Monday, April 25, 2016

Asking for recommendations when ordering in Finnish

I just spent a lovely weekend in Stockholm with my friends. I don't think I ordered anything without first asking the opinion of the person working in the café, bar or a restaurant. I know, it sounds super annoying, but I was just really excited to be able to practice my Swedish! Here's how to be an indecisive tourist in Finnish:

  • Mitä sinä suosittelisit? - What would you recommend?
  • Mikä näistä on suosituin? - Which one of these (individual portions) is the most popular? 
  • Mikä tee on kaikkein suosituinta? - Which tea is the most popular?
  • Mikä on sun mielestä teidän paras jälkiruoka? - In your opinion, what's your best dessert?

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Being confused in Finnish

Here are some expressions to use when things are not so clear:

Sekava


  • Tämä on tosi sekava juttu. - This is a really confusing story / thing.


Sekaisin


  • Anteeksi, mä olen vähän sekaisin. - I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused. 
  • Mitä sä olet juonut? Sä olet ihan sekaisin! - What have you drunk? You're messed up.
  • Mä menen sekaisin, jos sä puhut samaan aikaan kun mä soitan. - I get screwed up if you speak at the same time that I'm playing. 

Hämmentynyt



Pihalla


  • Nyt mä oon ihan pihalla! - Now I have no idea of what's going on! (pihalla = outside)

Similar post:



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. Please read more in www.linktr.ee/hannamannikkolahti and follow this blog, if you want to be the first one to know when I post something new. 


Wednesday, April 13, 2016

How to talk about children in Finnish

Here are some sentences with the word lapsi, a child. How many do you understand?

  1. Kenen lapsi tuo on?
  2. Voinko ottaa sinne lapsen mukaan
  3. Meillä on kaksi lasta. 
  4. Meidän lapsella on tosi kiva opettaja.
  5. Anteeksi, putosiko tämä sinun lapselta? 
  6. Mitä mä voisin ostaa teidän lapselle
  7. Olin lapsena tosi ujo. 
  8. Missä lapset ovat? 
  9. Voisitko mennä lasten kanssa jonnekin?
  10. Onko teillä lapsia? 
  11. Mitä harrastuksia teidän lapsilla on? 
  12. Tämä on lapsilta kielletty
  13. Toitko lapsille jotain
  14. Tykkäätkö lapsista? 



Here are the translations: 


  1. Kenen lapsi tuo on? - Who's child is that?
  2. Voinko ottaa sinne lapsen mukaan? - Can I take (my) child along there?
  3. Meillä on kaksi lasta. - We have two children. 
  4. Meidän lapsella on tosi kiva opettaja. - Our child has a really nice teacher. 
  5. Anteeksiputosiko tämä sinun lapselta? - Excuse me, did your child drop this?
  6. Mitä mä voisin ostaa teidän lapselle? - What could I buy for your child?
  7. Olin lapsena tosi ujo. - I was really shy when I was a child. 
  8. Missä lapset ovat? - Where are the kids?
  9. Voisitko mennä lasten kanssa jonnekin? - Could you please go somewhere with the kids?
  10. Onko teillä lapsia? - Do you have children?
  11. Mitä harrastuksia teidän lapsilla on? - Which hobbies do your kids have?
  12. Tämä on lapsilta kielletty! - This is forbidden for children!
  13. Toitko lapsille jotain? - Did you bring something to the children?
  14. Tykkäätkö lapsista? - Do you like children?

p.s. If you are going to have children, you could check out my post Giving birth in Finnish!


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. Please read more in www.linktr.ee/hannamannikkolahti and follow this blog, if you want to be the first one to know when I post something new.  

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Top 10 countries and posts

Here are some blog statistics, if you are curious to know who else is reading this blog. These are the countries with most pageviews since August 2012:
Graph of most popular countries among blog viewers


Suomi
224255
Yhdysvallat
89262
Ranska
20431
Venäjä
15708
Iso-Britannia
14979
Saksa
14355
Ukraina
7574
Puola
7400
Ruotsi
3173
Filippiinit
1806

These are the most popular posts: 


Nov 11, 2012, 19 comments
24483
Nov 3, 2012, 23 comments
14217
Feb 28, 2014, 7 comments
5383
Aug 21, 2013, 6 comments
3657
Nov 19, 2012, 4 comments
2366
Sep 20, 2012, 1 comment
2272
Dec 10, 2012, 9 comments
1453
1076
Aug 15, 2012, 6 comments
915
Jun 24, 2013, 9 comments
911

Monday, April 4, 2016

A new summer course in Finnish

Are you looking for a little bit different Finnish course this summer? From July 20 to July 24, to be more exact?  My good friend Saija is organizing a four-day course in well-being, yoga and hiking in the wilderness of the Hossa hiking area in Kainuu. She is also a Finnish teacher, so everything will be in Finnish, and I'm sure she'll gladly discuss Finnish grammar when she's not teaching yoga. The program is very flexible, and nobody is forced to do anything.

Here's a link to more information about the course, and here's the Facebook page of the course.



I'll be attending the course with my children (who will not not disturb the yoga people, I promise), and we'll probably just focus on swimming and playing outside.  Hope to see you there, too!