It's started..

[sam]

So I finally feel like my life in Finland has begun.

Since moving here on December 5th I've sort of felt like I'm just visiting again, but not anymore.

Me and Elina went over to Tanja and Andy's place on New Years eve and stayed over. Got to know them a bit more and Tanja's daughter/(slightly crazy) dogs
It was good fun and we fired some fireworks around midnight. We had one or two, ok three, scary moments involving running away from lit fireworks and covering our faces as a firework came down on us, but it was nice

I've got a Finnish bank account, I'm a permanent resident of Finland, Finnish telephone number, Canal+ TV so I can watch English football , Finnish tax card (yay haha), a place on a language course, registered with all the places I need to.. Me and Elina have our first apartment together..
Eeh, so glad it's all done now..

Today I started the 3 month language course..
Andy is on the same course as me and we went together today. Not only are we on the same course, we're in the same class! That's pretty good.. x)

I finally feel like.. my life is starting. I'm going to learn the language, and then learn the language some more probably (becuase it's so hard ) and after that look for jobs and study/work here in Finland, speaking Finnish

The language does seem pretty ridiculous and Andy said something to me today that I've been thinking too..
I really don't (didnt) think I'd ever be able to speak this language But with the help of Elina and some hard work I'm sure I'll do it now

One other thing about the course before I start to bore you..

They're teaching us Finnish.. in Finnish. Is that weird/crazy to anyone else or just me (and Andy)? x)
We couldnt quite understand or get our heads around that one.. Ah well, we'll see


So yeah, I guess this is just a little update really, but with all the complicated and hard things that we (both couples) have gone through, everything fell into place quite nicely in the end For me and Elina at least, I can't speak for Andy and Tanja on that one, but other than Andy's UK TV (for football too ) not quite working yet, I'd guess they'd say the same (:

Happy New Year everyone from me and Elina
We'll try to post a bit more here from now, seeing as we're all sorted

[Silviar]

Aww, I'm glad to hear an update about how it's going! I once had a teacher who thought teaching us Spanish in Spanish was a good idea - it didn't work. XD Poor students... but anywho! I hope it does work for you guys. Please let us know how the classes go - I'm very excited for all of you and I'm hoping to keep hearing about your lives now that you've closed the distance

[mllebamako]

I am so happy to see this update! It's really great to hear that your lives are falling into place together.
It's supposed to be best to learn another language in that language. That way, you don't rely on your first language as a crutch. And you don't do direct translations all the time, which slow down the language learning process.
You'll get there! That's great that you and Andy are in the same class.

Yay for Finland

[lucybelle]

What great news for all of you! Here's a little bit of language advice: I was taught Spanish in Spanish, and you get used to it eventually. One thing I could recommend is read a book in Finnish. Get yourself a translation dictionary, and once you have a slight grasp on the language get a book and read it. Don't go out and expect to read "War and Peace", but get a little kid book. Don't look up EVERY word either. Try to use context clues to help you out. When I learned Spanish the first book I read was Alice in Wonderland (Alicia en el Pais de la Maravillas). It took me almost 3 months (86 pages...). But I think the reason I learned Spanish so much quicker than my roommate was because I was reading, and she wasn't.

Also, try to have conversations with your SO in Finnish. I have no doubt she's ecstatic that you're learning her language!

Good luck with everything and congratulations again!

[Swederica]

That's pure awesomeness.
I'm honestly a bit jealous that everything worked out so perfectly for both you and Andy, at the same time and same place and everything. That is amazing.
Even though I'm a quarter finnish myself I found most of it too be gibberish, overuse in wovels and what not. Hykääläpeliikaseemiinö is probably a finnish word meaning something that I randomly typed in haha.
Good luck with learning finnish. Remember that if you fail, then just take your SO and move to the west coast or Ĺland and learn to speak Swedish That works absolutely fine there too hehe

[folclor]

haha, glad things are working out for y'all so far ^^

Actually, that's the total immersion technique. It's so that you're forced to learn it, you can't lean on your native tongue to ask your teachers things if they won't speak it to you. It's good, especially for learning a language quickly in the country it's spoken, but it doesn't work so well if you're not hearing it outside of the course or if you just don't want to learn the language. I had a French teacher who taught that way in high school (we were not allowed to speak anything but French in her class, barring a few exceptions) and it worked wonders for the short time I attempted it. ^^;

Good luck on your language learning~! ;D

[Caity]

I'm glad everything is going so well
Once you start hearing Finnish more and more around you you should start picking it up easier. The best way to learn a language is to surround yourself with it. That's really lucky that you're on the same course and class as Andy. It's nice to have a good friend with you when in a new place.
I hope everything keeps going perfectly for yous =)

[Karringtyn]

So glad to hear from you, and that things are working out wonderful!

How far away do you guys live from Andy and Tanja?

[Dziubka]

I'm so happy for all of you. It seems like you guys have awesome lives up in the north

For the language in depends on the student, but I know for me for 100% immersion is the absolute best and fastest way to learn a language. learnt Polish in less than year that way, and that's supposedly the most difficult European language ... after Finnish. Haha, good Luck with the 12 (or was it 16?) cases.
For me it was quite helpful to read magazines. The texts are shorter and easier than (children) books or newspapers, they have a lot of photos (you see what you read) and they're way cheaper. I read the Polish Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Joy, house-wife magazines, etc but uuh.. I guess there's a Finnish Men's Health? Try it! I suppose tabloids would do the job too. Don't be too proud to get the Finnish equivalent of "The Sun"...

[MadMolly]

Yeah that's the best way to learn a language apparently. It kinda blows my mind as to how it could work but still! Apparently it does!

Glad to hear you guys are having a great time.

[sam]

So glad to hear from you, and that things are working out wonderful!

How far away do you guys live from Andy and Tanja?

I think it's about a 35-40 minute drive Not far..

Thanks for the kind words everyone I never really thought about the language thing like that.. Maybe it will work

[Čternity]

Great to hear from you! So glad everything is falling into place.

[sam]

Great to hear from you! So glad everything is falling into place.

Thanks

Having now been to the classes more, I still think it's pretty weird. There seems to be uite a few of the class confused a lot and I understand why/how. We're only doing really basic stuff which I know from Elina and learning myself, but for those who don't even know that yet, no wonder it's confusing. The teacher literally never says anything in English, and she like.. talks to the class in Finnish too. I know there's been quite a few times when me and Andy didnt have a clue what was going on or what she was on about, so I'm guessing everyone else is the same.

It's weird :s

[Riyko]

That's wonderful to hear everything is going great. Also to me it's a bit weird to learn a language in the language :/ all of the languages i've taken in school they taught us in english (so spanish they taught us in english and told us what the spanish words meant ect).

[Stephanieeee]

You guys are a success and a wonderful example Finnish does look pretty difficult, but you'll catch on Good luck