{"id":2709,"date":"2014-08-25T11:00:44","date_gmt":"2014-08-25T10:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/?p=2709"},"modified":"2014-08-25T11:00:44","modified_gmt":"2014-08-25T10:00:44","slug":"an-introduction-to-finnish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/an-introduction-to-finnish\/","title":{"rendered":"An introduction to Finnish"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here at EuroTalk, we love languages (obviously). And we particularly enjoy discovering fun facts about languages; they’re all so different and each has its own unique character. So we’ve decided to share some of them with you, in\u00a0our new Language of the Week<\/strong>\u00a0series.\u00a0Each week, we’ll choose a new language, and we’re always open to suggestions!<\/p>\n

Please do get involved – we love to hear from you, so send us your own favourite facts and have a go at our weekly challenge for a chance to win some fun EuroTalk prizes \ud83d\ude42 You can join the conversation here on the blog,\u00a0or on Facebook<\/a> or Twitter<\/a>, where we’ll be sharing more of our discoveries over the coming few days.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>So this week, we’re starting with Finnish<\/strong>, in celebration of the annual Air Guitar World Championships<\/a>, which start in Oulu on Wednesday, and may be\u00a0our new favourite event of all time.<\/p>\n

Here are a few of the best things we’ve discovered\u00a0about Finnish<\/a> this week:<\/p>\n

– Finnish is thought to be one of the hardest languages for a native English speaker to learn, because of its complicated grammar, which is nothing like English or any of the other languages we’re used to learning. Finnish words can also look pretty daunting to a new learner, as they’re very long and seem to contain a lot of vowels!<\/p>\n

– There is no word for ‘please’ in Finnish – not because Finns are rude, but because they just assume politeness. There is a word which means ‘thank you’, kiitos<\/em><\/strong>, which is sometimes used in place of ‘please’,\u00a0and the other way to indicate politeness is to use the conditional – ‘Would you…’<\/p>\n

– Also interesting is that a grandson can be either pojanpoika<\/em><\/strong> if it’s the son of a son, or tytt\u00e4renpoika<\/em><\/strong> if it’s the son of a daughter. The same with granddaughter – pojantyt\u00e4r<\/em><\/strong> is the daughter of a son and tytt\u00e4rentyt\u00e4r<\/strong><\/em> is the daughter of a daughter. But don’t panic; you can use just lapsenlapsi<\/strong><\/em>, which means ‘child of a child’, for a generic term.<\/p>\n

– The word sauna<\/em><\/strong> is the most widely used Finnish word in English. There are 3.3 million saunas in Finland, which means there is 1 for every 1.63 people. Visiting the sauna is as normal for Finns as going to the pub is to Brits. It’s also a tradition to jump into the lake outside after a hot sauna. This sounds a little crazy and very cold!<\/p>\n

– The Finnish language holds the world’s longest palindrome, and just in case you don\u2019t know what that means, it is a word that can be read the same both ways. And here it is:\u00a0saippuakivikauppias<\/em><\/strong>, which is a dealer in lye\u00a0(caustic soda). Probably not something you’d say every day, but always useful to know.<\/p>\n

– The longest Finnish word is 61 letters long (which is outrageous compared to English\u2019s mere 45-letter longest word) and it is:<\/p>\n

entokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Which means: ‘airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student’.<\/p>\n

– A Finnish tongue twister is:<\/p>\n

Appilan pappilan apupapin papupata pankolla kiehuu ja kuohuu. Pappilan paksuposki piski pisti paksun papukeiton poskeensa.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no absolute translation but it’s about a vicarage\u2019s assistant priest and his hot pot of beans, which are boiling on the stove and the vicarage\u2019s fat mongrel who ate up the thick bean soup.<\/p>\n

Language Challenge of the Week<\/h3>\n

So now it’s your turn. Have a go at\u00a0pronouncing one of the words above, or, for ultimate respect, the tongue twister… Send us your videos on Twitter to @EuroTalk<\/a> with hashtag #loveFinnish<\/strong> or post a link to your video\u00a0in the comments below. If we’re really impressed,\u00a0we’ll send you a code for\u00a0uTalk Finnish<\/a> \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Oh, and in case you wondered what’s so great about\u00a0the Air Guitar World Championships…<\/p>\n