Finns learning English

This video was sent to us by our Finnish teacher. She has a sense of humor. Words below.



LYRICS ('on' means 'is')

Yksi on "one", kaksi on "two",
Vanha on "old" ja uusi on "new."
Mitä on "what?", kuka on "who?",
Minä on "me" ja sinä on "you."

Kolme on "three", neljä on "four",
Katto on "ceiling", lattia "floor."
Vähemmän on "less", enemmän on "more",
Shakki on "chess" ja ovi on "door."

Kävellä on "walk", jutella on "talk",
Lusikka on "spoon" ja haarukka on "fork."
Korkki on "cork", possu on "pork",
Valmis on "ready" ja raaka on "raw."

Naama on "face", paikka on "place",
Rumpu on "drum" ja basso on "bass."
Ässä on "ace", avaruus "space",
"To start" on aloitus ja "stop" on seis!

Tiedän, "I know", kasvaa on "grow",
Nopee on "fast" ja hidas on "slow."
Läppä on "joke" Virta on "flow",
Kyllä on "yes" ja ei on "no."

Lyhyt on "short", pitkä on "long",
Soittaa on "play" ja laulu on "song."
Mieto maku "mild", vahva on "strong",
Oikein on "right" ja väärin on "wrong."

Tykätä on "like", fillari on "bike",
Levysoitin "turntable", mikrofoni "mic."
Yrittää on "try", miksi on "why?"
Märkä on "wet" ja kuiva on "dry."

Valhe on "lie", ujo on "shy",
Nauraa on "laugh" ja itkee on "cry."
Minä olen "I" ja riimi on "rhyme",
Kello on "clock" ja aika on "time."

refrain:
Hip hoppii englantii, siit oppii englantii
Hip hoppii englantii, siit oppii englantii

Tytöt on "girls", pojat on "boys",
Hiljaisuus on "silence", melu on "noise."
Valinta on "choice", ääni on "voice",
Huone on "room" ja lelut on "toys."

Sisko on "sister", veli on "brother",
Tämä on "this" ja toinen on "other."
Kylmempi "colder", kuumempi "hotter",
Leipä on "bread" ja voi on "butter."

Kuulla on "hear", pelko on "fear",
Kaukana "far" ja lähellä "near."
Kyynel on "tear", korva on "ear",
Nenä on "nose" ja täällä on "here."

Missä on "where?" No, siellä on "there."
Pöytä on "table" ja tuoli on "chair."
Reilu on "fair", karhu on "bear",
Kynnet on "nails" ja tukka on "hair."

Vuoro on "turn", oppia "learn",
Kastua "get wet", palaa on "burn."
Hattu on "hat", rotta on "rat",
Koira on "dog" ja kissa on "cat."

Isi on "dad", surullinen "sad",
Iloinen on "happy", vihainen on "mad."
Vähentää on "substract", lisätä on "add",
Hyvä on "good" ja paha on "bad."

Raha on "money", hassu on "funny",
Sateinen on "rainy", aurinkoinen "sunny."
Äiti on "mom", "mother" tai "mummy",
Vatsa on "belly", "stomach" tai "tummy."

Pöljä on "dummy", herkku on "yummie!"
"Nothing" ei oo mitään ja jotain on "something."

refrain

Hip hoppii englantii, siit oppii englantii. (4x)

Eka on "first", jano on "thirst",
Paras on "best" ja huonoin on "worst."
Kolmas on "third", lintu on "bird",
Toinen on "second" ja sana on "word."

Lapsi on "child", villi on "wild",
Vahva on "strong" ja mieto on "mild."
Silmät on "eyes", kaks kertaa "twice",
Tuhma on "naughty" ja kiltti on "nice."

Veitsi on "knife", elämä on "life"
Sulhanen on "husband" ja vaimo on "wife."

Vauva on "baby", ehkä on "maybe"
Laiska on "lazy" ja hullu on "crazy."

Tavata on "meet", kuumuus on "heat",
Juoda on "drink" ja syödä on "eat."
Kädet on "hands" ja jalat on "feet",
Rytmi on "rhythm" ja isku on "beat."

Kylmä on "cold", myyty on "sold",
Nuori on "young" ja vanha on "old."
Kun tarina on kerrottu, tarina on "told",
Päästää irti "let go", pidä kiinni "hold."

Taivuttaa "bend", korjata "mend",
Säästää "save", tuhlata "spend."
Lähettää "send", ystävä "friend",
Alku on "beginning" ja loppu on "the end."

Finnish Homework

Mun nimi on Jill. Mä olen Amerikalainen. Mä puhun englantia ja vähän suomea ya saksaa. Mä olen pastori. Mä opiskelen suomea.

Mä olen naimisissa Charles. Me asumme Jyväskylässä (until) Kesäkuu. Mun tyttö Kalee on 5-voutias (viisi)

Vapaa aikana mä tykkään neulotaan, luen, blogi, ja käyn kävella. Mä tykkään myös laitta ruokaa, mutta mä en tykkää kkäydä kaupassa.

My name is Jill. I am American. I speak English and a little bit of Finnish and German. I am a pastor. I study Finnish.

I am married to Charles. We will live in Jyväskylä until June. My daughter Kalee is 5 years old.

In my free time I like to knit, read, blog, and go walking. I also like to cook, but I do not like to go shopping.

Ma puhun vahan suomea. I speak a little bit of Finnish.

Mika sun ammatti on? (What is your profession?)
Ma olen pastori.
"You make pastries?" my neighbor asked. If I was really quick in such things I would have answered, "No, I heat things up to purify them." That pretty much sums up what pastors do, doesn't it?

That was our first day of Finnish Language class on Thursday. The two hour class turns out to only be 90 minutes. In Finland a class that is posted to run from 14:00-16:00 actually starts at 2:15 and ends at 3:45. So strange.

After learning lots of useful little phrases (like how to say what country we are from and what our profession is) the teacher gave a little lecture about Finnish language. There are some things, she said, that make learning Finnish easy.

1. No articles. None of that 'der' or 'die' or 'das' like they have is German.

2. No gender. Really, no gender! For example, you want to say "My friend and I went to a movie. She didn't like it." There would be no she. The word indicating another person is han, used for male or female. Charles says Finns speaking in English have a really hard time with he/she, often using the wrong one or switching part way through the conversation. It is even more confusing for Charles because he doesn't necessarily know if Finnish names like Paivi, Nuppu, Jorma, or Jonna (names of a few Finnish people we know who's gender we actually do know) are male or female, and then the speaker will switch pronouns half way through a conversation. Kind of confusing, but also refreshing. Separate words for professions (ex, waiter, waitress) also no longer exist in Finnish. They decided decades ago that gender in such situations does not matter. The exception, our teacher said, is there are still separate words for King and Queen.

3. No future tense. Fascinating. You say "I am cooking." "I am cooking tomorrow." None of this "will be" stuff to worry about.

4. 1:1 relationship between letters and sounds. You pronounce every letter (even/especially when they are doubled). The difference between 'meet' and 'kill' in Finnish is a single 'a' versus a double 'a.' Very important to pronounce those double letters. Also, every letter only makes one sound. There are no long and short vowels, 'c' only says one thing.

5. Stress is always on the first syllable. Makes guessing at pronunciation much easier.

There are a bunch of things that make learning Finnish hard, too. Her list was shorter but, to me, they were much more daunting and too complicated to even try to explain in a blog post, mainly because I don't understand them yet. So it goes.