find it the most logical choice when trying to maintain a conversation. But be BRAVE and ASK them (IN YOUR HOST LANGUAGE).

Youd be surprised at how many people would take up the offer! (HOWEVER, when I have tried it- it has only lasted a short while before the person says, "I dont want to be rude, but I am going to speak English to you." 

Which of course, kind of disapoints me- but other exchange students may have more success than I did when it comes to just simpily asking people to speak to you in their language. 

There are a few cases when after I have asked, the person just thought my accent was amusing and didnt really try to understand me- so they automatically switched back into English after hearing me speak Finnish!

On the Brightside though, when I am around people and they speak Finnish together- its also nice for me to just kind of sit and listen, because then I can actually learn from their conversation. (I know that sounds creepy...but it helps me learn new things!)

And this is kind of how I feel when I finally understand what something means, after hearing it!

2. Inroduce it on a personal level

 

 

  This has actually been the MOST effective way for me to ask people to speak to me in Finnish, because my SPOKEN Finnish REALLY isnt as good as my understanding level of Finnish! Its hard to get people to speak to me in Finnish just by ASKING. Asking is generally NOT enough. (In my experience.) 

When asking doesnt work or do enough- I generally then introduce my REASONING behind it. Not in a rude way, not in a negative way...just simply saying WHY I want to learn Finnish, or my GOALS, or something like that. (As cheesy as that sounds). 

I have found that when I actually tell them a bit about WHY I want to learn Finnish- people open up A LOT! They are super supportive of helping me learn and after that they actually WANT to speak Finnish with me.

I tell them that I am planning to take an exam at the university next Spring to test my fluency in Finnish- and that I have a goal to become as fluent as I can in Finnish. I tell them how much I study the language everyday, and how much I want to practice my Finnish.

 It also helps a lot when I tell them how I want to come back to Finland for university after I graduate High School in the USA- and after I admit all of this, they are usually REALLY surprised, and they become INTERESTED in helping me.

I actually know a good deal of Finnish, and people are very surprised when I can actually UNDERSTAND them or contribute to the conversation.

Their reactions are usually very hilarious for me when they hear me speak Finnish with my host family, or when I comment on something that they are talking about in Finnish. They are ALWAYS surprised!

3. Trying to keep the conversation alive

 

 

After I have tried the previous two things; my BIGGEST struggle is to keep the conversation alive, and to keep the conversation IN FINNISH. People loose interest in my langauge skills pretty fast, and speaking it is the ONLY way that my language skills will really take off at this point; so its REALLY important for me to speak Finnish! 

(Finns like silence; and small talk doesnt really exist...so my opportunities to speak Finnish are actually pretty low a lot of the time; so its REALLY REALLY important to me to keep conversations alive!)

To be completely honest...this is REALLY REALLY difficult, and it usually goes one of two ways:

1. At first people give me funny looks because of my "attemps" to speak Finnish, and then they start to smile because of my low langauge skills. A lot of times, they think its a bit of a joke and they say, "Okay...now we can speak English haha. Good try." 

2. They will look impacient at my struggle to speak to them in Finnish, and wont want to talk to me anymore. 

So THIS is where my EMBARASSING secret comes in...

Being honest, NO ONE wants to talk to someone with really low langauge skills! Its not interesting, its awkward, it takes a lot of pacience, and its just NOT fun for anyone...SO, I had to come up with ways to distract people from my low language skills. 

I actually try to make the conversation more dramatic, to take away from my awkward pauses when I try to think of what word to say next, and how to phrase my next sentence! So, for example- while im thinking, I will sometimes just have this super dramatic pause before I go on with what im saying! :)

(BUT THANKFULLY- in Finland, silence is a part of converation...So I can sit there for a little bit and actually THINK of what to say before I say it!) VERY VERY HELPFUL!!!! :D

I also add more facial expressions and hand motions in my conversations to help make things interesting. (WHICH, I naturally do anyways when I talk to people- so this one just comes to me without having to think about it haha.) This also helps with  discribing things when you cant find any other words for things. So, its a win-win!

If I have a big smile on my face, and if im SUPER enthusiastic about this converation- all of the attention is taken away from my poor speaking and grammar skills; and instead they are all looking at how happy the conversation is making me. (This secret also just comes naturally to me!) 

And usually, the person I am talking to starts smiling and laughing along with me. :) 

Its sometimes super embarassing because of course they think my language skills are VERY amusing. (I mean, its true!) But you CAN NOT take your converations too seriously. (Especially for me, because my language skills are not very good yet.) So, being able to laugh at yourself and your own mistakes is REALLY important! :D



When I DO successfully only have a 100% FINNISH conversation with someone, THIS is how I feel. :D

 

 

 

NOT GIVING IN

 

 

As I said in the beginning of this post, I NEED to be honest...

I find it SUPER important to actually learn your host country´s language as an Exchange Student. (And I know how silly I must sound when I barely speak my own host country´s langauge!) 

BUT- I am really trying to stand my ground when it comes to speaking only Finnish. Its actually really difficult sometimes because I dont want to offend the other person. Sometimes its like a battle- you BOTH want to improve your language skills, you are BOTH modivated to learn...it almost feels as though someone has to be the winner! :P

THIS is when I have to REALLY look at it, and realize that I am NOT going to go through my exchange year with speaking ONLY Finnish; as much as I would LOVE to. 

Which is why with a very small handful of my friends, we decide to compromise sometimes. We speak for awhile in English, and THEN we speak Finnish for the rest of the time. OR sometimes they speak English, and I speak Finnish. I have to find a way to let BOTH people win sometimes!

However, it is actually REALLY difficult to find people to speak with! And that is the HARDEST part!  And of course this is something that is very embarrassing for ANYONE to admit, especially me being an Exchange Student.

Friendship JUST takes TIME in Finland.

And that I think is the HARDEST part for me to accept! It is very hard for me because in Finland, its very uncomfortable and not at all part of the culture to walk up to people and just start talking. Which of course being an exchange student, you NEED to do it, and go out of the cultural norms and just be brave!

And this also contributes to my language learning, because it is not part of the culture to have small talk; and so it ist is very hard to find ways to practice my Finnish! (The way I have the majority of my practice is by watching Disney Movies and reading the subtitles outloud in Finnish, or talking to myself, talking to my host dog, or just flat out sitting down and studying!)

 

So naturally, I STILL feel like this sometimes!

Its super embarassing for me to admit it, but its true. I LOVE Finland, and EVERYTHING about Finland...but finding friends is something that I am still really struggling with! 

Thankfully though, my Finnish skills are now raising through the roof- and so hopefully this will help me A LOT! I got myself back into the habit of sitting down and studying Finnish every single day, and I have actually gotten a lot of compliments about it in these past two weeks! :D

Im hoping that by the next time classes change, I can finally start REALLY being able to communicate with people! Even though I cant actually say a lot of GRAMMATICALLY correct things in Finnish, I can still be understood, and hopefully with some REAL practice, ill be able to learn even faster! 

I really AM having an amazing exchange, and I feel as though as this last half begins- ill really settle in and make Finland my second home. This first half of my exchange has honestly been pretty rough! Theres been LOTS of ups and downs, especially with gaining a basic foundation of the language and trying to make friends! But I know that now that I DO have a good foundation of the language, that so many doors will be open for me now with finally making friendships and really making a place for me here. :)

 “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”