My Finnish Language Journey — Part 5E
Learning Finnish didn’t suddenly become easier for me because I discovered one perfect study method.
There wasn’t one book, one class, one app, or one trick that magically made everything click.
For me, improvement came from many small things happening over time.
Studying.
Listening.
Speaking.
Making mistakes.
Asking questions.
Repeating words again and again.
And most importantly, actually using Finnish in everyday life.
I’ve already shared many of the things I struggled with while learning Finnish – from grammar and pronunciation to spoken Finnish and trying to respond quickly during conversations.
But this time, I want to talk about the other side of the story:
What actually helped me improve?
These are not rules for everyone.
They are simply the things that helped me.
Some may work for you too. Others may not.
We all learn differently.
But looking back at my journey from studying Finnish online in Dubai to using it every day here in Finland, these are the things that made the biggest difference for me.
1. Speaking Even When My Grammar Wasn’t Perfect
This was probably one of the most important things I learned.
Speak anyway.
Even when I knew my grammar wasn’t perfect.
Even when I wasn’t sure which case ending to use.
Even when I stuttered.
Even when I started a sentence and suddenly forgot the next word.
Sometimes I would stop in the middle of a sentence and wait for my brain to find the word I wanted.
There were awkward pauses.
There still are. 😂
But if I waited until my Finnish became grammatically perfect before speaking, I probably wouldn’t speak very much at all.
So I learned to say what I could.
Sometimes the sentence came out correctly.
Sometimes it didn’t.
But every conversation gave me practice.
And slowly, speaking became less frightening.
2. Repeating and Memorizing Vocabulary
I know memorization doesn’t work the same way for everyone.
But for me?
It helps a lot.
When I first started learning Finnish, I spent a lot of time repeating words and trying to memorize them.
I wrote them down.
I read them again.
I repeated them in my head.
Sometimes I said them out loud.
And when I finally managed to use a word naturally in a conversation?
That felt like a little achievement. 😂
Memorizing a word is one thing.
Actually using that word in real life is another.
For me, both were important.
The more often I encountered the same vocabulary, the easier it became for my brain to retrieve it when I needed it.
3. Listening to My Coworkers
Listening became another huge part of my learning.
And believe me, listening wasn’t always easy.
Sometimes my coworkers spoke so quickly that I felt like the entire sentence disappeared before my brain even had time to process the first word. 😂
So I learned to really pay attention.
Sometimes I would look at the person’s face and mouth while they were speaking.
I listened to the rhythm.
I watched their expression.
I tried to catch the words I recognized.
Meanwhile, my brain was trying to put everything together:
What did they say?
What is happening?
What are they trying to tell me?
At first, I might understand only a few words.
Then maybe half the sentence.
Eventually, certain expressions became familiar because I heard them so often.
Listening to real Finnish speakers every day taught me things that were difficult to learn from a textbook alone.
4. Continuing Finnish Language Classes
Formal lessons also played an important role in my journey.
My Finnish learning began while we were still living in Dubai through our online language training with NLRC through Silkkitie.
How I Started Learning Finnish While Working Full-Time in Dubai
That was where I first learned the basics.
Vocabulary.
Grammar.
Simple sentences.
Listening exercises.
Speaking practice.
Assessments.
Then when we arrived in Finland and started working, our Finnish language learning continued.
Later, during our Top-Up Nursing Pathway at KAMK, we also had Finnish language studies as part of the pathway.
And honestly, that whole nursing pathway deserves its own blog series soon! 😂
Classes gave me structure.
Everyday life gave me practice.
For me, I needed both.
5. Using Finnish at Work Every Day
Working in Finnish probably became one of my biggest language classrooms.
Except this classroom didn’t have desks and reviewers.
It had coworkers, supervisors, patients, medical reports, telephone conversations, and real situations happening around me.
Every day gave me opportunities to:
- speak with colleagues;
- listen to instructions;
- communicate with supervisors;
- talk with patients;
- read medical documentation;
- write reports; and
- learn vocabulary connected to healthcare.
Some words that once looked incredibly complicated on paper eventually became normal simply because I encountered them repeatedly at work.
The language wasn’t just something I was studying anymore.
I actually needed to use it.
And that changed everything.
6. Asking When I Didn’t Understand
I used to feel embarrassed whenever I didn’t understand something.
But eventually I realized:
How am I supposed to learn if I don’t ask?
So when I don’t understand, I ask.
Sometimes I say:
Anteeksi, voitko sanoa uudestaan?
Sorry, can you say that again?
Or:
Mitä se tarkoittaa?
What does that mean?
Sometimes the person repeats the same thing more slowly.
Sometimes they use another Finnish word.
Sometimes they explain the meaning in Finnish until I finally understand.
And I’m very thankful for the people I’ve met who have been patient enough to do that.
Those little explanations often stay in my memory much longer than something I simply looked up online.
7. Hearing Puhekieli Every Day
This one was difficult at first.
Very difficult. 😂
The Finnish I studied and the Finnish I heard in everyday conversations didn’t always sound the same.
I might learn:
Minä olen.
Then hear:
Mä oon.
I might learn:
Minulla on.
Then hear:
Mulla on.
At first, spoken Finnish sounded incredibly fast.
But hearing it every day gradually trained my ears.
The more I listened, the more certain expressions started sounding familiar.
My brain slowly stopped treating every spoken Finnish sentence like a puzzle.
Not all of them, of course. 😂
But definitely more than before.
8. Paying Attention to Signs and Non-Verbal Communication
Language isn’t only about words.
Sometimes I don’t understand everything someone says, but their expression, gesture, movement, or the situation itself gives me clues.
That’s another thing that helped me communicate.
I also started paying attention to the Finnish around me:
Signs.
Labels.
Notices.
Menus.
Instructions.
Advertisements.
Posters.
Forms.
Anything with Finnish words on it became another opportunity to learn something.
Even without intentionally sitting down to study, I was constantly seeing Finnish around me.
Sometimes I recognized a word I had studied before and thought:
Ah! I know that one!
Little victories. 😂
9. Daycare Conversations
Our daughter’s daycare became another unexpected Finnish lesson for me.
When I pick her up, the daycare staff often tell me about her day.
What she did.
What she ate.
How she slept.
What she played.
How she interacted with the other children.
These conversations gave me vocabulary that I probably wouldn’t have deliberately studied otherwise.
And because the topics were connected to my daughter and everyday family life, the words became easier to remember.
Sometimes language learning comes from the most ordinary conversations.
10. Living in a Finnish-Speaking Town
Living in Kuhmo has definitely helped me use Finnish more.
Kuhmo is a beautiful town, and although many people can speak English, Finnish is naturally the language I hear most often in everyday life.
At work.
At the grocery store.
At daycare.
Around town.
With neighbors.
And then there is the local speech and Kainuu-area dialect and expressions, which can occasionally give my brain an extra challenge. 😂
But I also see that as another opportunity to learn.
Living here means Finnish isn’t something I can simply close after finishing a lesson.
It’s around me.
And adapting to life in Kuhmo has also meant gradually adapting to using the language.
11. Accepting My Mistakes
This one wasn’t really a language lesson.
It was more of a lesson for myself.
Accept the mistakes.
Don’t blame yourself because you’re not learning quickly enough.
Don’t compare your progress too much with someone else’s.
Don’t expect yourself to suddenly speak perfectly just because you’ve been studying for a certain amount of time.
Sometimes I need to remind myself:
Relax.
You’re learning.
Finnish isn’t going anywhere. 😂
There will always be another conversation.
Another word.
Another opportunity to practice.
Of course, improving the language is important, especially when living and working here.
But constantly criticizing myself doesn’t make me learn faster.
Practice does.
12. Staying Consistent
Maybe this is the simplest one.
Keep going.
I don’t need to learn everything today.
I don’t need to memorize the entire Finnish dictionary.
I don’t need to understand every conversation immediately.
But I do need to keep using the language.
Read.
Listen.
Memorize.
Speak.
Ask.
Repeat.
Sometimes improvement is difficult to notice because it happens little by little.
Then one day, you realize:
A sentence you once couldn’t understand suddenly makes sense.
A word you struggled to pronounce comes out naturally.
You answer someone without first translating everything into English inside your head.
Those little moments remind me that practice is doing something, even when progress feels slow.
Follow My Finnish Language Journey
This article is part of my Finnish Language Journey series, where I share my personal experience learning Finnish before and after moving to Finland.
Main Article – Learning Finnish: The Beginning of My Language Journey
Part 5A – How I Started Learning Finnish While Working Full-Time in Dubai
Part 5B – 12 Reasons Why Learning Finnish Was So Difficult for Me
Part 5C – 8 Finnish Grammar Challenges That Still Confuse Me
Part 5D – Finnish Words I Still Struggle to Pronounce
Part 5E – 12 Things That Helped Me Improve My Finnish
Final Thoughts
When I think about what actually helped me improve my Finnish, I can’t point to one single thing.
It was the combination of everything.
The lessons in Dubai.
The reviewers.
The memorization.
The conversations.
Work.
Daycare.
Coworkers.
Patients.
Signs at the grocery store.
Hearing puhekieli every day.
Asking people to repeat themselves.
And making plenty of mistakes along the way.
I still don’t speak Finnish perfectly.
There are still words I don’t understand.
There are still sentences that make my brain freeze.
There are still moments when I know exactly what I want to say in English but can’t find the Finnish words quickly enough.
But compared with where I started?
I’ve come a long way.
And that reminds me that progress doesn’t always need to happen quickly.
Sometimes it happens quietly.
One repeated word.
One misunderstood sentence.
One correction.
One successful conversation.
One day at a time.
Maybe the goal isn’t to become perfect overnight.
Maybe the goal is simply to keep becoming a little more comfortable with the language than I was yesterday.
And that is what I plan to keep doing.
Speak. Practice. Repeat.
Puhu. Harjoittele. Toista.
“Fluency didn’t come from waiting until I was ready. It grew every time I was brave enough to try.”
- Pinoy Up North
“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning…”
- Proverbs 1:5, KJV
Sometimes we think progress should be obvious.
We expect a moment when everything suddenly becomes easy.
But learning a language hasn’t worked that way for me.
Most of my progress happened in ordinary moments – listening to someone at work, asking what a word meant, talking with daycare staff, reading a sign, or simply trying to finish a sentence even when I wasn’t sure it was correct.
Those moments may seem small.
But when they happen again and again, they add up.
So if you’re learning Finnish too, don’t underestimate the small practice you do every day.
You may not notice the improvement immediately.
But your brain is listening.
Your ears are adjusting.
Your vocabulary is growing.
And little by little, the language that once felt completely unfamiliar starts becoming part of your everyday life.
💚🇫🇮
Sources
This article is primarily based on my personal experience learning and using Finnish, so no outside sources were needed for the main content.
For more of my Finnish-learning experiences and study materials:
