Blog Post #5 - Verbal Messages

The official languages of Finland are Finnish and Swedish. There are many other
languages that are spoken in Finland but those are the main two.

A Guide to Some Basic Words and Phrases

- Hello!
Finnish: Hei!
Pronounced: hay

Swedish: Hallå
Pronounced: hal-o-ah

- Yes
Finnish: joo
Pronounced: yoo

Swedish: ja
Pronounced: yah

- No
In Finnish:ei
Pronounced: ay

In Swedish: nej
Pronounced: nee

- Please
In Finnish: ole kiltti
Pronounced: oh-lah kill-tee

In Swedish: snälla du
Pronounced: snaw-lah doo

- Thank You
In Finnish: Kiitos
Pronounced: kee-tos

In Swedish: tack
Pronounced: tack
 - Can you help me?
In Finnish: Voitko auttaa minua
Pronounced: voy-t aw-too-ah min-oo-ah

In Swedish: kan du hjälpa mig

Pronounced: can doo helpa me

- I don't understand
In Finnish: en ymmärrä
Pronounced: en e-mar-uh

In Swedish: jag förstår inte

Pronounced: yah fas-tor in-tuh

- I don't speak Finnish/Swedish

In Finnish: En puhu suomea
Pronounced: en poo-hoo soo-em-ee-uh

In Swedish: Jag pratar inte svenska

Pronounced: yah prin-tar in-tuh sven-skuh

- My name is Sadie
In Finnish: nimeni on sadie
Pronounced: nee-em-ee on sadie

In Swedish: mitt namn är sadie

Pronounced: meet nom are sadie

Some of these words were difficult to pronounce because they are very different from
any English words I know. The vowel sounds are also different from English. It is
important to know basic phrases like this before visiting a country because these can
help you interact with locals as well as navigate around the country.

Language and Technology

Valtioneuvostolla tarkoitetaan toisaalta pääministerin ja ministereiden muodostamaa
yleistä hallintovaltaa käyttävää toimielintä eli Suomen hallitusta, ja toisaalta
valtioneuvoston yleisistunnon ja ministeriöiden muodostamaa hallitus- ja
hallintoasioiden päätöksentekoelintä.

The State Council means, on the one hand, the institution exercising general
administrative power formed by the Prime Minister and ministers, i.e. the Government of
Finland, and on the other hand, the decision-making body for government and
administrative matters formed by the General Session of the State Council and the
ministries.

https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/government/how-does-the-government-work-

There has been great advancement in the technology that we use to translate
languages. If you look at the two paragraphs above, the first one is in Finnish that I got
off the Finnish government website. The second one is the translation I got from google
translate. You can see that it was translated pretty seamlessly by google translate and
you can easily read and understand the paragraph. I think that this technology would
not work as well with a less formal piece of writing that had slang or figures of speech.
For the purpose of academic writing and official websites google translate works pretty
well.

English is the lingua franca for many different countries because it is a widely known
language across the world. Additionally, it has many influences from other languages
and takes words from many other languages. This would help me communicate with
people in Finland because there is a good chance that someone in Finland knows a
little English and would be able to communicate with me.

“Language influences our view of reality” Language is how different cultures convey
their values and norms. It shapes our view of reality because we can influence
ourselves and others through language which in turn shapes our reality.