Effective listening strategy

How can you really start to understand Finnish? đŸ‡«đŸ‡ź In this video I talk about the routine of my customers who are making listening practice effective in order to really boost their listening comprehension!

“SPOKEN FINNISH KPT”

Here’s the spoken Finnish (puhekieli) word forms I use in this video. By comparing them with standard Finnish (kirjakieli), you’ll build an understanding how they differ from each other. This helps you to understand us native Finns!

This isn’t really any official grammatical concept, but since the letters tend to change, disappear or appear out of thin just like in KPT change, I call it ”spoken Finnish KPT” 😊

These particular changes in speech are common all over Finland, but even more especially in the southern regions. Especially the pronouns mÀ and sÀ are mainly used in southern Finland.

spoken Finnish > formal Finnish = English

moi > hei = hi, hello

mÀ oon > minÀ olen = I am

niinku > niin kuin, kuten = as, like

sÀ > sinÀ = you

sun > sinun = your, yours

mun > minun = my, mine

jotka edistyy

> jotka edistyvÀt

= who are progressing

tekee > tekevÀt = are doing

ku > kun = as

niil on > heillÀ on = they have

yks > yksi = one

nÀÀ > nÀmÀ = these

esimerkiks > esimerkiksi = for example

oikeesti > oikeasti = really

(ne) työskentelee

> (he) työskentelevÀt

= (they) are working

ne voi ymmÀrtÀÀ

> he voivat ymmÀrtÀÀ

= they can understand

suomee > suomea = Finnish (partitive)

niitten > heidÀn = their, theirs

ei oo > ei ole = is not

ne ei vaan laita

> he eivÀt vain laita

= they do not just put

podcastii

> podcastia

= podcast (partitive)

(ne) ei kato

> (he) eivÀt katso

= they do not watch

videoo > videota = a video (partitive)

vaan > vain = only, just

ne panostaa

> he panostavat

= they put effort

(ne) harjottelee

> (he) harjoittelevat

= they practise

tÀÀ > tÀmÀ = this

sit > sitten = then

(ne) kattoo

> (he) katsovat

= they are watching

jonku > jonkin = some

ni > niin = so

ne ei kato

> he eivÀt katso

= they do not watch

kahesti > kahdesti = twice

ees > edes = even

seittemÀn > seitsemÀn = seven

kaheksan > kahdeksan = eight

ne antaa > he antavat = they give

niitten aivoille

> heidÀn aivoilleen

= to their brains

oikeesti > oikeasti = for real

mahollisuuden

> mahdollisuuden

= a chance

mitÀ ne kuulee

> mitÀ he kuulevat

= what they hear

ne vaihtelee

> he vaihtelevat

= they alternate

silleen > siten, sillÀ tavalla = in a way

et > ettÀ = that

uuestaan > uudestaan = again

ne tarkistaa

> he tarkistavat

= they check

mitÀ uudet sanat tarkottaa

> mitÀ uudet sanat tarkoittavat

= what the new words mean

tietty > tietenkÀÀn = of course (not)

susta tuntuu

> sinusta tuntuu

= you feel like

kattoo > katsoa = to watch

useempaan kertaan

> useampaan kertaan

= several times

ettii > etsiÀ = to look for, to search

itelle > itselle = for yourself

mut > mutta = but

tehÀ > tehdÀ = to do

ÀlyttömÀn > erittÀin = terribly, very

auttaa sua

> auttaa sinua

= (it) helps you (to)

suomeks > suomeksi = in Finnish

tÀrkeetÀ > tÀrkeÀÀ = important

kiitti, ku katoit

> kiitos, kun katsoit

= thank you for watching

nÀhÀÀn ens viikolla

> nÀhdÀÀn ensi viikolla

= see you next week

moi moi > hei hei = bye



Practise your Finnish!

Harjoitus tekee mestarin, practice makes perfect (literally, “practice makes a master”). My personalised 1:1 online speaking sessions are your chance to put what you learn into practice, so to use Finnish in order to really start to speak it! 😊 Read more about my sessions here and get in touch to start to feel comfortable in speaking Finnish 💙

Learn even more spoken Finnish by signing up to my weekly newsletter below!

Previous
Previous

Uteliaisuus 💙 Curiosity

Next
Next

Boost your Finnish!