Using 'Superhabits' for studying for the YKI exam

I'm going to take the intermediate YKI exam in Swedish this year. My goal is to pass it, and maybe even get 4s. Most importantly, I want to feel confident in my Swedish when I travel to Sweden next fall.

My newest easy Finnish adaptation Banaanitalo is about to be published very soon, and I’ll have some promoting to do among the Swedish Finns (ruotsinsuomalaiset). I'll be talking about the book in Finnish, but in other situations, I want to use Swedish instead of English. 

What is Superhabits?

I just heard about this super cool habits website from my student who designed it, and I’m inviting you to use it with me! In short, you can set your own habits and decide how many times a week you want to follow them. You can keep your habits private or turn it into a friendly competition by sharing them with others.

These are my habits for studying Swedish. You can use the same habits tracker for Finnish.

• Kuuntele musiikkia joka päivä. - Listen to music every day.
• Lue ainakin 15 minuuttia kuutena päivänä viikossa - Read at least for 15 minutes six days a week. 
• Katso tai kuuntele uutiset viitenä päivänä viikossa. - Watch or listen to the news five days a week. 
• Kuuntele podcastia kahtena päivänä viikossa - Listen to a podcast two days a week
• Osallistu keskusteluun (puhu tai kirjoita) kerran viikossa - Participate in a conversation (speak or write) once a week (As you can see, I'm mostly focusing on my receptive skills at this point, but feel free to create different habits for yourself.)

Save the link www.superhabits.fyi to your bookmarks and to the home screen of your phone.

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. 

What is KAJ?

Yes, I'm obsessed wth KAJ and here's a post about the humour group. If you also like KAJ, make sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel and follow them on Instagram. And don't forget to check out different translations of Bara bada bastu on LyricsTranslate!

In short, KAJ is a Finnish band who will represent Sweden in the Eurovision song contest. They sing in Swedish, which is their mother tongue.

KAJ performing at Melodifestivalen on March 8:

KAJ hears the Melodifestivalen results:

KAJ (or KJ, as one of the members couldn't make it)

 in 'Efter nio' in March 3. 

The interview is in Swedish, 

but you can read the subtitles in Finnish

KAJ singing Nissan bromsa (Nessun Dorma cover) in 2018

KAJ singing about having a nice evening at home eating tacos in 2016

If you want to read about KAJ in Finnish, here's an interview in Maaseudun tulevaisuus from 2020. Yle has collected all the Eurovision articles here. 

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. 

An online course in Finnish: Read 'Numeroruuhka' in May

I have designed an online course to help and encourage you to read Numeroruuhka in easy Finnish this May. I’d love for you to join the course!

Minä ja Numeroruuhka-selkokirja

What kind of a book is it?

The original book was written by Eve Hietamies, and I have rewritten it in easy Finnish. Numeroruuhka is the fourth book in the so-called Yösyöttö series. Antti Pasanen is a 50-year-old journalist and a single dad to 10-year-old Paavo Pasanen. The book follows Antti’s life, including his challenges with his girlfriend Enni, his father’s recovery from a stroke, and his work as a journalist.

You can read this book even if you haven’t read the previous ones. I will also provide a short summary of what has happened in Antti’s life before Numeroruuhka. You can take a look at a sample here. 

Here’s a post I wrote about Numeroruuhka when it was first published in 2023:
https://randomfinnishlesson.blogspot.com/2023/07/numeroruuhka.html

Content of the course

During the course, you will

• read an entire book in easy Finnish
• learn new words and grammar structures
• develop good reading habits so that you can read more books

The course includes

 

• pre-recorded videos by me discussing the book and its grammar 
• pre-recorded videos by me reading aloud a couple of chapters each week
• a Finnish-English vocabulary on Memrise
• multiple choice questions about the book
• super fun word search puzzles
• chatting about the book in a closed Telegram group
• two meetings on Zoom, held on Sunday evenings at 8 pm Finnish time
• May 11, when everybody has already started to read the book.
• June 1, when everybody has hopefully finished the book.

The price and how to sign up for the course

• The early bird price is €35, if you sign up by April 1. After that, the price of the course is €40.
• Send me an email at hanna.mannikkolahti@gmail.com to sign up for the course. 
• I will send you an invoice and share the course material with you on Google Drive. 
• You can borrow the book from the library or buy it through bit.ly/tilaaselkokirjoja.
• Registration ends on April 30th. 

Lyhyesti suomeksi: 

Luetaan yhdessä Numeroruuhka toukokuussa

Olen suunnitellut kurssin, joka auttaa ja kannustaa lukemaan Numeroruuhka-selkokirjan toukokuun aikana. 

Kurssiin kuuluu 

• etukäteen kuvattuja opetusvideoita
• videoita, joilla luen kirjaa ääneen
• monivalintakysymyksiä
• suomi-englanti-sanasto
• sanasokkeloita
• keskustelua suljetussa Telegram-ryhmässä
• kaksi Zoom-tapaamista

Zoom-tapaamiset ovat sunnuntai-iltaisin klo 20.00

• 11.5., kun kaikki ovat jo aloittaneet lukemisen
• 1.6., kun kaikki ovat toivottavasti lukeneet kirjan loppuun

Hinta ja ilmoittautuminen

• Kurssi maksaa 40 €. Varhaisen ostajan hinta on 35 €, jos ilmoittaudut mukaan 1.4. mennessä.
• Lähetä minulle sähköpostia hanna.mannikkolahti@gmail.com ja ilmoittaudu kurssille.
• Lähetän sinulle laskun ja jaan kurssimateriaalin Google Drivessä. 
• Voit lainata kirjan kirjastosta tai ostaa sen bit.ly/tilaaselkokirja-lomakkeen kautta. 
• Ilmoittautuminen loppuu 30.4.

Tervetuloa kurssille!

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. 

How my online reading courses help you finish books

Confessions of a language learner:

I borrowed an easy Swedish book from the library, but I never finished it. 

I ended up renewing my loan several times, yet I still didn’t read it.

Why didn't I read the book?

The language level was suitable for me, and I know how useful reading is as a learning method.

These were the main reasons:

1. The topic didn’t really interest me.
2. I had no one to talk to about the book.
3. Nobody cared whether I read it or not.

I returned the book to the library and realized that my online courses can solve all of these problems. 

How my courses will help you finish the books

1. I choose interesting easy Finnish books and create engaging course materials.
2. You can discuss the book with me and other readers on Telegram and in Zoom meetings.
3. Both I and the other readers care about whether you read the book!

My online reading courses

• March 2025 Tuntematon Kimi Räikkönen 
• May 2025 Numeroruuhka (Registration is open!)

Here's a short video of me talking about the Yösyöttö series:

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.  

Learning Finnish through children's programs

Do you feel like watching something short and easyish in Finnish? Here's a list of children's programmes with Finnish subtitles. They are all available on Yle Areena.

• Millä mennään 
• Olipa kerran keksintö
• Saara ja Sorsa
• Nipa ja Pete
• Simo 
• Ruskea pikkukarhu
• Barbapapa
• Kaapo
• Muumilaakso

'Kaapo' is also available on YouTube!

Even better, you can watch these shows on Yle Kielikoulu and read the subtitles with translations if needed. Here's a list of all the programs available on Yle Kielikoulu: https://kielikoulu.yle.fi/programs. Select 'Lapset' to narrow the list down to children's programs.

Learn more about Yle Kielikoulu: https://yle.fi/aihe/kielikoulu-sprakskolan#english 

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.