Using 'Superhabits' for studying Finnish

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.

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

– Hanna 

Opeton and Opetonbot (AI language learning apps for practicing Finnish)

I have a new episode on my podcast! I interviewed Patrik Holopainen about his language learning app Opeton. For freestyle Finnish practice, there's Opetonbot.

Opeton

The idea of Opeton is that the student and the AI teacher chat (actually talk) in the app about various topics. You can try out Opeton for free for 30 minutes (at once or in segments, and you can choose from different languages) and then subscribe for a month (approximately 10 €) or a year (approximately 60 €) if you want to continue with it. I use for my own language studies, and it's so much fun!

First, you choose a language, a level, and a daily goal in minutes. Then you choose the conversation you want to have with Opeton, and give them a call. You can read the same line that Opeton says, but if you don't understand, you can listen to the line again or read the translation. If you have no idea how to reply, there is an example button, and you can just read aloud what Opeton suggests. It is so much fun. 

I was so excited about the topic that I forgot my podcast is supposed to be in easy-ish Finnish. Sorry about that! However, I've included the questions in the episode description, so hopefully they'll help you understand. 

Here's the episode on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/randomfinnishlesson/opeton

My podcast is also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

I asked Patrik these questions:

1. Kuka olet ja mitä teet? Who are you and what do you do?
2. Mitä olet opiskellut ja missä asut? What have you studied and where do you live?
3. Miten päädyit kehittämään Opeton-sovelluksen? How did you end up developing the Opeton application?
4. Milloin aloitit Opetonin kehittämisen? When did you start developing Opeton?
5. Miten Opeton eroaa muista samantyyppisistä sovelluksista? How does Opeton differ from other similar applications?
6.  Millaisia algoritmeja ja tekniikoita Opeton käyttää puheentunnistukseen ja kielen ymmärtämiseen? What kind of algorithms and techniques does Opeton use for speech recognition and language understanding?
7. Muistaako Opeton, mitä minä olen sanonut? Does Opeton remember what I've said?
8. Kertooko Opeton toisille käyttäjille, mitä minä olen sanonut? Does Opeton tell other users what I've said?
9. Millaista palautetta olette saaneet käyttäjiltä? What kind of feedback have you received from users?
10. Millaisia tulevaisuudensuunnitelmia tai tavoitteita Opetonilla on? What kind of future plans or goals does Opeton have?

https://www.opeton.co/

Opetonbot

• Try it yourself: t.me/Opetonbot

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.

Tips for the listening part of the Yki exam

Here are some tips and useful things to remember about the intermediate listening exam:

1. Kuulet kaikki tehtävät kaksi kertaa. Ensin kokonaan, sitten osissa. - You'll hear all the tasks twice. First without breaks, and then in parts.
2. Sinulla on aikaa lukea kysymykset ennen toista kuuntelua. - You'll have time to read the questions before the second listening.
3. Seuraa nauhalta kuuluvia ohjeita ja lue tehtävien ohjeet huolellisesti. - Listen to the instructions on the tape and read the text booklet carefully.
4. Vastaa kaikkiin kysymyksiin. - Answer all the questions.
5. Valitse vain yksi vastaus monivalinta- ja oikein-väärin-tehtävissä. - Choose only one answer in the multiple choice and true-false tasks.
6. Vastaa avoimiin kysymyksiin selkeällä käsialalla. - Use clear handwriting in open-ended questions.
7. Vastaa ensin kaikkiin tehtäviin tehtävävihkoon. - At first, answer all the questions in the test booklet.
8. Sinulla on testin jälkeen 10 minuuttia aikaa siirtää monivalinta- ja oikein-väärin-tehtävien vastaukset vastauslomakkeeseen - After the test, you'll have 10 minutes to transfer your multiple choice and true-false answers to the answer sheet.
9. Harjoittele kuuntelua ja kertaa ainakin numerot, ajanilmaisut, viikonpäivät, kuukaudet, värit ja ilmansuunnat. - Practice listening and review at least the numbers, time expressions, days of the week, months, colours and compass points.
10. Kinnitä huomiota synonyymeihin ja helposti sekaisin meneviin sanoihin. - Pay attention to synonyms and confusingly similar words.

Useful blog posts and links:

• Practicing listening with your friends
• Intermediate listening tasks in Yle Oppiminen
• Basic level listening tasks in Yle Oppiminen
• A model test
• Easy Finnish podcast challenge
• All my posts about the Yki exam

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. 

Writing tips

Here are writing tips for any writing exam:

• Lue ohjeet huolellisesti. - Read the instructions carefully. 
• Ole yksinkertainen. - Be simple. (Exam is not the place to try out new things, so write what you know is correct.)
• Älä kirjoita liian pitkiä lauseita. - Don't write sentences that are too long.
• Käytä vain sanoja, jotka tiedät. - Use only words that you know.
• Kirjoita selkeällä käsialla. - Use clear handwriting. 
• Tarkista lopuksi, että ymmärrät itse, mitä olet kirjoittanut. - After writing, check that you understand what you have written.

You learn to write by writing and getting feedback from your texts. You should also read a lot.

Useful posts:

• Sentence starters
• Confusingly similar words
• Talking about feelings
• How to finish in Finnish
• Describing things
• My Yki posts
• My easy Finnish posts

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.

Keskitason kirjoituskurssi - An intermediate writing course

Oletko menossa keskitason Yki-testiin tammikuun 27. päivä?

Haluaisitko saada palautetta teksteistäsi ja oppia myös toisten opiskelijoiden teksteistä? Osallistu kirjoittamisen minikurssille! 

Kurssin aikana opiskelijat kirjoittavat viisi tekstiä ja saavat niistä palautetta yhteisen Google-dokumentin kautta. Kirjoitettavia tekstejä on yksi viikossa, ja kaikki näkevät kaikkien tekstit ja opettajan kommentit. Emme tapaa toisiamme kurssin aikana, mutta voimme keskustella kirjoittamalla Google Docsissa. Kurssin hinta on 50 €. 

Kurssin aikataulu: 

• Ensimmäisen tekstin palautus 12.11. mennessä
• Toisen tekstin palautus 19.11. mennessä
• Kolmannen tekstin palautus 26.11. mennessä
• Neljännen tekstin palautus 3.12. mennessä
• Viidennen tekstin palautus 10.12. mennessä

Lähetä sähköpostia osoitteeseen hanna.mannikkolahti@gmail.com, jos haluat tilata kurssimateriaalin ja ilmoittautua kurssille.

Suosittelen lämpimästi Harjoitus tekee mestarin 4 -kirjaa. Kirjan lopussa on hyviä kirjoittamisen tehtäviä ja mallitekstejä. 

p.s. Jos haluat tehdä kirjoittamisen kurssin omassa tahdissasi etkä halua näyttää tekstejäsi muille, se on myös mahdollista. Kurssin voi aloittaa milloin tahansa.

Sentence starters in Finnish

Whenever you have to say or write your opinion, these phrases might come in handy:

1. Luin lehdestä, että... I read in the newspaper that....
2. Olen sitä mieltä, että... - I'm of that opinion that...
3. Olen varma, että... - I'm sure that...
4. Ajattelen, että... - I think that...
5. Luulen, että...  - I think that... (but I'm not sure!)
6. Olen kuullut, että... - I've heard that...
7. Olen lukenut, että... - I've read that...
8. Olen huomannut, että.. - I've noticed that...
9. Olen kerran nähnyt, kuinka... - I've once seen how...
10. Olen aina miettinyt, miksi... - I've always wondered why...
11. On mahdollista, että... - It's possible that...
12. Voin olla väärässä, mutta... - I may be wrong, but...
13. Totta puhuen - Telling the truth
14. Rehellisesti sanottuna - Honestly said

Always useful to review:

• Past tense in a nutshell 
• Spoken language tips

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.

Yki-kuntoon kahdessa viikossa

This post is inspired by a student of mine who is going to take the Yki exam in two weeks. It's only in Finnish, but since you're going to the intermediate level test, you can handle that.:) 

Seuraava Yki-testi on kahden viikon kuluttua! Tässä linkissä on sinulle treeniohjelma, jonka avulla voit opiskella tehokkaasti ja valmistautua testiin. Tulosta ohjelma ja laita se näkyvälle paikalle kotiisi ja työpaikallesi, niin muut ihmiset voivat kannustaa ja muistuttaa sinua opiskelemaan suomea.

• Aloita tutustumalla näihin blogipostauksiin.
• Kaikki on kiinni ajankäytöstä. Yritä tehdä mahdollisimman paljon asioita suomeksi.
• Kuuntele vain suomenkielistä musiikkia.
• Katso vain suomenkielisiä tv-sarjoja ja elokuvia tai lue ainakin suomenkielistä tekstitystä. 
• Pyydä, että kaverisi puhuvat sinulle suomea. Jos tuntemattomat yrittävät puhua sinulle englantia, sano, ettet osaa englantia. 
• Älä juo alkoholia ja peru kaikki sovitut tapaamiset ja harrastukset, jotka voit perua. (Tai voit juoda vähän alkoholia, mutta vain jos se auttaa sinua puhumaan suomea!)
• Tee valmiiksi ruokaa pakastimeen (tai syö ulkona), niin että et käytä aikaasi ruoanlaittoon.
• Mene ajoissa nukkumaan ja herää aikaisin opiskelemaan suomea.

..........................

About the author of this blog:  

My name is Hanna Männikkölahti, and I am a native Finn who gives private lessons via Skype and simplifies books into easy Finnish. Please leave a comment, if you have something to ask about Finnish or novels in easy Finnish.

Lue selkokirja. Se voi olla yllättävän helppoa ja kivaa!
www.privatefinnishlessons.com/books

Mistakes to avoid in the speaking exam

Sometimes good speakers don't succeed in exams as well as they'd expect. Make sure not to make these mistakes:

1. Puhut väärästä aiheesta. - You talk about the wrong topic.
2. Et ymmärrä ohjeita. - You don't understand the instructions.
3. Et sano mitään, koska pelkäät virheitä. - You don't say anything because you're afraid of mistakes. 
4. Mietit ja kirjoitat muistiinpanoja liian kauan eikä sinulle jää tarpeeksi aikaa puhua. - You think and write down your ideas for too long and won't have enough time to speak. 
5. Valitset liian vaikean aiheen. - You choose a topic that is too difficult. 
6. Sinulla ei ole mitään sanottavaa. - You have nothing to say. (Practice having an opinion on everything!)

Onnea kokeeseen! - Good luck with the exam!

• A post about confusingly similar words.

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. 

Selkosanomat - a magazine in easy Finnish

Here's a small post to promote Selkosanomat. I've always been a big fan of Selkouutiset, but somehow I had forgotten that Selkosanomat also exists. A new issue is released every two weeks, and in addition to reading easy Finnish, you can also listen to the articles.

• Etusivu - Front page
• Kotimaa - Domestic news
• Ulkomaat - Foreign news
• Viihde - Entertainment
• Teema - Theme
• Sarjakuva - Comics
• Tehtävät  - Exercises 
• Uutisarkisto - News archives

p.s. If you're taking the Yki exam in the near future, I'd advice you to relax and boost your confidence by listening to easy Finnish from Selkosanomat.

Life after the Yki test

So you have passed the Yki test. Onneksi olkoon!

Mitä sitten? Mitä seuraavaksi? - Then what?

I don't know for sure, but I have this feeling that many people study like crazy to pass the exam and then forget about their Finnish studies. Usually the reason is that they don't have the time or the professional need to learn more, or that there simply aren't so many courses above the intermediate level. Also, self-studying is often more motivating if you have a clear goal to reach, but the advanced test is so difficult that you might feel that it's not very realistic to reach the level 5 any time soon.

Anyway, here are my tips for keeping up with Finnish even after you have passed the Yki.

• Find a friend who also wants to study Finnish. Set small goals and meet regularly. 
• Find a Finn who wants to learn your language, and study those languages together. 
• If your friend doesn't live in your city, study together via Skype or something similar.
• Remember that studying doesn't have to be boring and you don't need to be sitting inside in order to learn. Go for a walk or for a drink in Finnish. Or watch a movie, or go to a museum. 
• Read a lot. If normal Finnish it too much, try selkokieli, easy / simplified Finnish. 
• Ask for help with your Finnish. People like to help, if they know how to help. 
• Watch Finnish tv with subtitles. 
• In short, add more Finnish to your life and make it fun.
• Use Ykitreenit to see if you'd be ready to take the advanced level test, and go for it. 

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.

Lue lisää selkokirjoistani: www.hannamannikkolahti.com

Last minute Yki tips

This post is for those who are about to take the intermediate Yki test in the near future.  If you don't have time to read all my posts before the exam, review at least these ones:

• Sentence starters
• Confusingly similar words
• Having something 
• Working
• Expressing opinion
• Being interested
• Uses of tykätä and pitää
• Apologizing
• Talking about time
• The case endings
• Which plural to use?
• Communication verbs
• Sentence types
• Verbs that you should know in order to understand the instructions
• Thinking in Finnish
• Past tenses in Finnish
• Newspaper articles in easy Finnish 
• Grammar classics 

Random courses on Memrise:

• Question words
• Vocabulary from Selkouutiset
• Sentences with adverbs
• Time expressions
• Conversation fillers

You will have 55 minutes to write three texts. The time reserved for reading comprehension, usually 5 or 6 texts, is 60 minutes. Follow the instructions carefully and make sure to complete all the tasks. 

This list is copied from the latest paper issue of Puhutaan suomea magazine, which has an article about Yki test. These are the most typical topics at the intermediate level, so make sure you know how to talk and write about them. 

• Minä ja taustani - Me and my background
• Koti ja asuminen - Home and living
• Jokapäiväinen elämä - Everyday life
• Sosiaalinen vuorovaikutus - Social interaction
• Matkustaminen - Traveling
• Terveys ja hyvinvointi - Health and well-being
• Työ - Work
• Ympäristö ja maantuntemus - Environment and geography
• Yhteiskunta - Society

After completing all the reading and listening exercises and brushing up your vocabulary, speaking and writing, take a break and sing along in Finnish!  Before the exam day, go to bed early and make sure not to sleep in in the morning. Trust on yourself, and you'll do just fine.

Here are all the posts that I have written about Yki.

Information about the YKI test

Many foreigners end up taking the YKI test at some point of their lives. Most often the test level is intermediate, because that is one of the ways to prove your language skills when applying for the Finnish citizenship.

General info

• YKI info by The Ministry of Education and Culture 
• More info by The Ministry of Education and Culture 
• Info and links by Helsingin aikuisopisto 
• YKI demo by University of Jyväskylä 

Books and printable material

• Ykiä kohti by Finn Lectura. Watch a video where the authors talk about the book.
• Ykäänkö vai Ykiinkö? book by Gimara, who also has a great YouTube channel
• Harjoitus tekee mestarin 4  by Marja-Liisa Saunela.  The book has reading comprehension texts, grammar and vocabulary exercises, and also a very nice selection of different writing samples and phrases.
• Samalla kartalla book series by Marja-Liisa Saunela. The books have different level texts, dialogues and exercises.
• KIELO material for figuring out your language level.
• Yki writing material booklet by Kristina Salmela
• More books for teaching yourself Finnish

Reading books in easy Finnish is a great way to learn new vocabulary! 

Websites and online courses 

• Menossa Ykiin by Helsingin aikuisopisto. Test, if you are ready for Yki or not.
• Basic level YKItreenit by Yle Oppiminen
• Intermediate level YKItreenit by Yle Oppiminen 
• Suomikoulut.fi's YKI exercises
• Koti Suomessa For some reason it says itsearviointi, self evaluation, but this part of the website is actually all about preparing for the Yki test. 
• Watch differerent situations and read the texts in Asiointisuomea.
• Steps towards YKI courses (Speaking and writing) by Mari Nikonen 
• Yki-treeni online by Mari Kokkonen
• Opeton app (Listen to me talking with the CEO of Opeton)

Blog posts 

• Last minute Yki tips by me
• Mistakes to avoid in the speaking exam by me
• Top 10 tips for YKI by Mari Nikonen
• A blog post about taking the YKI test. The grammar isn't part of the exam anymore, but otherwise your YKI experience will be pretty much like described. 
• Another blog post by a student who prepared for the YKI test in the spring 2015. (Yes, she passed the exam!)

The following is my rough translation of the instructions for the test participants, with some additions of my own. 

Before the exam:

• Listen and speak Finnish as much as you can. Practice and review the basics.
• Be aware that the instructions of the exam are in Finnish.
• Choose the date of the test, where you want to take it and sign up. 
• Pay the exam fee. 
• Make sure you'll have a pencil, eraser and an official ID document with you in the test. No dictionaries.
• Rest and eat well before the exam. It will be a long day, though you will be able to eat and use the bathroom between the parts of the exam.
• You might want to take a wrist watch with you to the exam, if it makes you comfortable to know exactly how many minutes or seconds you have left to speak or prepare for the task. 

In the exam:

• Be on time. If you arrive late, you cannot attend the exam. Show your ID to the supervisor. The basic and intermediate level exams take 3,5 - 4 hours and the advanced level test will be about 5-6 hours.
• The exam takes place in two parts: Reading comprehension and writing in a classroom, and speaking and listening comprehension in a language studio.
• Don't be shy in the language studio. Speak clearly and loudly. Avoid short yes/no answers, though it is important to always say something. An actual human being will listen and evaluate your performance a couple of weeks later, so it's important that s/he can hear your voice instead of the person sitting next to you.
• Listen and read the instructions carefully and do what you are asked to do. Use your time wisely so that you'll have time to do all the tasks.
• Do the easy tasks first so you'll have time for the difficult ones.  Don't leave any blanks.

After the exam:

• You'll get the certificate approximately in two months. There's important information on both sides of the certificate, so if you're taking copies, make sure to copy both sides. 

Good luck with the exam! Onnea kokeeseen! 

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in online private lessons.
Here are all the posts I've written about Yki.

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

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

Tilaa uutiskirjeeni - Subscribe to my newsletter 

www.privatefinnishlessons.com