1 comments about Finnish Phrase Book & Dictionary (Berlitz Phrase Books).

1. This is one of the best Finnish phrase books. It has colored margins to help find the section(s) you need. It's not very good for learning the language, but it does give a very breif grammer section. For anyone going to Finland, buy this book. You will be glad you did.

5 comments about Mastering Finnish.

1. the cd is very challenging, is structured in blocks of straight finnish, and is supposed to be used with a written text (need to purchase separately, not available together?). I was a little disappointed as I was hoping to have a cd to listen to in the car, and I half expected the cd to have an english phrase, a finnish phrase, followed by another english phrase, a finnish phrase etc etc.



2. This is a very good introductory work in attaining proficiency in Finnish. Since Finnish is practically a minority language, there are very few course materials available in it and this is a valuable work. The one weakness I would say this text seems to have is that it doesn't seem very directed towards students in terms of the situations of the dialogues and the vocabulary worked on. A few chapters with more high frequency phrases and vocabulary useful for students laid out clearly (and voiced on the CDs) would be very useful.



3. this cd does not actualy teach you how to speak finnish its just has convosations and you just listen to them. not much help



4. This is a great tool to help with pronunciation of the language. The conversations are all possible situations you may find yourself in (going to a party, purchasing train tickets, getting directions, visiting a doctor, shopping, etc.) and the pace of the spoken word is very true to life. This also makes a great addition to your favorite MP3 player and you can take the language anywhere. I find it helpful to just listen without the written words in front of me. Then follow along in the book (additional purchase), look up the translations in the back and listen again without the book. In no time you'll recognize words and even learn some of the funny songs that are included within the conversations. IHANA!



5. The price is sound, and the package is very good.
   You have to buy the cd together in order to get the best result.
   Perhaps you should use it together with teach yourself finnish ( the old edition is the best, with a soap opera in many episodes, even if it's a little hard to cope ).

No comments about Berlitz Finnish Dictionary: Finnish- English / Englanti-suomi (Berlitz Pocket Dictionaries).

5 comments about Mastering Finnish, Third Edition.

1. This is an extremely poor introductory work for attaining even a basic understanding of the Finnish language. The problem is that it assumes that the student is already fully proficient in the language. Instead of starting out slowly, the book launches into fast-paced conversations, with no repeats. The author should have broken the conversations down into small pieces, and provided slow pronunciations of each word.
   
   Professor Vahamaki's approach to language instruction reminds me of a piano instructor who is trying to teach a five-year-old child the rudiments of music. Instead of introducing the child slowly to the various notes, he simply sits the child down at the keyboard, points to the 88 keys, and tells the child to start playing Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" at full speed. This approach doesn't work for the piano, and it certainly doesn't work for a language as difficult to learn as Finnish.



2. This book has a lot of information in it about Finnish, but it is hard to use by yourself. It is very dense text and very few graphics. It is unlike any other foreign language book I have ever seen. It starts you off immediately with conversations in Finnish and you have to translate each one word by word in order to understand what they mean. I have also found that their guide to pronounciation guide is good for some sounds, but leaves something to be desired for others.



3. I have been to Finland twice now, and I plan on going back many times. I bought this book and CD in order to increase my ability to communicate with my friends in Finland. I think that this book provides the basic vocabulary and grammar necessary to understand the basics of the Finnish language. It is an excellent beginners resource.



4. This is the companion book to the CD. I would suggest purchasing both to fully get the most out of the materials. The best way is to listen to the CD while following along in the book, then just reading the narratives by themselves and then working the excercises at the end of each chapter. In no time, you'll be able to answer the questions and continue on to the next chapter. I find it helps if you review all the previous chapter excercises each time you want to move forward. It helps with the language proficiency and to recognize language patterns. A most excellent tool to master Finnish. Kiitoksia!



5. This book is barely useful. It does not have essential charts telling you how to inflect nouns, or clear explanations of what the cases mean. Its focus is on strong-grade and weak-grade consonants, and theoretical conversations. This book was recommended by a teacher but I have found even stodgy old Finnish:An Essential Grammar much more useful and accessible. It's as if neither author has any explanatory competence in the English language.

1 comments about Finnish Dictionary & Phrasebook: Finnish-English/English-Finnish (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebooks).

1. if you intend to use this dictionary to visit finland, you would be well off. however, if you intend to use this dictionary to learn the language (for instance, in a college class) this is far from being the best dictionary out there. i'd recommend the hippocrene concise dictionary.

5 comments about Finnish: An Essential Grammar (Essential Grammars).

1. Like other people said in their reviews, this isn't a book for beginners. I bought this book when I was a beginner and really couldn't use much of the material, but as I went on it became more pertinent. Of course the book will only take you so far. There are a lot of grammar topics not covered in the book, for example the possibilty construction (on tehtävissä), which is pretty common isn't found anywhere. Also, some of the topics could have been explained better, like the passive. Karlsson tried to explain it in an easier manner, but in reality I think his explanation wasn't as clear as some other books, like even TY Finnish. The last few chapters are helpful but it seems like they were put together at the last minute. The section on word derivations isn't explained very well, basically it's just a list of words with translations. The colloquial chapter could have been MUCH better, since the differences between the colloquial language and the formal, written one are verrry big. Ideally he could've included mentions of the different dialects and such.
   
   I'd recommend this to everyone who's been studying Finnish for at least a year and has a decent grasp on it. It is essential, it covers a lot of things that most books don't cover, but unfortunately it is not the perfect Finnish grammar book, and if anyone knows of such a book (whether in Finnish or English) please contact me!



2. This is a great little resource to help one along the way to understanding all the little suffixes that change like the wind in finnish. This book is for someone who has finished at very least a first level book and understood atleast 80% of it. I used "From start to finnish" by leila white and took a class. This is the best book out there on grammar and well written to boot. Also easy to carry around at 272 pages including the appendix.



3. This book is amazing. There is a definite lack of Finnish language books available in English, and this is by far the most comprehensive grammar around. My only complaint is it could go a lot farther with more examples and more exceptions to rules listed, but with a language like Finnish, they could write volumes and still not get everything. The outline of the rules of the language is pretty complete.



4. Well, the ground isn't exactly thick with Finnish textbooks, so I figured I'd give this one a go and see what happened. As it turns out, I was delighted - no, ecstatic - at the quality of this book.
   
   The first couple of Finnish books I'd used were of the "teach yourself" variety. These were good for learning useful phrases - almost like a Berlitz book, but with more cartoons and some practice exercises - but were absolutely horrible for learning the nuts and bolts of the language. I learn languages in much the same way as I do logical or mathematical structures, and am lost without thorough explanations of grammar and syntax from the get-go, so I needed something better than (or at least something to go along with) these books.
   
   This book is the one. It starts out with amazingly precise guides to pronunciation and word structure, and the first few chapters contain detailed explanations of phenomena that ABSOLUTELY NEED to be understood to make sense of word formation (i.e., consonant gradation and pre-"i" vowel changes). These first chapters immediately cleared up many of the word changes that had previously mystified me.
   
   The rest of the chapters are just as good as the beginning ones.
   
   What really stands out about this book, though, is the enormous wealth of examples - sometimes between ten and twenty for each grammatical point. (These examples are the main reason the book is 200-odd pages long instead of 100-odd pages.) There are so many examples that, after looking at the first few, I can cover up the Finnish text and translate the rest of them as "exercises."
   
   Even more astoundingly, this book wasn't originally written in English. The quality of the translation is so good that this book appears to have been written äidinkieleksi in English.
   
   If you get this book, some sort of "teach yourself" book (mostly for the conversational usage), and a bunch of flash cards for vocabulary (



5. I bought this book a few months ago when I decided that I wanted to learn Finnish and had difficulty getting beyond the pronunciations. So, I switched to Terttu Leney's "Teach Yourself Finnish" to get into the language a little and then after a few chapters in that book, have picked Karlsson's book back up. Although I have no prior experience in the language and am teaching myself, I have gone from complete confusion to being able to write in Finnish fairly fluently in about 1 month as a result of what I have learned from this book.
   
   As a complete beginner in the language, I would say that this book is a must have. While some of the cases, tenses, and word forms are confusing initially because they don't have any direct correlation to English, when you begin working with the language, the explanations by Karlsson make perfect sense.
   
   I started e-mailing an acquaintance who is a Finn, and he was more than a little surprised that I was able to write that well in Finnish. His comment was: "I didn't know that you could write that well." This was confirmation to me that Karlsson's book was well worth its cost.
   
   This book does not have any exercises in it, which was my initial frustration. So if you are a beginner like I was, you will need to purchase another resource that gives you exercises to practice with. However, once you begin learning, if you read the chapters in Karlsson's book that correspond with what you are learning, I think that you will find that his explanations are much more comprehensive. Hyva osaa.

5 comments about Say It in Finnish (Dover Say It Series).

1. At first, the only reason I bought this book was because it was very cheap. Was I in for a surprise when I began to read this Finnish to English Phrase book. Need to know when the next train to Helsinki is? Flip to the Travel section (everythings split up into sections) and you'll find out how with an easy to understand pronunciation guide. With over 2100 different entries in about thirty or forty different sections, and with the size of the book fitting in the palm of your hand, its a must-have item for any traveller who expects to be needing to know Finn.



2. I kept this book in the pocket of my cargo pants throughout my stay in Finland. This book is by no means intended to teach you Finnish, but if you're looking for the bare essentials, this is the best you'll find. All the phrases have a pronunciation guide, however, I found this more confusing than helpful. Pronunciation in Finnish is very difficult. You're better off studying the pronuciation section at the beginning of the book and then apply it to the phrases. The best part of this book though is that the price can't be beat!



3. If I get into a bind, all I have to do is pull out this little gem and no misunderstandings due to language. A great little book to take along when you visit Finland:-)



4. I bought this book and I thought it would e a bit better. there's pronunciation, but i really got frustrated



5. Joo, this Phrase book was great!
   
   EXCEPT
   
   that the first 30 pages where "say it in Swahili".
   Maybe it was just my copy that had the error. *shrugs*
   
   but the rest of the pages were very helpfull.

3 comments about Beginner's Finnish (Hippocrene Beginner's).

1. Dr. Risko has written an outstanding introductory Finnish book that helps make studying and learning a very difficult language both rewarding and fun. The book is composed of a variety of lessons that involve common everyday interactions one would have when visiting Finland. The author's style is easy to follow and it's quite obvious she enjoys teaching languages. I highly recommend this book to anyone who may need to learn Finn or just has a curiosity about the Finnish language. This is the book to read and study if you are planning a trip to Suomi.



2. I wouldn't say learning Finnish is hard, but it requires a lot of memorization. This book helps you not only learn Finnish, but gives you a wide range of commonly used phrases in Finnish. Don't expect however to just breeze through the book and know your basic Finnish, be prepared to spend a lot of time on each chapter, and go back every now and again.



3. I'm moving to Finland for school, and intend on living there for a while.. Beginner's Finnish has been an AWESOME tool for the crazy grammatical rules and conjugations that Finnish requires you to learn. Lots of dialogues you can read, with phrases and useful sayings as well. The vocabulary is not extremely extensive, but has plenty to learn for beginners. I would dare say almost all the grammatical rules are in this book.. but I could be wrong.. there's enough to keep you busy for a real long time. I would suggest buying a finnish-english dictionary along with this book to keep up the vocabulary.
   
   I got this book and "Finnish An Essential Grammar" by Fred Karlsson, and this is the better book in my opinion, but using both together has been very beneficial.. like I said, I've used Beginner's Finnish way more than Fred Karlsson's book.

1 comments about Langenscheidt Universal Finnish Dictionary: Finnish-english/ English-finnish (Langenscheidt Universal).

1. This pocket dictionary really will fit in your pocket! It has a flexible plastic cover which should wipe off easily if need be. It also has blue headwords. It appears to be as comprehensive as one would expect for this size. It includes both American and British usage (the American usage is indicated by Am). The introduction and guide to pronunciation are in both languages. There are also 21 pages at the back with information for travelers (in both English and Finnish): basic (travel) phrases, abbreviations, numerals, how to tell time, and metric conversions including a thermometer showing both Fahrenheit Centrigrade/Celcius. English irregular verbs are also included. (The pocket dictionaries for some other languages have a mini-grammar with irregular verbs for both languages; Langenscheidt apparently left most of that information out of the Finnish edition so the total page count would be the same as for the other dictionaries (a cost-saving move on their part).)

5 comments about Teach Yourself Finnish Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself Complete Language Courses).

1. Before moving to Finland for graduate school, I purchased Terttu Leney's TEACH YOURSELF FINNISH. Leney's is the most widely available Finnish textbook in the English-speaking world, and it did equip me with enough basic Finnish to comfortably settle into life in Finland. However, the book is not perfect, and in spite of its strengths it pales in many respects to other, more obscure textbooks.
   
   Leney's book generally follows the contemporary Teach Yourself format: dialogues are followed by vocabulary (first phrase-for-phrase glosses, then individual new words), then come exercises, and finally at the end of each lesson is a dialogue spoken more quickly in more authentic language that the student is challenged to at least get the gist of. Each lesson is dedicated to a specific subject, such as shopping, going to the doctor, or (towards the end) talking about history and politics. There are Finnish-English and English-Finnish vocabularies and, something which all other TY volumes should emulate, some advice on where to go next (books, websites, radio, etc.).
   
   While things like asking directions is a typical topic in beginner's textbook, I rather disagree with Leney's giving it so much attention. The lost tourist asking directions in limited Finnish is likely just going to be answered in English, Finnish people being so at ease with talking to foreigns in it. Rather, the challenge for people new to Finland is feeling at ease with a group of native speakers, such as classmates or coworkers, and so starting off with asking directions isn't so efficient, nor is the early emphasis on talking to bank tellers.
   
   The CDs are absolutely essential. With a sound system so different from English, Finnish is not a language that can be learnt well just off the page. Even if you have a couple of Finnish friends, chances are they couldn't enunciate like the folks on the CDs. Teach Yourself CDs vary widely in quality, but these are very good, with a large cast of voice actors so you just used to different voices, and a good mix of clear and "street" enunciation.
   
   What's wrong with Leney's course? Well, as a one-volume course its exercises are woefully insufficient. Agglutinating languages need much more drill than, say, Spanish or Italian, but the exercises here are few and train the student more to utter stock phrases than to internalize the huge amount of endings that conversational Finnish requires. It would have been better if Teach Yourself had commissioned a course from Leney in two volumes, a beginner's and an intermediate, which would have provided space for much more drill. Teach Yourself has done this for some languages, but regrettably not "smaller" ones.
   
   If you want to learn Finnish, by all means acquire TEACH YOURSELF FINNISH. However, at the same time you need to get a few other books. In my Finnish for foreigners courses at University of Helsinki, the assigned textbooks were Leena Silfverberg's SUOMEN KIELEN ALKEISOPPIKIRJA and SUOMEN KIELEN JATKO-OPPIKIRJA (both published by Finn Lectura). While it might be a bit of work ordering those, and much in them is designed for classroom use, they abound in just the type of rigorous exercises that Leney's course lacks. Leela White's From Start to Finnish (Finn Lectura, 2003) is also a useful textbook, and is available though this very site.
   
   This is not a bad course. However, like breakfast cereal that advertisements claim to be part of a balanced breakfast showing it in photos alongside bread and fruit, Terttu Leney's TEACH YOURSELF FINNISH is but one element towards profiency in Finnish.



2. That's a very comprehensive and extensive coverage of modern finnish usage of words which covers mostly of current situations a foreigner as a beginner on the language will find in everyday situations when learning the language



3. This is a great starter product for those who want to learn the basics but who also want to expand on their chosen language. The only flaw with the book are the CD's, they go pretty fast but that's no problem. The information in the book is very helpful as they pretty much break it down for you. All in All i would learn another language with this product.



4. On page 8, the dipthongs are listed in one order and then not in that order when they are used in sample words. Then, on page 13, the phrases are said super fast and only once. You have no time to process the phrases or even practice them yourself. For the alphabet on page 14, same thing. The speaker literally races through the alphabet. You have no time to say anything yourself. That was only the introduction! It appears they want you to have one hand on the book and one on the pause button. If you want to go over or refer back to material that you would like to hear or practice again, even just a few seconds back, it is not possible; you have to start the entire section over. For a point of reference about these critical comments, I am multilingual, have studied languages from diverse language families and have taught a foreign language. This item belongs in the category of the worst instructional material I've ever seen. Based on this, I would not try any other languages in the series. The only other "complete" thing about this package was that it was a complete waste of money. It is, at best, a supplemental review for non-beginning Finnish language learners.



5. This was the first book I bought when I decided to independently teach myself Finnish. It is a good introduction for someone who has no previous knowledge, I guess, because you have to start somewhere. HOWEVER, I found that you can't really just work your way through it without spending a LOT of time on each chapter. There is too much vocabulary at once and it seems like they expect you to just memorize everything the first time they say it.
   The CDs were very useful, but there is no way you could use them by themselves. They REALLY help with the pronunciation. The native speakers speak very slowly and clearly, and there is a good variety of voices.
   There are not nearly enough exercises in this book, and next to NO grammar! Although, I know that this is mostly due to the fact that Finnish is a very tough language and the grammar is crazy. Most people say that it is better to learn Finnish (at least at first) by just memorizing words and phrases.
   Anyways, my point is, This book is alright. The CDs are handy. I suggest it to learn the correct pronunciation. It's not the GREATEST, but there aren't too many Finnish books out there to begin with...and it's really good value for the price.