Haha, really interesting that you found Finnish sounded like Spanish! Finnish is a fascinating language, I've been learning it for over 7 years now (with a few long breaks, though), and it never failed to amuse me more and more :D
Finland is a bilingual country so we have two official languages, finnish and swedish. Its mandatory to get service everywhere in finland in finnish and swedish(in lapland in sami too i think) so all everyone in government offices for example has to know both swedish and finnish. In cities with a majority of swedish speaking people (mostly on the west coast) swedish would be first (also street names on the walls of buildings) It's also mandatory for everyone to study swedish in school starting from the 7th grade or earlier.
+Lindsay Dow yeah, also many Finns actually speak Swedish as their first language. It's because Finland hasn't really been a country or even cultural identity for for very long and has only been around for a few hundred years. Before that it was sort of a limbo land between Sweden and Russia because both Sweden and Russia each ruled over Finland for a long periods of time.
+Lindsay Dow 'Toivon palata' sounds a lot like Google Translate! A better way would be 'Olisi kiva mennä uudestaan joskus' ☺ ('It would be nice to go again sometime', which also expresses the wish)
I've always wanted to learn Finnish, but it's so foreign to me. The lack of "rules" got me lost real quickly, coming from roman languages (I'm Brazilian-Italian), so I decided to go for Swedish first, hoping it would help. Go to hear it actually does help! I'm on the right track!
+Nina M Someone commented a while back I think that it's only bigger cities with Swedish on the signs but it's definitely a start! ;) Good luck with your languages!
Lindsay Dow Yeah, even if actual Swedish isn't always on the signs the language helps instinct wise, like having Estonian at the back of your mind helped you. So that makes it a bit easier but still has your brain working :)
Rules? You mean grammar or what? Finnish just has different ones and those are regular. Like pronouncing words -- main stress on first syllable, one letter to one phoneme -- two same letters means longer sound.
It is Swedish because it is an official language in Finland. I think that around 5.5% speak Finnish. Dog is hund in Swedish and koira in Finnish. I plan to learn Finnish in the near future. I have looked a bit at the grammar and it looks wonderful!
+Vilhelmvonbraun You languages mixed up in the text you have 5.5% speaking Finnish. It's 5.5% speaking Swedish. And yes for example all of the food items usually contains ingredient list in Finnish and Swedish. Also Swedish is mandatory language to learn in schools from grades 6 to 9.
Pronunciation guide... HELSINKI: the stress is on HEL not on SINKI. But it's not hellish. It's rather lovely in fact. And SAUNA (the only native Finnish word in the English language) rhymes with BROWNER and not CORNER. Just in case anyone thinks otherwise.
Lindsay ,that guy is luckyou are doing all my liked languages Sfänsq Finland Swedish and are covering Qaarjalqse. karelian Tazavaldu karjalan kieles. Top words is ESTONIAN and I m intoo Seto and Võro Tereq Fin Terveh Karjal Carelian Terveh tulgua Jwmalanqe Haver done qwääny Knensk Saapmy north !
+randel aoveer Hmm...well I was only in Helsinki for a day so it's hard to say! It seemed from what I remember that there was some similar vocabulary but also some that looked very different. But as I say, one day, I can't talk too much about it! ;)
+FrankieYT They approached me. I guest blogged my way through the italki World Cup Language Challenge on their blog and mine last summer though so we'd worked together previously. :)
![Why Finnish Is One of The EASIEST Language [7 Reasons]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jTKBfy8OHzw/mqdefault.jpg)
Haha, really interesting that you found Finnish sounded like Spanish!
Finnish is a fascinating language, I've been learning it for over 7 years now (with a few long breaks, though), and it never failed to amuse me more and more :D
+Anastasia Semina Yeah, I wasn't expecting that either! Ahh, cool! :D
Finland is a bilingual country so we have two official languages, finnish and swedish. Its mandatory to get service everywhere in finland in finnish and swedish(in lapland in sami too i think) so all everyone in government offices for example has to know both swedish and finnish. In cities with a majority of swedish speaking people (mostly on the west coast) swedish would be first (also street names on the walls of buildings) It's also mandatory for everyone to study swedish in school starting from the 7th grade or earlier.
sorry i have a few typos there :/
+Emil Jäntti Interesting! I had no idea about this before visiting! Thank you for sharing :)
+Lindsay Dow yeah, also many Finns actually speak Swedish as their first language. It's because Finland hasn't really been a country or even cultural identity for for very long and has only been around for a few hundred years. Before that it was sort of a limbo land between Sweden and Russia because both Sweden and Russia each ruled over Finland for a long periods of time.
3:22 oh my goodness I stood right there when I was in Finland
The texts are bilingual only in the bilingual cities though! :) Kiva, että kävit Suomessa!
+nanalina I thought so! se oli mahtavaa! Toivon palata joskus :) < That's Google Translated so it may be totally wrong! ;)
+Lindsay Dow 'Toivon palata' sounds a lot like Google Translate! A better way would be 'Olisi kiva mennä uudestaan joskus' ☺ ('It would be nice to go again sometime', which also expresses the wish)
I've always wanted to learn Finnish, but it's so foreign to me. The lack of "rules" got me lost real quickly, coming from roman languages (I'm Brazilian-Italian), so I decided to go for Swedish first, hoping it would help. Go to hear it actually does help! I'm on the right track!
+Nina M Someone commented a while back I think that it's only bigger cities with Swedish on the signs but it's definitely a start! ;) Good luck with your languages!
Lindsay Dow Yeah, even if actual Swedish isn't always on the signs the language helps instinct wise, like having Estonian at the back of your mind helped you. So that makes it a bit easier but still has your brain working :)
Rules? You mean grammar or what? Finnish just has different ones and those are regular. Like pronouncing words -- main stress on first syllable, one letter to one phoneme -- two same letters means longer sound.
It is Swedish because it is an official language in Finland. I think that around 5.5% speak Finnish. Dog is hund in Swedish and koira in Finnish. I plan to learn Finnish in the near future. I have looked a bit at the grammar and it looks wonderful!
+Vilhelmvonbraun Ahh that's really interesting! Thank you for clarifying! :)
+Vilhelmvonbraun You languages mixed up in the text you have 5.5% speaking Finnish. It's 5.5% speaking Swedish. And yes for example all of the food items usually contains ingredient list in Finnish and Swedish. Also Swedish is mandatory language to learn in schools from grades 6 to 9.
Janne Oh I meant to say Swedish, of course. Thanks for pointing it out.
Pronunciation guide... HELSINKI: the stress is on HEL not on SINKI. But it's not hellish. It's rather lovely in fact. And SAUNA (the only native Finnish word in the English language) rhymes with BROWNER and not CORNER. Just in case anyone thinks otherwise.
+hauskalainen Thanks for commenting! :) It is indeed not hellish - lovely city! :D
Lindsay ,that guy is luckyou are doing all my liked languages Sfänsq Finland Swedish and are covering Qaarjalqse. karelian Tazavaldu karjalan kieles. Top words is ESTONIAN and I m intoo Seto and Võro Tereq Fin Terveh Karjal Carelian Terveh tulgua Jwmalanqe Haver done qwääny Knensk Saapmy north !
You pointed out many similarities between Finnish and Estonian, but in your opinion what are some differences you noticed between them?
+randel aoveer Hmm...well I was only in Helsinki for a day so it's hard to say! It seemed from what I remember that there was some similar vocabulary but also some that looked very different. But as I say, one day, I can't talk too much about it! ;)
just wondering, how do you get sponsored by italki, did they approach you?
+FrankieYT They approached me. I guest blogged my way through the italki World Cup Language Challenge on their blog and mine last summer though so we'd worked together previously. :)
ah, i see. do they pay you?
Do some languages from Asia too
+Z0S7 I will when I visit Asia next! :D