Study Guide

Objective

You are able to express yourself in Finnish in the most common everyday situations both orally and in writing.
You have a command of simple phrases, basic clauses and vocabulary (CEFR level A1.1-A1.2) needed in situations such as introducing yourself and in service encounters.
You are familiar with the most essential grammatical features, like vowel harmony, present tense of the verb types and partitive singular case, and can manage with the pronunciation and spelling.
You are also able to expand your vocabulary and knowledge of language usage independently using different sources.
You become more familiar with the Finnish culture.

Content

What kind of language is Finnish compared with other languages you know? What are the special features of Finnish?
Which phrases and what kind of knowledge of Finnish language and culture are needed in everyday communication?
Which sources and tools can you use in order to learn elementary Finnish during the course and independently?
How to pronounce and spell in Finnish?

Materials

Gerstler, Aho & Willberg: No niin 1! and
study material on Learn

Teaching methods

Scheduled track:
Lessons twice a week

Online course Finnish for beginners available on Ecampus.

Employer connections

Basic phrases and vocabulary, every day life Finnish in the elementary level.

Exam schedules

Assignment and examinations during the course time. Re-examination possibility is in January.

Student workload

5 x 27 hours

Content scheduling

Includes:
oral assignments
written assignments
word tests
2 examinations

Further information

anna-liisa.luova@xamk.fi

Evaluation scale

1-5

Assessment methods and criteria

Active participation, word tests, oral assignments, written assignments, 2 exams (middle and final)

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

A student who has reached the grade 1 or 2 can:
a) use some of the basic level (A1.1-A1.2) phrases, vocabulary and structures in every day life situations.
b) search information from textbooks and other basic information sources.
c) realise some variation in the use of language in different situations and organize somehow her or his own learning.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

A student who has reached the grade 3 can:
a) use the basic level (A1.1-A1.2) phrases, vocabulary and structures in every day life situations.
b) search information from textbooks and other basic information sources.
c) realise the variation in the use of language in different situations and organize her or his own learning.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

A student who has reached the grade 5 can:
a) use excellent the basic level (A1.1-A1.2) phrases, vocabulary and structures in every day life situations.
b) search information from textbooks and other basic information sources.
c) realise the variation in the use of language in different situations and organize flexible her or his own learning.

Qualifications

Prior skills in the Finnish language are not a requirement, but attending the course requires English skills enabling academic studies.