How to make Finns speak Finnish, not English

Isn't it annoying, ärsyttävää, when you say something in Finnish, and people will reply to you in English? Here's what you can say to them:

• Anteeksi, mutta mä en puhu englantia. - Sorry, but I don't speak English. 
• Mä puhun paremmin suomea kuin englantia. - I speak better Finnish than English.
• Voitaisko me puhua suomea? - Could we speak Finnish, please? (Note to self: write a post about conditional in passive.)
• Mä ymmärrän, että sä haluat auttaa ja olla kohtelias, mutta.. - I understand that you want to help and be polite, but..
• Mä haluaisin puhua suomea. - I'd like to speak Finnish. 
• Mä puhun mieluummin suomea. -  I'd rather speak Finnish.
• Sä voit puhua mulle suomea. - You can speak Finnish to me. 
• Mä kysyn sitten, jos mä en ymmärrä jotain. - I'll ask if I don't understand something.

Sometimes you really want to explain it:

• Anteeksi, mutta mä en halua puhua englantia, koska mä haluan harjoitella ja oppia suomea, koska mä asun Suomessa. - Sorry, but I don't want to speak English, because I want to practice and learn Finnish, because I live in Finland. 

This is probably what most of you think.. Perhaps not the best idea to say these ones aloud.:)

• Mä en kestä tätä! Taas! - I cannot stand this! Again!
• Mä en ole täällä sen takia, että sä voisit harjoitella englantia mun kanssa. - I'm not here so that you could practice English with me. 
• Sä et ehkä jaksa kuunnella mun virheitä tai odottaa, kun mä mietin oikeaa sanaa, mutta en mäkään jaksa aina kuunnella sun englantia. - You might not feel like listening to my mistakes or wait while I'm thinking about the correct word, but I don't always feel like listening to your English, either. 

You might also like my post about Asking for help with Finnish.

Kiitos, kun luit! Jos pidit postauksesta, voit jakaa sen eteenpäin.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it. 
– Hanna

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www.privatefinnishlessons.com  

Finnish participles in a nutshell

I really like participles. In short, they are kind of like verbs turned into adjectives. They behave like any adjective, so you can add case endings, and some of them you can even compare. Participles are really common in written texts. In spoken language, we often replace the participle with a sentence that starts with joka. Some participles are also used in past tense expressions and other slightly complicated structures.

Lukeva tyttö	A reading girl A girl who reads
Lukenut tyttö	A girl who read A girl who has read
Luettava kirja	A book that has to be read A book that can be read A book that will be read
Luettu kirja	A book that has been read
Tytön lukema kirja	A book that the girl read A book that the girl has read
Lukematon kirja	A book that has not been read

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it. 
Kiitos, kun luit! Jos pidit postauksesta, voit jakaa sen eteenpäin.
– Hanna

Online shopping in Finnish

How to shop online in Finnish?

Here's a list of words and phrases that you might find useful:

• Alennuskoodi - Discount code
• Asiakaspalvelu - Customer service
• Hae tuotetta - Search for a product
• Kassalle - To checkout
• Kiitos tilauksesta! - Thank you for the order!
• Kirjaudu - Log in
• Käyttäjätunnus - User ID
• Lataa - Download
• Lisää ostoskoriin - Add to the shopping basket
• Muokkaa ostoskoria - Edit the shopping basket
• Oma tili - (Your) own account
• Ostokorisi on tyhjä. - Your shopping basket is empty.
• Pysy sisäänkirjautuneena? - Stay logged in?
• Rekisteröidy - Register
• Salasana - Password
• Salasana unohtunut? - Password forgotten?
• Tallenna - Save
• Tilaa - Order
• Tilaa uutiskirjeemme - Order our newsletter
• Tuotteesi - Your products
• Tuotteet - Products
• Usein kysyttyä - Frequently asked
• Uutuuksia - Newly arrivals

Let me know if I'm missing something important.:)


Oh, if you want to buy my books online, here's the order form: bit.ly/tilaaselkokirjoja

About the author of Random Finnish Lesson: 

My name is Hanna Männikkölahti. I am a professional Finnish teacher who gives private online lessons and simplifies books into easy Finnish. Follow this blog, if you want to be the first one to know when I post something new.  If you want to subscribe to my newsletter, you can do it here.