My name is Irina Pravet and I’m a language and cultural transitions coach. I help people tap into their inborn ability to learn Finnish, and feel at home in their lives abroad.

My work brings together the threads that have run deep throughout my life: transitions, adaptation and belonging (between languages and cultures).

Why does this matter so much to me and why do I believe this work is essential? Well to answer this question, I’d have to start at the beginning…

This year, two themes have stood out for me as we head into the fall: 1) fall is the best season for a new perspective and 2) it’s a time to intentionally slow down. Symbolically, fall has long been celebrated as a time to reflect on: balance (between night and day), impending darkness, change and transformation (and how foliage reminds us of the beauty, alongside the death, of transitions)…

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…

The simple truth is: you were born to learn and adapt to language at any level! In this video I explain why, how and the very good news this leads to. Maybe you’ll even get inspired 😉