Finnish Phase 1, Unit 01-05

Learn to Speak and Understand Finnish with Pimsleur Language Programs

By: Pimsleur

Narrated by: Pimsleur

Length: 2 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Finnish belongs to the Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric family of languages. There are approximately 5.2 million Finnish speakers, mostly in Finland, and some in Sweden and Russia as well. There are 3 varieties of standard Finnish: "kirjakieli" or “book language” which is used in official documents, official speeches and the daily news; "yleiskieli" or “standard language” which is taught in schools - formal and correct, though more relaxed than the "book language"; and "puhekieli" or "spoken language" which is a frequently changing, more casual variety used in everyday conversation. This course teaches the standard Finnish language, "yleiskieli."

The Pimsleur® Method: the easiest, fastest way to learn a new language. Completely portable, easily downloadable, and lots of fun. You’ll be speaking and understanding in no time flat! Each lesson of Finnish Phase 1, Units 01-05 provides 30 minutes of spoken language practice, with an introductory conversation, and new vocabulary and structures. Detailed instructions enable you to understand and participate in the conversation. Each lesson contains practice for vocabulary introduced in previous lessons.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2012 Simon & Schuster (P)2012 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Pimsleur programs provide plenty of positive reinforcement that will keep learners on track, and we found that Pimsleur gave us more proficiency and confidence in speaking the new language than any of the other language programs we reviewed." ( AudioFile magazine)

Stuck in my brain for months!

What made the experience of listening to Finnish Phase 1, Unit 01-05 the most enjoyable?

The repetition by native speakers is the best part of this series. I enjoyed the pace that is set, in easy-to-follow 20-30 minute segments.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Finnish Phase 1, Unit 01-05?

The most memorable moment came when I actually knew what the native speakers were saying, when they were speaking at a normal pace between one another!

What does Pimsleur bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Since this is a lesson, rather than a book, it is completely up to you if you choose to go to the next lesson or not, or follow the directions the narrator gives you.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The only reaction I had to this lesson was that it had me in shock that by the end of a week I was confident that if I got lost in Finland I wouldn't need to cross my fingers and hope that a random person on the street spoke English.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this for anyone going abroad to Finland, for business, tourism or otherwise.

Very good method

The method works very well, in particular as you can re-run the last few 30 min chapters, cementing the words and phrases.

I’d like to have a glossary, but slowly creating it myself also helps the learning.

The way they slowly go through the pronounciation of new words, syllable by syllable from the end is excellent.

really helpful audiobook kiitos!

it has helped a lot! im using it to supplement the finnish language course im taking now. im an English speaker and hearing translations and literally translations helps a lot

Love the slowness!

Other methods teach too much, too fast. This is much easier to follow and retain. I listen to each day’s lesson about three days in a row (Yes, I’m that dense...) until I am comfortable with the vocabulary and the pronunciation, and can repeat with little hesitation. If I get overwhelmed, I just slow the speed of the lessons WAAAAAY down (sometimes all the way down to .5x) until I’m grasping the content and context. Thank goodness it’s just “listen and repeat.” My head would blow up if I had to write Finnish, too!

Pim slur

A reasonably good way of getting into speaking a language, albeit painstakingly and without applicable context. A few things to keep in mind, then: these lessons are heavily biased towards American listeners. If you are not American, you will find yourself repeating in your chosen language - ad nauseum - that you are one. This then feeds into describing living in Washington DC, asking how much is that in dollars etc. Secondly, the context of some of the phrases is very dubious. I have yet to find much use for the phrase "you can't make purchases today" in either Finnish or my native English; and yet I spent an inordinate amount of time repeating it. Thirdly, after completing all thirty units, I can't proclaim much value for money. Lessons are slow, vocabulary is kept sparse all the way through and little content is given. If I hadn't used my credits and had a very good reason to learn this language, there is no way I could recommend these short lessons on their full price. The somewhat aggrandised opening statement, "congratulations, on purchasing the most effective language course ever!" - or words to that effect - seems rather ironical to me as I struggle to impress anyone by declaring "my wife would like to drink water", but for all its faults, it has bought me a small foothold into the language. Three stars for the entire course seems fair enough to me.

Finally an online method that actually works

I'm an English person married to a Finn. Like many of us in simular situations it is a real struggle to find a form of teaching out of finland that actually works, prior to this course my vocab was barely 100 words with poor structure. this course has not only greatly boosted the number of words in my vocab but has helped me develop a confident structure with my sentencing. In short I've found this course to be really effective and would recommend it to anyone who like me needs to impress the in laws.

Nice conversation learning and roleplay

This is actually my favourite language teaching resource I've tried so far. 30 mins a day with lots of roleplay and conversation practice. You will want to combine it with something like memrise to learn vocabulary. Downsides are that it only teaches the formal/written language which is quite a bit different than what people actually speak (although they all do this sadly) and that the course looks like it won't cover more advanced levels. Quite short as well so good if you have audible credits to spare.

A great teaching method.

I've really enjoyed this first set of lessons. The study method isn't boring and they start you off with useful phrases in a conversational setting rather than simply memorising phrases, words and grammar theory. On to unit 2!

A great introduction to Finnish

This is a great system ! I have been trying, unsuccessfully , to learn Finnish for a while. As it is so different to other languages and has such long consonant heavy words it's felt a bit impenetrable. However this system has really helped me to get the 'ear' and I'm retaining much more . It really breaks down the language and gets you speaking in and understanding sentences straight away. I practice daily while doing housework or walking and I'm seeing constant improvement. I'll feel much more confident to speak next time I'm in Finland , last time I felt a bit rude not being able to say more than hello or thank you when everyone I met spoke such flawless English. Now I can join in and get to know Finland and it's lovely people on a deeper level.

Great i can have a whole conversation

This book really helps with your language learning. It is great! Emily age 11 😀

Very good

I have gone from not speaking a word of Finnish to feeling quite confident that I can manage some polite conversations on holiday. I’m about to download the next part of the course.