10128721, 9:46 PM kijoltaminen | Let's Finnish this Category Archives: kirjoittaminen Seitseman kuukautta myéhemmin / Seven months later. November 18, 2015 tw kirjoittaminen, Uncategorized Itis now 7 months since | took the YKI test and the last few days have shown me that my Finnish learn- ing journey is far rom over. |lam a Doctoral student (tohtoriopiskelija) and | need to apply for funding, My supervisor recom- ‘mended the Karjalaisen Kulttuurin Edistimissaatié (Karelian Cultural Fund) as a place to apply. One problem. The application and all supporting documents had to be in Finnish. Doing this application (which | have just sent) really brought home to me the difference between be- ing able to use Finnish in everyday life, which is what the YKI test should test you on, and trying to write an academic text in Finnish and translate all my wooly theoretical ideas from English to Finnish, ‘The first thing | tried was to just copy and paste everything from my english language Research Plan (RP) into Google translate (GT} in big chunks. DO NOT DO THIS! GT will just mangle the text beyond all recognition! GT is fine for translating individual words and simple sentences but it doesn’t usually get ‘the case endings right. A better online tool to use is Wik Sanakirja as this gives you all the inflections (in the table labelled taivutus). However you can only translate one word at atime so for a 6-page re- search plan that would take forever! And translating word by word, even if you get all the endings right probably means you lose a lot ofthe ‘sense’ ofthe text. (disclaimer: lam -obviously- not a trans- lator so just guessing here! If any translators are reading this please comment on this below!) After its GT scrambling | gave the text to M to read. He couldn't make any sense of it and after many anguished cries of “Mita sini haluat sanoo?!” ("What do you want to say?") we had to give up on his helping me. We tried not looking at the messed up GTed text and me explaining my ideas in simple language which he then translated, This was also very slow and frustrating because, even though M's English is very good, he didn’t understand my ideas about mental borders, memories, postmemory etc as | expressed them in English and, frankly, | think he thought my whole research idea and theoret- ical basis was nonsense! With M we managed to correct maybe 2/6 pages. Alone the next day | went back to basics and just wrate in Finnish in my own words, ie not trying to translate from the English version of my RP at all. This worked better but | was aware | was now using very simple sentences and probably losing the nuances of my argument and reasoning, Today, | was saved. | went to see my supervisor Kimmo who is very familiar with my research and who re-wrote and corrected my 6 page text and was nice enough not to say what a mess or how ‘dumbed htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent ane10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this down’ itwas. Ihave now sent my application and am happy to have a decent Finnish version of my RP for future applications. Lesson learnt: Academic Finnish is a whole new ball game compared with the (relative) simplicity of everyday Finnish! YKI testi 11.04.2015 / The YKI Test 11.04.2015 @April 12,2015 te kirjoittaminen, puheen ymmairtiminen, puhuminen, tekstin ymmartéminen, testi, YKItesti EDIT: looking for a more up to date test day experience? My friend, Alexandra, took the test in 2017. Here is her account: YKI Keskitaso 08.04.2017 Yesterday (11.04.2015), along with around 50 others, | took the YKI testi, keskitaso level, in Joensuu. ‘We began with the tekstin ymmiirtéminen paper which lasted 1 hour, There were 24 questions which were either true/false or A/B/C and 3 texts where you had to write sentences in answer to the ques- tions (about 3 questions/text). All the texts were under 1 page and some were only about 10 lines. We had a small news item about an escaped liske, an advert from a bike repair shop, a text giving advice about pipes freezing (!) and some others. | think there were 6 texts in all. (Amazing how much Ive for- gotten about the texts since yesterday! Must have been the stress!). | found the time very generous, easily enough time to read all the texts and questions and copy the T/F and A/B/C answers onto the answer sheet, Next, after a 10 min break, came the kirjoittaminen paper which lasted 55 minutes. The time went fast and | was a little worried that | wouldn't have enough time but in the end It was ok. The tasks were as follows: + Lletterto an yhdistys (organisation) saying that you'd like to volunteer with them + Lemail to your building committee's puheenjohtaja (chairperson) about an uscoming kokous (meeting) = Lopinion piece for an internet forum, choice of2 topics: I chose ema asunte vai vuokra- asunto? Both the first two tasks had very clear instructions and bullets points about what to include so it was. easy to structure the letter and email and to employ the ‘trick’ of using the words in the instruction bullet points in my writing. Both had the reminder muista aloitus ja lopetus. The mielipideaihe however did not give detailed instructions what to include ie it did not, asin our prac- tice papers, say how many justifications (perusteita) we had to give for our opinion only that we should perustella sinun mielipideesi hyvin. So, for me, it was hard to structure my answer as ‘wasn’t sure how much to write htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent ane10720728, 946 PM kijotaminen | Lets Finnish is After an unnecessarily long break of 1/2 hourmy group went into the kielistudio to do the puheen \ymmirtiminen and puhuminen parts ofthe test. For me the puheen ymmartiminen was quite challenging. Unlike the practice exercises I had done in class and online the people | was listening to spoke extremely quickly using slang terms, Also, unlike in practice, there were no adverts or simple announcements (bar one informal announcement given by a coach driver during a coach trip) in the test —we were just istening to people talking! The questions again took the form of true/false, A/B/C (20 questions) and written answers, We often had to write 2 things in answer to one question. The time given for reading the questions and choosing the answers after listening was, for me, suficient. ‘This part seemed to be over very quickly. Whenever | have practiced for the puhuminen part of the test (Hanna will attest to this!) I normally have trouble filling the allotted time to speak and trail off into silence. | was dreading having to talk for 2 minutes during the mielipide monologues part of the test but, perhaps it was the stress, the time flew by and I talked non stop, occasionally getting cut off! hope this is/was a good thing...Although ‘what | was saying might well have been mostly nonsense! The puhuminen test included: = Aphone call to the police to report your bike stolen ‘= a phone call to sort out an unpaid phone bill 14/525 second tilantelta including asking your neighbour for help moving some furniture, telling a department store you's left something behind there (in both cases you had to keksi itse mits) = amonologue about men and women's work and roles at home (there was a choice of two top- ics for this part) = amonologue about visiting people and people visiting you (who visits? How often? What do you offer them to eat and drink? etc) (no choice you had to speak about this!) So. it's over. I feel quite flat and deflated today and it’s weird not to feel compelled to spend every bit of spare time practicing for the test! | should get the results in about 2 months’ time and of course Il post about them! But, for now, i's “Nékemiin?” from me. Kieliopista: Objekti / About Grammar: the object @April6,2015 tr kielioppi, kitjoittaminen, puhuminen | find studying the nitty-gritty of Finnish grammar a nightmare. Reading about grammar rules is just not how | learn a language but without a grasp of Finnish grammar can’t expect to do well in either the kirjoittaminen or puhuminen parts of the YkI test. | know | make a LOT of grammatical mistakes when writing and speaking and, with 5 days until the test, it's probably too late to change my ingrained bad habits...But I'm going to try by looking at ob- Jekti, the object, and when and why it takes the partitiivi, akkusatiivi and nominaatiivi perus muoto (partitive, accusative, nominative or basic) form, something we covered briefly in our prep classes. hitps:joensuulestnnishthis wordpress.com/calagoryhotlaminen ane10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this ‘The Finnish Teacher blog has a very good and simple explanation (as ever) of objekti here which | have used for my self-teaching/revision along with a 2 page explanation in Finnish provided by Ope. First you need to know which word in the sentence is the objekti. As the Finnish Teacher (FT) saysit “ig that which is having something DONE TOIT.” FT’s example sentence is Mies lukee kirjaa. Here kirja (the book) is the objekti as tis being read by mies (the man). ‘Then you need to decide whether the objekti needs to be in parti form {its only ever in these 3 cases}. For example, it’s the ki taminen part ofthe exam and | want to write in Finnish that "play guitar.” | know (thanks to FT) that guitar’ is the objekti as itis being played by me. Now have to decide ‘whether the word ‘guitar’ should be in partitiivi, nominaatiivi or akkusatiivi form. To do this Ineed ‘to know when each case should be used. Here are the rules for each case: The objekti isin parti when: 4. The sentence is negative eg “I haven't watered the flowers” > En ole kastellut kukkia 2. The objektiis an abstract noun, a mass or uncountable noun eg "I drink coffee (uncountable)” > Mind juon kahvia 3. The sentence describes an ongoing process /the verb is a process verb which normally needs 2 parttive object in Finnish eg “I love you” > Mind rakastan sinua 4.itcomes after a number eg “I waited 3 hours" > Mind edotin kolme tuntia '5, When the sentence is talking about a part or some of something eg"! ate litle bit of pizza" -> Séin vihin pizzaa The objektiis in nominatiivi when: 1 the sentence is an order, imperative eg “Do the YKI test!” > Tee YKI testi! 2. the sentences talks about having to do something eg “I always have to clean’ pitda sivota 3. The sentence's verb is passive eg “One can buy eggs from the market” > Torilta ostetaan mu- nat (literally from the market can be bought eggs) 4. the objekti needs to be plural eg"! the read the books” > Mind luin kirjat {And finally the objekti is in akkusi 1 The sentence is talking about a completed process eg “Dad took care of the boy" > Isa heiti poikan 2. The objectis the whole or all of something eg “late the whole cake” > Mi sin koko kakun Short version (and aide memoires): Negative sentence, Ongoing process, Number, object is Uncountable, Partitive verb, part or Some of ‘something (using words vahain or osa)= parti NON UPS = partitiivi htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent ane10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this ‘sentence is about Having to do something, object is Plural, sentence gives an Order, sentence’s verb is Passive. H POP = nomanaati perusmuoto Completed process, abjekti is whole or All of something = akkusatiivi A= akkusati FT has a really good series of questions in Finnish at the bottom of his blog post which you could use asa kind of keilioppikone (grammar machine] where you put your sentence through a series of ques- tions to see which case the objekti should take. I'll use this on my sentence to decide which case ki tara should take: So, should my sentence be: Mind soitan kitara (nominaatiivi) or Mind soitan kitaran (akkusatiivi) i soitan kitaraa (parti Is"soitta’ i @ process verb / isto play’ isan ongoing process? VES! so I need parti kitaraal Phew! PS fin doubt, go for partitiivi as there are the most ‘reasons’ for an objekti to take this form. As FT puts it partitiivi voitaa! (Partitiivi wins!) over the other cases. You can test yourself on choosing the correct case by using FT’s fill in the blanks exercise at the bot- tom of his post. | have ‘complete the sentences’ exercises from Ope - titled partitiivi vai akkusatiivi objekti? (al- ‘though some sentences need nominaatiivil)- which Iwill do... Scores: 7/11 oF 63%, 10/16 or 62.5%, 9/14 oF 649% So, 1 stil have a way to go to get this right! | think | am still going on instinct rather than these rules! Sometimes | can't see how the rules apply. Sometimes | correctly think it’s part ‘the parttive correctly (something else to revise!) | think /hope these rules will be more useful for cre- ating Finnish text ie the kirjoittaminen part of the exam. ut | can’t form Lapdisink6 testin? Ja kirjoittaminen harjoitella / WillI pass the test? And writing practice March 22,2015 wekirjoittaminen With just under 3 weeks to go until the YKI testi | am starting to wonder what my chances are of pass- ingit. htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent one10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this | went back through all the puheen ymmiirtiiminen and tekstin ymmiirtiminen practice papers we did during the prep course and checked my scores. Ineed 70% to pass, In puheen ymmartéminen my average score (from 6 practice papers) was 78% and scores ranged from 93% ( olin liekeissa ®) to a total fail of 46%. In tekstin ymmartaminen my scores ranged from ‘56% to 84% and the average {from 6 papers) was 70% so it looks like i'm heading to fail this part of the test unless the real testis easier than the practice papers we've hadi As I said in an earlier post 'm at a bit ofa loss as to how to improve my reading comprehension in such a short timeframe... Ihave found a good website for practicing tekstin ymmartiminen online so I'll be using that to try to im- prove although this site only has multiple choice answers and it’s mostly the free text answers which I'm getting wrong, Ljust did my kirjoittaminen homework and then got M to checkit (as | won't be in class next week when they go through it). The homework was an opinion piece (mielipideteksti) and I'l copy out my answer below. As ever this is NOT a ‘perfect’ answer but itis correct grammar and spelling wise, does what is required, and gives some examples of how to express your opinion (marked in green). For ‘more on writing opinion pieces check this post. Valitse alla olevista aiheista ja kirjoita siitd mielipideteksti. Muista perustella oma mielipiteesi ainakin kolmella eri tavalla. Yleiset kulkuvalineet vai oma auto? Kotiruoka vai valmisruoka? Minun mielipideeni on, etté kotiruoka on parempi kuin valmisruoka. Vaikka valmisruoka on nopeampi laittaa, minusta kotiruoka on parempi koska se on maistuvampi kuin valmisruoka, Minun mielestan’ kotiruoka on myés tervellisempi ja halvempt kuin valmisruoka. Kun minulla on kite tai mind olen vésynytvalmisruoka on kétevampi laitea kuin valmisruoka mutta Usein laitaa kotiruokaa koska minulle on tarkedi etts syn hyvin. Viimeinen oppitunti! / The last lesson! OWorch2,2015 — wrkeiopp, kirjittaminen, opituntj, esta ymatminen Yesterday was the last YKI prep lesson for me as''l| be in England next Friday when the real final les- sonis held htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent ene10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this ‘The lesson began with a student teacher asking us to complete a questionnaire for her...on Finnish grammar. We had to select to correct option for each sentence of a paragraph of text. A couple of examples: Asuin / Olen asunut Suomessa jo nelji vuotta. Isi soitti/ on soitellut ei Each time we had to chose between the perfecki (perfect) and imperfekti (past) tenses. | did this ‘by feel’ - what felt like the right choice to me. f| have ever studied when and how to use perfekti /im- perfekti | have no memory of t! The student teacher gave us the answers afterwards and | got about 60-70% correct so I guess my instincts are ok! \ just looked up perfekti and imperfelti on The Finnish Teacher blog which explains the Finnish ail muodot (tenses) very simply and clearly and shows how to change all verb types into theirimperfekti and perfekti forms. If ike me, you struggle with the rules of grammar and/or dislike tackling gram- mar | really recommend you check this blog out! Perfekti (the perfect tense) is used: “when we are talking about something that started in the past and is ongoing orif something happened in the past and is finished but it’s not important when ex- actly happened.” og (my own) Mit 4 olen lukenut The Finnish Teacher blogi: Imperfekti (the past tense) is used: “when something happened in the past and it’ finished.” or ‘when you mention a specific time when something happened eg Mind menin pubiin ellen. We then had to write explanations of why we had chosen imperfekti / perfekti...in Finnish. It was difficult to express my reasoning (or lack thereof) in Finnish but it did make me stop and think about the answers! had chosen and why | chose them which made ita useful exercise. We then had to write 2 few sentences (again in Finnish) about our imother tongue) and how it’s use of tenses dif- fer or is similar to Finnish! Hi We then began the lesson proper by going through the answers to last week’stekstin ymmartéminen homework which was based on short wutisia (news) texts and one tiedote (notice). | got 42/50 or 84% ‘@ Although 'm pretty sure this was alt easier than our previous tekstin ymmirtiminen home- works asthe texts were al very short (only 1/4 page each). Ope then gave us some vinnkia (tips) about the email writing part of the kirjoittaminen part of the test. These were based on writing emails about attending a Finnish course, You can copy words and sentences from the introduction / instructions for writing the email, For example if the instructions say “Sind nit ilmoitus lehdissa...” You could begin your email with “Nain ilmoituksen lehdessi” ‘= Ifthe instructions ask you to express your hopes (toi kon case eg “Toivotaan eta, 9) for something you need to use the htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent me10128721, 9:46 PM kifoitaminen | Let's Finnish this = Ifyou need to talk about your skills (taidot) or abilities you can write " X:sen taitoni ovat Vit” eg “puhumisen taitoni ovat huonot” (my speaking skills are poor) = Ifyou want to register for / give notice about something (eg attending Finnish course) you can say “IImoittautuisin kursille” or “Haluisin ilmoittautua kursille” Again here you should use konditionaali case. = Ifyou can’tattend something you can write “En plase...koska...” = Ifyouhave asked questions in our email you can end it by writing “Odetan vastaustanne, Te We then did a puheen ymmirtéminen mock exam based on mainoksia (adverts), uutisia (news) ‘and kertomuksia (report or story, in this case it was a guy talking abuot his job) and checked the an- ‘swers, | scored 33/42 or 78% so | passed @ Next week when lam away the class will focus on the puhuminen part of the test especially the quick fire answers and do another listening exam. Therefore Iwill try to practice the speaking part of the test. There are lots of examples | can use to practice at the bottom of Random Finnish Lessons blog post about verbs you should know for the YKI test. Elamankoulusta oppimisesta / Learning from the School of Life March 1,2015 te kirjoittamvnen, puheen ymmartiminen, puhuminen, tekstin ymmartminen | missed my Finnish lesson on Friday because M and | went on a weekend away to Kuopio so this, ‘week's blog post will be about learning Finnish informally, thats from everyday lfe in Finland, the way Ihave learnt most of what | know! Aside from the UEF Finnish classes and Kansalaisopisto's ‘Suomi1.2 course (ooth parttime only 1.5-3hrs/week) | have not studied Finnish formally and Ihave never sat down and worked my way through a textbook on my own at home, Perhaps | should” do that but I don't think thatis how I learn best. eel li minun mielsténi) learn best by doing: by trying to speak, write, understand Finnish either in Suggestopidian method lessons or in everyday lif. Here are (some of) my everyday learning situations from this weekend: Pee aie eT DD | innotinceninivadk. Ree ibis DTT tL htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent ane10128121, 9:46 PM kifoitaminen | Let's Finnish this Filling out this guest satisfaction form (tekstin ymmértiminen) [And the other side (tekstin ymmartiminen ja contribute / help with this abit. rjoittaminen) | hope you can read my writing! M did lalso: asked for tickets at a museum, 1 checked on our table reservation at the hotel reception, = gotus seated at the restaurant, = ordered food and drink. ‘To be honest these are situations [tilanteita) that | have dealt with in Finnish quite afew times before but itis good to take the chance to practice them as they could easily be the kind of situations we are faced with in the puhuminen part ofthe test. Inthe test it will be more dificult as | won'tbe face-to- face with the other person, they will ust be a recorded voice, so I can't use gestures or pointing to get what | want! Over breakfast also read a newspaper article about the talvisota (Winter War) which Ihave an interest in, We get the Karjalainen newspaper every day at home and I try to read something in itevery day but it helps if the topic is something which interests me! This is another way for me to practice tekstin yymmiirtiiminen. | also usually browse websites in Finnish (today its Bootz.com) and YLE,ifor news headlines in Finnish (that's often where my word of the day comes from) ‘On the journey to Kuopio we listened to VLE Pune radio station which was broadcasting commentary from a ski race. | found this quite hard to follow as the commentator spoke very fast and also my con- centration wandered but | got the gist | think. | was joking with M that it would be quite awful ifthe puheen ymmiértiiminen was as fast-paced as that commentary. | also watch quite a lot of TVin Finnish. Another way , aside from the radio, of passive learning. 'm not sure how effective itis. On Saturday night we watched Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu. Ljumped up and down ‘on the bed when PKN won! They rack! htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent one10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this UMK1S // Finaall - Pertti Kurikan Nimipalvat - Kuva: Tila Santavirta/YLE Minun mielestani... / In my opinion... @February 23,2015 se kirjoittaminen ‘As promised here is a post about how to express opinions in Finnish. You need to know how to do this forthe kirjoittaminen (writing) part ofthe YKI test where you will need to write a miel joitus (opinion piece). It is worth memorising a few different ways of expressing your opinion and how to form sentences with these expressions Oman aisu (expressing your own opinion) Minusta Xon//ei ole ¥ eg Minusta talvion paras vuodenaika. (For me winter isthe best time of the year) Minun mietestani xX on ei ole Y eg Minun mielestini nuorten elma ‘young people's lives are not easy, Otensit mielté, etti X eg Olen sitd mieltd ett suomessa on jon, that there are too many trees in Finland) n paljon puita. (| am of the opin- Minun mielipiteeni on, ett X eg Minun mielipiteeni on, ett kaupat voisivat olla sunnuntaina . (My opinion is, that shops could be closed on Sundays) disitys, ett’ monet eurooppalaiset ovat pes: tulevaisuuden suhteen, (| have the impression, that many Europeans are pessmistic about the futute). Minusta tuntuu, etti X ez Minusta tuntuu, etti paras hoitopaikka pienelle lapselle on paivak: (I feel, that the best place for small children to be cared for is daycare.) htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent sone10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this Itmight be an idea to Google these phrases to get a better idea how you can form sentences with ‘them and see how people argue their opinions in Finnish! (0k, so you have your opinion, good! Now you need to give perusteita (reasons / examples) to back it Up! The instructions will ikely ask you to Perustele ainakin kolmelta tavalla nikemyksesi (give at least three reasons for your point of view). Take careful note of how many reasons you need to give and plan and write your answer accordingly! Minusta X on Y koska... .-on tirkeid, eta Z eg ...on tarkedd ett lapsilla on paras hoito. (its important that a child has the best care) --0n selva, ettd Z eg ...on selva ett’ my) workers need more free time) i vapaa aikaa. (itis clear that shop .«.onhienoa, kun Z eg ...on hienoa, kun lumi peitt3s kaiken (...itis great, when the snow covers everything) on harvinaista, etti Z eg ..on harvinaista, ett nuoret voi nauttia elma, its rare that young people can enjoy life) «..olisi hana, jos Z eg ‘what one wanted) isi hana jos voisi ostaa, mitd haluaa. (It would be lovely ifone could buy ‘There are LOTS more of these type of sentences, these are just a few examples! You can build your ‘own reason sentences like this: On/ olisi ADJEKTIIVI PARTITIIVISSA, ett / jos / kun.. ‘Another way of building these reason sentences is: On/olisi ADJEKTIIVI VERB! PERUSMUOTO... eg On mielenkiintoista tutustua wusiin kulttuurethin (Its really interesting to get to know new cultures) So the whole sentence could be: Minusta matkailu on tirked koska on mielenkiintoista tutustua uusiin kulttuureihin. (For me travel is important because itis really interesting to get to know new cultures) Lisa kitevid lauseita - Some more useful phrases kai i tietvat, ettéX... (everyone knows, that) Minusta X on Y vaikka Z... (For me Xis ¥ even though Z) Minusta X ei ole ¥ van Z... (For me Xis not ¥ but rather Z} (On mahdotonta kuvitellaX... (itis impossible to picture X) htps:joensuuletstnnishthis wordpress.com/calagoryhotlaminen se10128121, 9:46 PM kifoitaminen | Let's Finnish this Lots more of these too, but'm not going to do all the work for you ® The point | am trying to make with this post is: Memorise how to express your opinion (3-4 different ways) and how to give your reasons for your ‘opinion. Have a good stock of joining and comparing words (koska, jos, kun, siksi etc) in the memory bank! With this toolkit you should be able to write clear accurate sentences giving your opini ‘sons for it! Do nat make your sentences too long or complicated! EXTRATIP: You will have a choice of 2 or 3 topics to write about for example: 1 Opiskelu kannattaa aina 2. Raha el ole tarkeintd elémassi 3, Rikollisuus lisdiintyy maailmassa So take a minute to think and pick the one you can think of the most arguments/reasons for! Neljas oppitunti / The Fourth Lesson @February 21,2015 skielioppi, krjoittaminen, oppitunteja, puheen ymmartaminen, puhuminen Sorry that this post isa little late: did a LOT of x country skiing today! Here's one of the hills| skied down ~ it was worse than it looks in the picture but | made it! So, the fourth lesson. We had a puheen ymmartiminen (listening comprehension) mock exam in which | did well 24/31, 779%, a solid pass! There was one part | even enjoyed where we were listening, into patients and medical staff and we had to write where they were and what was happening to them | got the results of my tekstin ymmértdiminen (reading comprehension) homework which this time I spent a full hr on: 28/40, 70%, just scraped a pass! htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent vane10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this We also corrected a text: an email which was our homework last week, From that exercise here is a rjoittaminen (writing) exercise and model answer with colour code linking the answer to the in- structions, HUOM! As ever this isnot a ‘perfect’ answer but one which does everything that is asked for! ‘S&hképosti Ystivisi on tahtenyt lomamatkalle ja pyytnyt sinua kastelemaan hanen poi lessaan kukat. Kun ole ystavisi asunnossa, rikot siella vahingossa jonkin esineen. Kirjoit hanelle nyt vietsi jossa kerrot = Kuinka vahinko tapahtui = Miten aiot korvata vahingon Muista sopiva aloitus ja lopetus Vastaanottaja: Sanna@gmail.f Lahettaja: Chloe@hotmail.co.uk 9: Kukkien kastelu Hel Sanna, Toivattavasti lomasion mennyt hyvin. Kun tulin kastelemaan kukat, pudotin vahingosso muumimukin péydaita Muki oli péydéila ja se putosi lattialle kun mind laiton péydaille yhden kukan, Olen todella pohoillanija pyydén vahinkoa anteeksi Vita l6ytG0 somanlaisen mukin kaupasto. Nahd8in, Chloe We then had a puhuminen (speaking) practice using the same tlanteita (scenarios) as in previous lessons. Mine was: Puhelimsi soijas hhaluaa myydi sinulle sanomale- hden kestotilauksen. Et haluatilatalehted (keskiitse, miksi). Mita sanot? | answered: kiitos, mutta en halua tilata sanomalehtia koska en osaa lukea hyvin suomeksi Ope then gave us some vinkkeja (tips) for the speaking part of the exam: * Ifyou have to give a reason (syy) why you do or do not want something (as in the scenario above) or why you can’t do something it can be a ‘bad’ or ‘stupid’ reason eg “Koska en jak- saa.” But you should learn some stock reasons you could give eg “En pase koska minulla on kokous.” Use the words and phrases in the scenarios (as | have in the example above) ‘= Read the scenarios carefully! One student got the wrong idea about the scenario, and so gave a nonsensical answer, because she misread it. ‘= Just say something! You have 30s per tilanne which is a looong time htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent sa1810128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this 1 Ask the question you were asked back or ask eg “Enta sielli? only ifthe scenario is appropriate!!) “Enta sinulle / sinua?” (but To conclude we had a short grammar (kielioppi) lesson on objekti cases (par natiivi) which involved Ope reading out 2 pages of rules which we had copies of. Grammar is crucial to succeeding in the YKI test, even if their is no specific test of grammar or grammar exercises in the test, your answers in the writing, speaking and reading parts of the test will suffer if you can't con- struct grammatically correct sentences, But grammar is definitely not my strong point, and Ihate learning it in this by rote, formal way, so | won't repeat the lesson here, Ihave learnt my Finnish gram- ‘mar through practice: by listening and speaking and because of this it is messy and often incorrect. ‘The lessons go by so fast (they are only 30 mins) we don’t get that much done. But we do have 2hrs of homework as well! Kolmas oppitunti / The third lesson @February 14,2015 eekirjoittaminen, oppitunteja ‘This week we focused on kirjoittaminen (writing) so here follows lots of vinkkeji (tips) for how to write a good answer in the YKI test and the vocabulary and phrases you should know taken from what ‘we learned during the lesson. This is long post so you might want to go get a cup of tea or something. before you start reading @ We learnt how to write a good answer by kerjaaminen (correcting) example answers along with ope. It was hard to do this. | could sometimes see that a sentence ‘looked wrong! but! didn't know how to correctit (Let's face iif could spot all the mistakes | wouldn't make any myself in my own writing). ‘The writing test will probably consist of one informal message to 2 friend, one formal message to an organisation and an opinion piece. Firstly, read carefully and follow the instructions for what to write. Make sure you include everything. the instructions tell you to. USE the words and phrases in the instructions in your answer. Here is an example of the ‘informal message’ writing task and a model answer (written by me) with colour coding linking the instructions to the answer. HUOM! This, and the other examples, are not fect answers; just my own examples of what you could write. However they are ‘good’ an- swers in that they fulfil the instructions. Sahképostiviesti Haluat ystivisi mukaan sinua kiinostavaan tapahtumaan (keski itse, mine). Kirjoita ystavallesi sahképostiviesti. Kero viestiss’, htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent vane10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this ‘= mistd tapahtumasta on kyse (miki, million ja miss) Hei Katja, Kuulin etté perjantaina 13.2. ko 21 Tarja Turusella on keikka Surakan baarissa. Haluaisitko lahted sinne minun kanssani? Olisi kiva nhs pitkist8 aikaa, Voit vastata minulle sahképostilla tai teksiviestll Nandan, Chloe Lisa vinkeja (extra tips, a mixture of ope's and my own) ‘Ifyou are writing to a friend use an informal greeting and sign off eg: H Mina = Menee suoraan asian, get straight to the point of why you are writing to them, = Forthe ‘when and where’ include a date and time and an address/specific place (NOT just Joensuussa for example) = DONOT USE ‘Ole hyvi ja ina written message! = DONOT USE slang or dialect forms of words. Use full, well constructed sentences but DO NOT make your sentences too long. 1 Use polite forms eg haluisin not haluan . Nahdian, lespite what you might think itis actually epaketelias (impolite) Itseems to me that | should memorise some set phrases such as Sind voit vastata minulle ‘sahkGpostilla as, judging from the examples we have had, itis probable | will need to say how the person | am writing to can contact me, also learning informal and formal greetings and sign offs as! will need then to start and end the messages! ‘The formal email and my (not perfect) model answer again with colour coding: Sahképostiviesti Haluaisit korjauttaa kylpyhuoneesi. Kirjoita taloyhtiési moitat asiasta ja pyydat lupaa muutoksiin. itse + kylpyhuoneen nykyinen kunto + mitd haluat tehda sille ja miksi + miki on remontin aikataulu htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent rene10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this + yhteystietosi akin kaksi muuta as Muista aloitus ja lopetus Hyd isinnoitsii, Miné olen Chloe Wells ja miné asun osoitteessa Papinkatu 3, 4. kerroksessa Kylpyhuoneeni hana ei toimi, Vetté on lattiala, koska se vuotaa, Voisitko korjato sen heti? ta minun yhteytta kun voisit end sen. Puhelinnumeroni on 040-3008000, Vield pari asiaa. Olohuoneeni ovi on rkki ja minun parvekkeen on huonossa kunnossa. Terveisin, Chloe Vinkki = Notice that | included my address even though this was not explicitly asked for. Think about WHO you are writing to and about WHAT: the subject of the message indicates you need to tell the isinnéitsija where you live (otherwise how is he going to come and fix your bathroom!?), This is a realistic situation so think about what info you would need to include if this was in rea lifes idekirjoitus (opinion piece) with my own (by no means perfect!) model answer and colour code. | have shown my reasons for my opinion in [] but of course | would not include these in the test! They are just to show you that Ihave given at least 3 reasons as asked for in the instructions. Kerro kirjoituksessasi ‘A. Paras hoitopaikka pienelle Lapselle - oma koti vai B, Nykymuoti on mautonta, Minun mielesténi paras hoitopaikka pienelle lopselle on péivakot. Mind olen tat mielt, kosko jos lapsion pivékodissa, on vormoa ett hdnelleon paras hoito jo kosva tus 1. perustel.Péivékodissa on lastenhoitojat a lastentarhanopetojt, ja he tekevat aina lapsen kannalta porasta [2 perustel Paivakodissa on myéskin paljon tehtavaé lapselle ja he voivat oppia monia asioita [2. perustele}. Paivakodissa on paljon muita lapsia,jaten lasten sosialisointi on varmaa [4. perustele]. Lopuksi veld jos lapsi kay pivakodissa han on valmis menem@an kouluun ja koulupaivat menivat hyvin 1S, porustele) Chloe vinkkeja htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent rene10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this 1» USE the words and phrases in the topic statement eg here paras hoitopaikka pienelle lapselle on paivakoti = DO NOT repeat words or phrases, use synonyms and other ways of saying things. There are lots of different ways to talk about your opinion, = BUT DO NOT write sentences which are too long or elaborate. Keep it clear and simple, = Use sentences such as ‘my opinionis...because... etc 1 Memorise ways of stating your opinion (blog post on this here) Rakene on hyvi =A good way to structure the opinion piece: Asiaa esittely (present the topic) Esimerkki / perustelu (give an example / reason) = Toinen esimerkki / perustelu (a second example / reason) = Vastanakemus (the alternative view) = Kolmas esimerkki / perustelu (a third example / reason} = Lopetus, paluu alkuun (conclusion, return to the opening statement of opinion} HUOM! This structure is based on the instructions stating Perustele ainakin kolmella tavalla (give at least three reasons). Take note of how many examples, reasons, ways the Instructions ask you to give. Huhhuh! That was a long onel! Kotitehtéava /Homework QFebruary8,2015 te kirjoittaminen, kotitehtava Our homework from the second lesson was a tekstin ymmiartaminen (reading comprehension) mock test paper and a kirjoitaminen (writing) exercise. | timed myself doing the reading comprehension and it took me 30 mins (the time allowed is 60 mins) but this was largely because I couldn't answer some of the questions. The frustrating thing is that | un- derstand the texts but not the questions! ‘As before the format was true/false questions, multiple choice questions and free form questions where you have to write a sentence or two, ‘The texts were all under 1 page long (usually only 1/4-1/2 page long) so there should be plenty of time in the test for reading and re-reading them. UPDATE 14.2: got 17/26 oF 65% forthe reading comp which would be a FAIL ® This week! will try harder with the reading comp and make sure to spend the full hon it The writing exercise was as follows ('m posting itherein case anyone wants to use t for kirjoitami nen practice, you could then get a Finnish speaker to check what you wrote ® Show them the in- structions as well) htps:joensuuletstnnishthis wordpress.com/calagoryhotlaminen we10128721, 9:46 PM kijoitaminen | Let's Finnish this Sahképosti stivasi on lahtenyt lomamatkalle ja pyytinyt sinua kastelemaan hanen poissa ollessaan kukat. Kun ole ystavasi asunnossa, rikot sielld vahingossa jonkin esineen. Kirjoita hanelle nyt vietsi jossakerrot ka esine meni rikki Kuinka vahinko tapahtui Miten aiot korvata vahingon Muista sopiva aloitus ja lopetus Vastaanottaj Lahettaj: Teksti (n. 6 lausett Model answerhere, htps:joensuuletstnnisthis wordpress.com/catagoryhotlaminent rane