Suomi - Finnish

[didine]

But uhm ... I understood the Dutch ... understood the French ... but apart from Suomeksi, I didn't get any of the Finnish part, I'm afraid. And I think fraasit has something to do with speaking or saying.

He just asked if you understand short sentences in Finnish.

[Gizmo]

Moi kaikille!
Mitä kuuluu suomen puhujaille?
Onneksi olkoon kaikille!

P.S. Ignore my mistakes, and get the message behind it...

Moi,

I'm thinking this message may be meant for me, but I'm having trouble figuring out what it says ... so don't worry about making mistakes as I wouldn't recognize them

The main problem is knowing what the basic form of a word is, so I can look it up . Could it be that you're asking why I want to learn Finnish? (I know suomen is some form of Finnish or Finnland and the only other word I can find in that sentence is Mitä - what/most) I think onneksi may have something to do with good luck (I do know the words onnea and onni).

This is almost like solving a puzzle

[didine]

Actually Cãlin's message is meant for everyone here. It goes:

Hi everyone!
How are Finnish speakers doing?
Congratulations to everyone!

[Cãlin]

Moi kaikille!
Mitä kuuluu suomen puhujaille?
Onneksi olkoon kaikille!

Translation:

Hello everybody!
How are the Finnish speakers doing?
Congratulations to all (of you)!

EDIT: It seems that Didine and I were posting at the same time

[Gizmo]

But uhm ... I understood the Dutch ... understood the French ... but apart from Suomeksi, I didn't get any of the Finnish part, I'm afraid. And I think fraasit has something to do with speaking or saying.

He just asked if you understand short sentences in Finnish.

Well, I guess my reply answers that question :D

I studied interpreting (Du, En, Fr, Ger), so languages do fascinate me. I have always said I'd learn another language at some point, but one I have absolutely no prior knowledge of, so I always used to think in the lines of Chinese or Japanese ... until I came across Finnish .

I have read quite a bit about the language and its grammar, but I haven't actually tried to learn it. So far it has just been a bit of fun, trying to figure out how the grammar works ... like solving a riddle .

I would like to be able to understand it, because I regularly come across something in Finnish I would like to know about.

[didine]

I studied interpreting (Du, En, Fr, Ger), so languages do fascinate me.

Really, where? Do you work as an conference interpreter? If so, I'm a collegue of yours!

[Gizmo]

Moi kaikille!
Mitä kuuluu suomen puhujaille?
Onneksi olkoon kaikille!

Translation:

Hello everybody!
How are the Finnish speakers doing?
Congratulations to all (of you)!

EDIT: It seems that Didine and I were posting at the same time

Okay ... well, I got it wrong again ... as usual

Any tips for getting the basic form out of a word so I can look it up? If there is an easy way of doing that at all ...

[Cãlin]

I would like to be able to understand it, because I regulrarly come across something in Finnish I would like to know about.

In the previous pages of this topic you will find a series of links (posted by Didine and myself) to various online courses of Finnish. They might not be suitable for academic purposes, but they are a good place to start learning the basics of Finnish...

Good luck!

[didine]

Any tips for getting the basic form out of a word so I can look it up? If there is an easy way of doing that at all ...

Unfortunately, no... Vowels and consonants appear, disappear or change because of specific rules one has to know to find the basic form of a noun or verb.

[Cãlin]

If this is easier...

Terve, Didine!
Terve, kaikille!

Here are some of the on-line and downloadable materials that I have been using in my attempt to learn Finnish

Starting with the basics:
basic grammar
this is even more basic than the one above , but it has sound too
this one is GREAT!!! free Finnish course by the University of Heksinki
another basic one
also try this one

I'll paste some more links later...

Terve!

The second link (broken) is not that important. Just enter the first one and click on "A Chance to Speak Finnish" in the left-side column, just under "Other Links".

This is the fouth link (also broken): http://www.uta.fi/~km56049/finnish/ - It's a lot more complex that it seems, I has many examples and explanations in English.

This one: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/Finnish.html contains many links.

I might have already posted this link: http://www.ddg.com/LIS/InfoDesignF97/pa ... temap.html

Also try this one: http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suomen_kieli

I also have a downloadable one, which I can't find on the web right now. It gives much morphology, but absolutely nothing about the use of the inflected forms that it provides.

And saving the best for last!!!
This is an intermediate-advanced course. It is exclusively in Finnish, no explanation is given in any other language, but Finnish. And all texts are read and recorded by native speakers. You are gonna love it:
http://www.edu.fi/oppimateriaalit/ymmarrasuomea/
Also try the entries on grammar.

I hope they work.
Enjoy!

P.S. I have checked the links after posting the message. They work.

[Gizmo]

I studied interpreting (Du, En, Fr, Ger), so languages do fascinate me.

Really, where? Do you work as an conference interpreter? If so, I'm a collegue of yours!

I studied business interpreting in Belgium, but never did interpreting (or translating) for a living, so not a colleague I'm afraid . I think it is a very hard job ... Which languages do you speak?
I worked in project/change management for about 5 years and am now doing a Msc in educational science and technology full time.

[Gizmo]

Any tips for getting the basic form out of a word so I can look it up? If there is an easy way of doing that at all ...

Unfortunately, no... Vowels and consonants appear, disappear or change because of specific rules one has to know to find the basic form of a noun or verb.

I was afraid you might say that

[Gizmo]

If this is easier...

Terve, Didine!
Terve, kaikille!

Here are some of the on-line and downloadable materials that I have been using in my attempt to learn Finnish

Starting with the basics:
basic grammar
this is even more basic than the one above , but it has sound too
this one is GREAT!!! free Finnish course by the University of Heksinki
another basic one
also try this one

I'll paste some more links later...

Terve!

The second link (broken) is not that important. Just enter the first one and click on "A Chance to Speak Finnish" in the left-side column, just under "Other Links".

This is the fouth link (also broken): http://www.uta.fi/~km56049/finnish/ - It's a lot more complex that it seems, I has many examples and explanations in English.

This one: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/Finnish.html contains many links.

I might have already posted this link: http://www.ddg.com/LIS/InfoDesignF97/pa ... temap.html

Also try this one: http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suomen_kieli

I also have a downloadable one, which I can't find on the web right now. It gives much morphology, but absolutely nothing about the use of the inflected forms that it provides.

And saving the best for last!!!
This is an intermediate-advanced course. It is exclusively in Finnish, no explanation is given in any other language, but Finnish. And all texts are read and recorded by native speakers. You are gonna love it:
http://www.edu.fi/oppimateriaalit/ymmarrasuomea/
Also try the entries on grammar.

I hope they work.
Enjoy!

P.S. I have checked the links after posting the message. They work.

Thanks a lot for the links! I already had most of them bookmarked actually , but I just don't have time to really learn it as I'm in the middle of my final project, but I will definitely have a go at it later on.

But 'kiitos' anyway

[didine]

Which languages do you speak?

My official working languages are French, Polish, English, Polish and Finnish.

[Cãlin]

My official working languages are French, Polish, English, Polish and Finnish.

She meant: French, Polish, English, Russian and Finnish