Blogi Samuel Rouleau: Suomeksi

Tämä blogipostaus on englanniksi koska haluaisin kertoa hyvin minun suomen kielen oppimisesta. Kirjoitan ensin suomeksi näyttää teille miten puhun suomea ja haluaisin kirjoita itse, ilman apua ystäviestä. Sanon tämä blogipostaukselle, että opiskelen suomea kursilla 7 kuukautta sitten täällä Helsingissä. Selitän myös miten opiskelimme ja että se on tosi tärkeä aina olla valmis opiskella kun olemme bussissa, saunassa, ystävien kanssa ja joka paikassa. Olla Suomessa on tosi helpommin oppia suomea koska voimme lukea, kuunnella ja puhua suomea joka päivä, ja uskon että se on paras tapa oppia suomen kieli. Suomalaiset ovat myös aina iloiset ja valmis auttaa kun puhun suomea heidän kanssa, se on tosi ihana ja ystävällinen juttu, ja aion jatkaa opiskella suomea asti lähden Suomesta ja myös sen jälkeen Kanadassa! Kiitos lukemisesta! 

When living in a foreign country, one of the most important things in my opinion is to learn the language. It is such a great opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture and it is much easier to do when you are surrounded by it every day. You can read it, listen to it and speak it every day, and I believe that active and consistent use of the language in all its forms is the key to efficient language learning. To me, the opportunity to learn a language this way is too great to pass up.

I have been following a Finnish course now for almost 7 months and have learned quite a lot. I have always been intimidated by the language, since it has a reputation of being one of the world’s most difficult languages to learn, but being in Finland and being able to use the language every day has motivated me to take up the challenge.

Firstly, having an excellent Finnish teacher and class is of course crucial to learning, because that is your starting point, your motivator and your example to follow. The teacher guides you through the language in an easy to understand manner and leads you through the grammar in such a way not to be too overwhelmed or confused by sometimes-conflicting rules! Of course such teachers can be found in Canada as well, for example with the students at the University of Toronto, with whom we have been collaborating since the beginning of our class, sharing our views of Helsinki and Toronto and our journey through the Finnish language.

Moreover, I believe it takes personal discipline as well to achieve a certain level of proficiency. I have always had a high standard for myself and always pushed myself to learn as much as I can, and being here for only one year urges me to do so even more. I have been speaking with friends, studying signs everywhere and listening to strangers talk in the bus, in the sauna or at school and I believe most of my learning has come from those experiences. The class is a base of learning rules, grammar and vocabulary, but if not put into practice, the language fades away quite quickly and confidence in using the language is never gained.

I have been very pleased with how I have been able to navigate through the language, especially recently since I have reached such a level where I can speak conversationally and get by with basic topics. I always use my Finnish when I have the chance and I am learning to be okay with making mistakes and potentially embarrassing myself in front of native speakers, because we all know that we learn most from our mistakes!

I am grateful for my Finnish friends and colleagues that help and support me through the many challenges of the language and help me have fun at the same time! I believe my Finnish capabilities will be one of my greatest souvenirs of my time in Finland. When I am able to remember words or phrases once back home, speak long distance broken Finnish with friends or rarely meet Finnish people in Canada, I will be grateful for my efforts to learn the language and it will all be worth the efforts!

Nähdään pian ja kiitos taas lukemisesta!

– Samuel Rouleau