Do you struggle from one of the five most common Finnish struggles? You’re not alone! These are so common, but so seldom discussed, they’re mainstream! Here they are, along with a new perspective to consider…

I recently met an Italian woman who asked me what I do for a living.
“I help people learn Finnish.”
“Oh, so you’re a Finnish teacher?”
“Sort of, not exactly. I teach people the process of learning Finnish.”
She looked at me quizzically, “But why would I need the process? I can go to classes to learn Finnish.”
In an ideal world, you would go to Finnish class and – voila! You’d speak Finnish.
If that were the case, you wouldn’t be reading this…

What do you I want to learn before 2019 comes to a close?

If taking another Finnish course comes to mind, but you’re hesitating for whatever reason, read this first.

Many people equate taking a Finnish course with learning Finnish. But there are many ways to learn Finnish; a course is just the most traditional way. It may or may not be what you need right now.

Listen to YLE’s series ‘Kanadan kasvatit‘

My episode deals with multilingualism and multiculturalism and experiences in Montreal and Quebec that shaped my view of these. You can listen in on YLE Areena by clicking here.

Amy and I talk about learning Finnish, languages and learning in general – a common interest we share, seeing as we’re both married to Finns. We had so much fun that we ended up doing a 2 part episode (under 20 mins each!). So here’s what we covered in part 2’s episode:

I recently sat down with Amy Leo from the What We Should Have Learned in School podcast to talk about learning Finnish. (My heart swooned when I heard the title of her podcast for the first time!!) We had so much fun that we ended up doing a 2 part episode

About 6 months ago, Robson asked me to come on the W8 podcast, with him and Wille, to tell my story – in Finnish.

About 6 months ago, I wasn’t quite sure what my story was, let alone how to tell it in Finnish. So I waited a bit until I couldn’t wait anymore, and one day called Robson to say: “I’m ready. Let’s do it.”

Traditional methods of learning Finnish are failing us and we need a new paradigm of learning: one that’s fun & feels good, that’s centered around our needs as individuals. So what does seeing Finnish through new eyes look like? What does it ask us to leave behind, and how do we get there?

Talk to anyone about why they’re struggling to learn Finnish and you’ll hear a variety of reasons. As someone who has struggled myself and has also helped others overcome this struggle, I have a slightly different take on why we struggle, and how we can re-frame the issue to overcome it.

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with April and Amanda from the Her Step Forward podcast. We did a podcast episode on unconventional career choices (you can say that again), as well as how I ended up doing what I do! This is some stuff I’ve actually never shared publically before so I’m excited to put it out there. Here’s what we spoke about…