Fastest way to learn Finnish?

[u/NativeAbi]

What’s the best way to learn Finnish fast?

Story/The why ->
My wife (Finnish) doesn’t want to live in my home country cause its very different and weird at times next to Finland, which I understand, however that comes with the issue that finding a job in Finland for me is like 1 in a million. Im currently “safe” cause I can keep working remotely for a few months, but other then that I dont want to rely on benefits after. I still get that being a non-native sometimes is an automatic rejection for a job, but I want to atleast try.

Been living in Finland for around a month now, and seems super hard to get around the language (other then reading, wife says I read almost perfect)

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[u/aeshleyrose]

Speak it read it listen to it

[u/Cyoor → u/aeshleyrose]

To speak it or read it you kind of need to understand some of it and you wont do that without actually trying to learn it, so I think that what you are suggesting is a bit down the line for most people who want to learn the language.

Only listening to the language will not help fast enough for it to be a valid option. (and I know that from experience.)

[u/ewhite12 → u/Cyoor]

That’s not remotely true, otherwise children would never learn how to speak any language.

[u/juujoojuu → u/ewhite12]

Children learn language in a different way, language when learning is even processed in a different part of the brain when you are a child.

[u/Remarkable_Value2926]

Stop speaking english

[u/porichkamarichka → u/Remarkable_Value2926]

This! Wife should just stop speaking english too so OP has no chance to avoid learning. Of course it shouldn't be level extreme in the beginning, but "mennäänkö kävelylle" or "huomenta haluatko kahvia" is a good start for both.

[u/NativeAbi → u/porichkamarichka]

Not a bad idea tbh

[u/joppekoo → u/NativeAbi]

It might be a good idea to mostly still speak English for your realtionship's sake. But maybe you can agree on some specific days per week when you don't revert to English even if you won't get your point accross at the first try, but keep trying with Finnish. That's almost guaranteed to have a big effect on your learning, as you will actually need to communicate in Finnish.

[u/unohdin-nimeni → u/joppekoo]

It might be a good idea to mostly still speak English for your relationship’s sake.

Are you quite sure? A relationship is the best possible chance to learn by immersion. An opportunity that shouldn't be wasted. I learned a foreign language a thousand years ago that way, in a matter of weeks. We just shifted from a language that was our common ground but not native to either of us. Once and for all, one evening. And we stayed together for years. When it eventually ended, it wasn't because we spoke her language.

[u/joppekoo → u/unohdin-nimeni]

It could well work, sure.

I was just thinking that I would prioritise the relationship over the language learning. Former necessitates successful communication, latter is effort in communication that can be successful or not.

If it goes well fully in Finnish, then of course that's the best of both worlds. If it gets hard, I think it's good to mostly speak in a language where both get understood when they speak and have the language learning part as a common project but not the whole daily life.

[u/juujoojuu → u/joppekoo]

Nah, full immersion. Just have the important conversations in English.

[u/joppekoo → u/juujoojuu]

That'll do it I guess. At least if they're self-consciouss enough to know which conversations are the important ones before they _become_important_ or if they can handle them after that.

[u/unohdin-nimeni → u/joppekoo]

I see. Getting understood when speaking might not be a bad idea either! But if they just force themselves to understand? No need to be stupidly stubborn in every thinkable and unthinkable situation perhaps

[u/Aquanlqua → u/NativeAbi]

If this didn't cross your mind before, then maybe Finland isn't the place for you. Or anything that's not home.

[u/Fanatic_Atheist → u/porichkamarichka]

Yeah that's how my parents did it, now we have a bilingual household and my dad basically speaks C2 Finnish

[u/official_peura → u/Remarkable_Value2926]

This! But it's not going to be easy. I had a friend who speaks very good finnish say, that at some point you should tell all your family, friends and colleagues to stop speaking english to you. Explain that it will take time to adjust but that's the only way you'll learn.

[u/escpoir]

Attend all the courses you can join, borrow easy-Finnish books from the library and read them, watch Finnish shows and news, listen to Finnish radio.

[u/Smarre]

Have you considered taking classes?

[u/NativeAbi → u/Smarre]

I applied to this a few days ago “Finnish for Foreigners 1 / Suomen kieltä ulkomaalaisille 1” now I just need to start it.

[u/BiasedChelseaFan → u/NativeAbi]

There you go! Get the basics from the course, then keep growing your vocabulary. Doesn’t need to be perfect for people to understand you. Good luck!

[u/Syndiotactics]

Full immersion. Ask your friends to only speak Finnish to you no matter how difficult it is. If you don’t understand a word, ask to say it in other words or slower. If critical, ask to say it in English and continue again in Finnish. It is worth the pain, just be strong.

Listen to Finnish music.

Listen to Finnish radio.

Listen to Finnish podcasts.

Read the news in Finnish.

Watch Finnish TV shows with Finnish subtitles. (YLE Areena) Some foreign movies and TV series (mostly those intended for children unfortunately) have Finnish dubs as an option.

Read Finnish books. (Perhaps translations of books that you already know?)

All this while having an organized class of Finnish and things should start making sense fast. You just MUST deprive yourself of English, even the possibility of using it. 

This is the strategy that has worked for several friends of mine. They are all impressively fluent now. This is also the strategy the Mormon missionaries use, and they are famously the best language learners on Earth.

[u/TeemuKai → u/Syndiotactics]

This and start narrating everything you do and naming everything you see in Finnish. Put post it notes on every household item with the name of it written down, then say the word every time you see the object and say a sentence using the word.

[u/Ballytrea]

Hahaha...OP you been here a month and your wife says you read perfect already? Obviously she's playing you.

[u/Every-Progress-1117]

Same as any other language, the fastest way is total immersion.

[u/RuleSerious668]

Honestly the fastest way is to do it during unemployment at the class provided by employment services for immigrants. My wife took it, you study the language there for 7 hours a day for like 9 months. That takes you to B1 level I think. My wife took it and I think it was essential because her native language is English, a lot of English speaking immigrants never learn Finnish properly. Later it also helped that she's a registered nurse. You learn the language when you use it every day at work. English is the language at home though, it is very hard to change the language you speak with your spouse once it's already established as the love language.

[u/Veenkoira00]

Total (nearly) immersion. Ask Wife to find some Very Old people in some Very Remote place. You can only use languages other than Finnish for very limited times of the day strictly for earning purposes. Otherwise NO DEVICES. NO LISTENING RADIO or TV in anything else but Finnish. Lodge with these monoglots for a couple of months, no cheating – you'll notice your phenomenal progress.

[u/NativeAbi → u/Veenkoira00]

I mean I already live in a “remote/old” place in Finland I’d say so that helps

[u/Lento_Pro]

Learn how to pronounce letters, read aloud and maybe even record it, translate comics and children's books with a dictionary, and, if you have possibility, babysit two to six year old Finnish speaking children. Children are very patient teachers, because they are used to the fact adults understand nothing.

[u/Judotimo]

Ask your wife to stop talking english to you.

[u/rockshiv]

no.

[u/I_am_beaver → u/rockshiv]

I have lived in Finland for 13 years. My answer is also No 😂

[u/blackbileOD]

uusikielemme.fi, when you are doing nothing just look up translations of whatever words come to mind, ask your wife constantly "mikä tämä on?" "Mitä teet?" Etc to learn nouns and verbs. Watch finnish tv, listen to finnish music. Read about topics that are already familiar to you in finnish. Avoid using english like the plague to force yourself to figure it out. I spoke conversational finnish in 3-4 months this way

[u/ronniefinnn]

r/learnfinnish may have ideas for you

[u/EntireProgress1747]

Use it more and more!

[u/Extreme-Poet-9170]

You will just need to soak it in using all possible means and fiture out the best way for you to speak, write, learn grammar and vocabulary.

Then, you will at some point need to start surviving only using Finnish on a day to day basis. And then you will learn the language properly. Courses, books and theory will get you only so fara.

[u/No_Comb_8551]

Music is a good start. It is a very vocabulary based here so when you find something good that goes within your mindset, start listeling. That way learning new language gets really easy.