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What is the origin of the verb “jankata”?
The verb jankata means “to say the same thing over and over in an insistant manner”: Aina hän jankkaa sitä…
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Forms that you should learn when you’re learning Finnish words
A student asks: Which forms should I learn when I’m learning Finnish words? In my last post, we…
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What kind of Finnish should I use when I’m taking the YKI test? Puhekieli or kirjakieli?
Cindy asks: Hei!Does the yki test require one to write/speak in kirjakieli? or can one use puhekieli?Thx, Cindy…
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Introducing: YKI preparatory courses online!
Update, 14.3.2025: This post is from 2020, when I was first building my online YKI courses. Here are…
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Tips for studying Finnish in July
Question: All my usual Finnish courses are on a break in July, but I’d like to keep up…
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Chatting with Gimara
The wonderful language learning community Gimara interviewed me yesterday! I talked to Gimara’s Marja Ahola about teaching and learning Finnish,…
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Do you have a specialized YKI curriculum for beginners?
A reader writes: I’m a complete beginner, and my only motivation to study Finnish is to pass the…
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What does the Finnish word “tarha” mean?
A student of mine asks: I keep seeing the word “tarha” at the end of longer words: puutarha,…
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How to pronounce y in Finnish
Update, 11.3.2025: I used to teach y through u, but thanks to phonetician Päivi Virkkunen I realised a…
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What is the deal with akkusatiivi and genetiivi?
Today, I’ll be answering two questions on the same topic. Here both questions first: Enitan writes: Hei Mari,…
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How do I start thinking in Finnish?
Question: My Finnish teacher and my friends keep telling me that I should stop translating everything from English…
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What is “puhekieli”?
My KPT-post has proved trickier to write than I expected (but it’s coming!) so in the meantime, a…
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How can I learn Finnish rektio or rections?
Vural asks: How can i learn verbi rektio helposti (easily). What is logic for them? My answer: Hi…
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About those KPT-changes
I’ve been wanting to write a proper blog post about kpt-changes for ages, and I have a question…
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Textbooks to Prepare You for the YKI Test
Update, 14.3.2025: This post is from 2018, and these recommendations are fully outdated. I hope to make a…