Suomi 1

In 17 working days... so intensive is the key word for sure with the course!!! We learnt to speak using slang so we don't sound like talking books, to read, write and listen to people. Below is the official course list of what we have learnt;

Minä
basic information about yourself
greetings
letters and numbers
verb conjugation
asking questions
typical features of Finnish

Kaupungilla
food
at the cash machine
ordering in a resturant, cafe or other common places
partitive case
expressions of time
i have structure

Suomalaista elämää
free time
different verb types
genitive case
describing people
body parts
t plural and consonant change
asking the way
clothes

Tyypillinen päivä
more expressions of time
weather
spoken language and verb conjugation
making an appointment
i have to structure

Tulossa ja mennossa
where, where from, to where cases
buying train, bus tickets
past tense
and grammar

It has been a very intensive course but it has been very well taught and structured. If any of you get a chance to take the Finnish language courses at Jyväskylä university then do so! Even if you have to pay for them they are well worth the money!

Suomi 1 doesn't make you fluent or able to understand every word people are saying but it helps you break down the basics and ask for simple things, order drinks and food, tell someone what you want, or that you are busy and need to do something else. It is a great course! I can't wait to see how much I learn from the second one. Nor can I wait for the conversation courses in January =)

I have exams Friday and Monday. Then over a week to digest the work in suomi 1 I haven't remembered completely. Then bring on Suomi 2, which is over 3 months =)

Also on the huge plus side, Eero has been shocked into how much Finnish I know and is now actively helping, texting and speaking in Finnish =)life is good!

Minä

Ok, the homework we had a while ago was to write a little about yourself in Finnish... basic but necessary when meeting new people.

So I will write in spoken language as this will mostly always be spoken...

Päivää! Mun nimi on Kate. Hauskaa tavata. Mä oon kakskytviis vuotias. Mä oon Englantilainen. Mun äidenkeili on englanti mutta myös mä puhun vähän suomea. Mä ymmärrän suomea hyvin mutta mä en puhu sitä paljon vielä! Ma oon opiskelja. Mä opiskelen uusiutivaa energiaa. Mä asun Tamperella. Mä nyt asun Jyväskylässä mutta mä oon kotoisin Englannista. Mä oon avoliitossa ja mulla on avomies. Vapaa-aikana luen ja katson elokuvia. Mää harrastan lukemista, kävelyä kiipeilyä ja opettelen hiihtoa. Mä on rouka-allergia.

Scary thing is we are a lot past this level now and all in a week but I am trying to keep my blog up to date with this intensive course! =)

Kesäyliopisto

Summer school is going very well, I feel. I am a lot more confident with Finnish even speaking it! So progress is being made.

The course is very intense we have to work through a huge booklet in just a month, well actually 3 weeks when days off have been taken into account. Then we are tested on four things; speaking, listening, reading and grammar... for the first time ever I am excited about an exam, I actually want to sit the exam... (weird)

We get to go to the language lab and having never learnt another language apart from English this is a new thing where you copy Maaria (teacher) and you record your own voice and then listen to yourself to see if you are pronouncing things properly. We do a fair bit of speaking and we are spoken to in Finnish (so it makes you listen and helps you understand all at the same time... something the first course lacked on). This course is great though it all makes sense and is very well taught and explained.

New friends are also a great bonus from this course, both long and short term I have met some wonderful people!

We get bonus things on this course lectures on Finnish culture; music, art and design etc. We get to watch three Finnish films to in Finnish!!!!

I am also riding my bike to school now too which is good. My fitness is improving I can't wait until the end of August when I have more time to walk and jog even bike around the lake, city and all of Jyväskylä!!!!

Lecture start at 9.30 and end at 1.30pm and we just get a hours lunch for a break. Then a few pages of homework due the next day. I am loving it though with so much to learn!

Mä asun nyt Jyväskylässä

Tuesday afternoon when Eero came home from work we packed up the car and the trailer of my boxes, bike and furniture. Then we headed out for Jyväskylä. We got here around 7pm and unloaded everything. Eero put together the bed for me and carried all the heavier stuff upstairs. Then we meet Outi (my new flat mate. She is a Finn and also comes from Tampere and on the good side she is really very nice! She then took me for a late evening walk to city campus and the others to show me around so I wouldn't get lost tomorrow. Personally I thought it was great! we talked and talked and talked... hehe!

So we went to bed late but I was excited and didn't sleep too well, I woke up to thunder about 2am and it was still (??) thundering when I woke up at 6am and got up at 8am (lie in first day!!). Omg, you have never in your days seen rain like what was falling this morning, Less than 30secs outside and you were soaked to the skin. I wore my waterproof coat and took a spare pair of shoes... for the walk to uni with Aino (my tutor). Aino is also really nice, very helpful and shows me where everything is!

The campus was bigger than I expected it to be and I walked in to building P expecting to see around 30people for this course. Instead there were around 100, 3 groups of around 30 people. It was walking to class that I met Britta (I hope that's spelt write) she's from Germany and she's very nice too! We talked a lot and learnt somethings too. We made a few more friends during lunch. Then we went to the how to cycle safely talk and we got a free reflector!!! mines a football, I wanted a dog or ghost but what can you do!

I came home around 2.25pm, it was sunny and soooo hot! Outi went back to Tampere today (Wednesday) but just before she went there was another almighty thunderstorm and heavy rain. I have never heard thunder so loud. So I'm home alone until I go back to Tampere on Friday... Eero is calling and texting loads too which is great fun, I think he misses me too!

We got our course material today there's a €9 charge on it though but it's a lot of work and handouts... quite the bargain! Tomorrow we have a cultural lecture before class so we have to be in school by 9am, classes then 2 hours solid, then hour lunch then another 2 lessons to Finish around 1.30pm... that's 3 hours a day learning Finnish. We also have an oral and written exam at the end of the class so at least I will know how good I am or how good I think I am!!

Last week in July

It has been a busy week. I move to Jyväskylä early next week and Kesäyliopisto (Summer University) starts next week for the month. So as you probably guessed I have spent most of the week packing up my things, first they went into a maybe pile, then the definitely pile. I am in halls until Eero moves up so space will be very restricted until we move up there properly.

I only have 3 days off from Wednesday to the start of my master's degree so I have no doubt Christmas will be upon us before we even know it!!! Hopefully we go back to UK this Christmas... mom and dad are coming to Lapland Christmas 2011.

Even got a new contract phone connection so life is good!!

Last night Eero brought me a new bag for university, it's great, I love it and have started to put all my brooches and pins all over it!!

We also put the new bike bag and light on my bike... almost ready for the little move!