“But Finnish is a really hard language, isn’t it?”

Hi, my name is Irina, I live in Finland and although I wasn’t born here, I speak Finnish. I’m used to hearing:

“But Finnish is a really hard language, isn’t it?!”

I’ve heard this from Finns and Finnish teachers, people who speak no Finnish at all and those struggling to do so. I’ve also witnessed so many people struggle to learn from:

• The most diligent, hard-working learners
• The seasoned multilinguals
• Those who’ve been at it for years (on and off)
• Those with Finnish partners and kids
• Those with Finnish parents and ancestry
• To the most perceptive, intelligent and capable people.

As someone who speaks Finnish, I don’t think it’s about Finnish being hard or not. We’re asking the wrong question. Rather, let’s consider why so many motivated, capable people are struggling…

What’s really going on here?

I’ve spent years pondering this question and talking to people about it. Here are the struggles they most often share:

• “Life keeps getting in the way of my best intentions to learn Finnish. Either work gets busy, my kids get sick or I do, and then I miss a class, fall behind and fall off the wagon again.”
• “My progress is slow. Learning is boring, uninspiring. It’s just not something I do for fun.”
• “I don’t know if I’m ____ [smart, disciplined, motivated, outgoing, young etc.] enough to do this. And I’m starting to wonder if things will ever really be different…”

Is it any wonder that upon hearing this, many are hesitant to even try?

These struggles aren’t the cause – they’re the symptoms of our approach to learning! This is good news, because recognizing the symptoms point us towards the underlying root cause.

I’m gathering a community of people learning Finnish in Finland*

This is for those of us working towards the common goal of feeling at home and a sense of well-being in our lives abroad.

My goal here is to create a positive environment in an industry that’s been rife with negativity and complaining. Let’s acknowledge what hasn’t worked but also seek solutions and joy! Learning a language is an empowering and awe-inspiring process – and I’m here to help you experience this.

*learners of other languages/inhabitants of other countries are also welcome! I talk about Finnish and Finland because it’s where I live, but the concepts are universal.

Demystifying the Finnish Struggle – a free course

To help along the way, I’ve put together an intro course, to gather us all on the same page, called:

Demystifying the Finnish Struggle

As Wayne Dyer said: When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

So let’s start demystifying the struggle and seeing it through new eyes.

Write your name and email below to join this community and get started with the free introduction course right away!