I’ve been learning Finnish for over a year now, and am getting nowhere fast. Finnish is a notoriously difficult language to learn — certainly amongst European languages — and so perhaps this is to be expected. But as an Englishman, one starts from the position of all other languages being a bit of an unnecessary hassle anyway.
Kidding.
However, it is hard. Leaving aside its almost unique structures, the difficulty of learning the language is exacerbated by most Finns possessing excellent English — certainly in Helsinki, anyway — such that there is little chance to try it out on the street. And although the organisation I work for is resolutely Finnish, all our work is conducted in a form of International English. For these and other reasons, I’m unlikely to be able to speak Finnish for business.
So I’m actually learning Finnish to understand the culture better, language being one of the core structural components within a regional or national culture.
My understanding of Finnish is drawn from near-weekly lessons with my excellent tutor, Outi, who has the patience of a saint and a sense of humour, both of which are probably required attributes for language tutors anywhere. But particularly with Finnish, perhaps. She is kindly suffering my endless inquisitions as to the origins of particular words or phrases, which must…
