University of Helsinki
Learning some Finnish makes sense once you have settled down in Helsinki and at the University. Although it is easy to get by in English at least in the Metropolitan Area to really integrate into Finnish society it makes a lot of sense to learn Finnish. Knowledge of Finnish is also extremely helpful if you seek a job here.
The University has Finnish courses for both degree and exchange students. The Finnish courses are organized by the Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies. More information is available on the Department website. If the courses offered by the Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies don’t fit into your schedule, you can find information on other options on the Learning Finnish website.
The Language Centre at the University of Helsinki organizes Swedish language courses – did you know that Finland has two official languages; Finnish and Swedish? More information on the Swedish courses is available at the Language Centre website.
In addition to language courses in 15 languages, the Language Centre offers several activities which combine language learning and meeting Finnish and international students. Language Clubs and Language Buddy are informal activities and partly planned by the participants. The Course Assistant Programme is for international students who are interested in language teaching and learning. The idea is to invite them to assist in Language Centre teaching in their native languages.
The Language Centre also offers tandem language courses. The basic idea of ALICE (Academic Language and Intercultural Exchange) courses is to provide two language learners who speak different native languages (Finnish/Swedish – Finnish/Spanish/Italian/French/Swedish/German/Russian) the opportunity to learn about each other’s language and culture. Read more about the ALICE courses on the Language Centre website.
Once you arrive in Helsinki you can meet staff from the Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies and the Language Centre at the Welcome Fair and learn more about the courses and registration.
Picture: Veikko Somerpuro