Reacting to the Finnish Language! | Fun Facts and a Finnish Woman's Story

[@michael.adamyk]

Thanks for letting me know that she actually has a strong foreign accent! I'd love to listen to some really native Finnish language, especially poetry or song. I may try the Kalevala, or some folk songs. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

[@SugarErwin]

Yes, she has an accent. It seems like she’s forgotten some Finnish words, and her sentence structure follows American patterns, which don’t exactly match Finnish grammar. However, I think the main points of her Finnish can still be understood in the video. One interesting and well-known Finnish folk song is definitely "Säkkijärven Polkka." The song is fun, but also a bit melancholic. It has a fascinating history as a kind of "weapon" used during the war between Finland and the Soviet Union (World War II). The Finnish military played this song non-stop as radio jamming for three months straight during the war to disrupt the detonation of Soviet mines triggered by radio signals. You can easily find more information about this online if you’re interested. The song is also available on KZbin with English subtitles, for example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q37Wq6iVi8yAnLssi=JZAoivGzwmK4lE68.

[@marakara7540]

Here is one: Ketonen ja Myllyrinne - Boy wants a guitar (Finnish Comedy), English Subtitles. Not exactly poetry but clear articulation (written language). Most people speak some sort of slang tho.

[@johnlaine2654]

You have picked a difficult title to read .Kalevala is a very long book to read and at times difficult.

[@michael.adamyk]

@@johnlaine2654 maybe I will get to read it someday, but right now I want to hear what it sounds like... the rhythm and pacing. :)

[@pk0057-zx6xn]

If you want to hear beautiful proper Finnish, look up KatChats Finnish. You will be pleacently surprised!

[@marakara7540]

She has a strong accent, dropping consonants, loosen up letter L etc. for native sounds like Finnish as second language.

[@michael.adamyk]

She mentioned living in China and the US for quite a few years, as well as not feeling like she has a true home. That, combined with her apparent age, makes me think she left Finland when she was quite young.

[@LevitatingCups]

i was going to make this comment, she certainly has lost the fluidity, it still draws a bit

[@Zisage]

Her accent isn't strong at all. She just sounds tense when speaking to the camera which combined with slight accent makes it sound a bit unnatural.

[@marakara7540]

@@Zisage maybe? but it wasn't what (I feel) a good example of Finnish language. I got Russian/Swedish vibes.

[@TheArseen]

She is missing the fluidity. It's like she has to think every word. Also the hyphenation is off which adds to that. And speaks book/written Finnish. She is totally understandable. Edit: Towards the end she is starting to get more fluid.

[@JUMALATION1]

Jenni's Finnish sounds "softer and rounder", with a distinct influence from US English. Her Finnish isn't "bad" by any means, but a native Finn definitely notices the foreign influence. Even as a Swedish-speaking Finn (but one who speaks almost exclusively Finnish at work everyday), I noticed it.

[@petrirantavalli859]

Vowel harmony is about forming vowel in the same part of the mouth front-neutral-back vowels what this means that you cannot have front and back vovels side by side without a neutral vovel or a consonant in between. Reason for that is purely physical; your tongue is still forming the front vowel sound while trying to start forming speaking a back vovel which leads you to awkward pause between the two vowels and thus does not flow properly.

[@michael.adamyk]

That's fascinating, thanks for explaining it that way!

[@clashof6d]

I think many of us native speakers can hear her foreign (english language, can't locate exactly myself) accent in her voice. There are better videos but not a bad one to start!❤

[@onanisland5527]

She's got a strong american english accent. But over all, she's speaking good finnish.

[@juhajuntunen2557]

I agree, In my family is foreigners, and after talking other language they are lost some time... funny, like reprogramming your brain to speak other lanquage again. But! my kid is bi-linguage, speak two different language from beginning and she do not have this effect, transfer is instant.

[@jakemaanimeikalainen248]

I''ve heard even foreigners sound more native than her. :D

[@Aurinkohelmi]

Probably just living in other countries for a long time. Noticed same about my cousin who has lived decades in Canada, she is losing words when not using it.

[@EinarHalmela]

The Finns are a nation of their own. We love authenticity and honesty. Peace and quiet life too, but we are prepared to defend our homes against the threat from the east. Thanks for the video. Finland was part of Sweden for more than 500 years.

[@Alexandros.Mograine]

We Finns are known for watching any video related to Finland xD as we say here "torilla tavataan".

[@Patrik-pi3dl]

I can relate as a Finn to Jenni. In Finland we talk when we have something meaningful (that matters) to say. Often people say that someone is a "Papupata" (Very talkative person) if you jabber/talk too much.

[@nahkanukke]

Olen Suomalainen. Thanks for a funny video. As i am born in Sweden and moved to Finland it still get me what you understand. Thanks

[@mantelikukkapenkki2368]

It's not just us Finns. Pretty much all Northern Europeans hate small talk.. We're not at all interested in boring, rambling bullshit, when you can make it short and get straight the point.

[@herrbonk3635]

Speak for yourself, quiet Finn! :) Ok, me too usually like to get to the point pretty quickly, but as an old Swede, I love talking, discussing and listening to others. Even to complete strangers sometimes, when you feel the personal chemistry really works.

[@kodvo1]

Offcourse some fins speak more and some less. I can speak a lot in small groups but big groups get more quiet.@@herrbonk3635

[@DNA350ppm]

Jenni sure has a point, exemplified in, that "small talk" and "awkward silence" if translated verbatim into Finnish sound really strange. 🙂

[@PapilioArgiolus]

Not all Finns are quiet. Me, as a Finn, I’m comfortable to speak to anyone anywhere and it’s not a problem to me 😊

[@cinderellaandstepsisters]

​@@herrbonk3635 There are a lot of Finns who are not quiet. I lived in other countries and however for instance southern Europeans are much more talkative than Finns or any other Nordic ppl.

[@PapilioArgiolus]

Thank you for your great video 😊 It’s fun to hear what you, as an ”Kansas boy”, think about the Finnish language. You described Jenni’s speaking with the word ”lilting” and I suppose that’s a good word 👍🏼 Phonetics professor Martti Vainio from the University of Helsinki claims that Finnish is a very versatile language in terms of speech melody and it is anything but monotonous 😌

[@Gibbetoo]

she is between two culture.

[@hextatik_sound]

Wow, that lady has very monotonous way of speaking. She also has very strong foreign accent.

[@michael.adamyk]

Even when I had the transcript of the Finnish video, it was really hard for me to hear the consonants and sounds, haha!

[@hauskalainen]

Finnish is not a very expressive in its intonation. Contrast a Finn for example with an Italian or Spanish speaker.

[@hextatik_sound]

@@hauskalainen That depends on the speaker. I am quite expressive with intonation and so are many people I know. I've noticed that especially with younger generations, speaking has become much more expressive. I like that.

[@izzardclips9350]

@@hextatik_sound The accent is easy to notice for a native Finnish speaker, but I wouldn't call it strong. Her having spent a long time abroad seems to affect how she structures her sentences, like she is being influenced by English and/or other languages she knows.

[@mikrokupu]

Finland is a paradise for introverts 😁 Not much small talk expected and your personal space is sacred. The immigrants often struggle with the Finnish language, though one Japanese guy said for him it was easier to learn Finnish than English. The languages are not related but there are similarities in pronunciation. Swedish the 2nd official language in Finland, though it's only useful in certain parts of Finland, in every day life.

[@khatack]

That chick has a HEAVY accent. You can see (or more accurately hear) the two decades she spent living abroad.

[@stinak7924]

I'm Finnish and spent the most of my childhood in Sweden. At the age of 15 I came back to Finland with my family and my teacher and friends notised that I had a very swedish accent. Even today 40 years later some people can hear a slightly different tone in my Finnish because I live in a swedish speaking area of Finland and use mostly swedish in my everyday life. Though I cant hear it myself I think its okay

[@ravenfin1916]

She spoke very good Finnish, although you can clearly hear that she hasn't been in Finland much. I myself have acquaintances who are descendants of Finns who moved to Sweden and they have a distinct sound of their own. Even though there were a lot of small mistakes, the most important thing was that you could understand her. One of these guys living in Sweden once said that in Finland she is Swedish, in Sweden she is Finnish and that's why she always answers when asked that I'm only from Gothenburg.

[@evawettergren7492]

For a non Finnish hearing her, she sounds pretty good. She certainly has the "creaky" tone down, if not the pronounciation and flow. (I am somewhat familiar with the finnish language as my grandmother was Finnish, but I don't speak it myself.)

[@michael.adamyk]

I was watching a video about "vocal fry" or creakiness in English a few weeks ago, an they mentioned that it's very common in many languages, Finnish being one where it's almost constant. It's becoming more common in American English too.

[@marja-leenalampinen5135]

Some foreigners have said that rhythm of spoken Finnish is like mini bursts. I can relate that, especially if you have someone who is talking a bit faster.

[@kristiinaparkkisenniemi8680]

This was not a good example if you want to know how Finnish is spoken. Finnish is a very beautiful language and she did not speak naturally beautiful Finnish. Hope that you can find a better example. But Jenni herself is wonderful ❤❤❤

[@OGU44]

She is on intermediate level, she is pronouncing and conjugating properly but she is only using very basic words, which is fine but native speakers use a bigger vocabulary. Also there are many distinct dialects of finnish, she is using the official "written language" (understood by most) in her speech. EDIT: I'm pretty sure she is speaking english in her mind and translating it into finnish. TLDR: good video, react to native finnish as well😊

[@michael.adamyk]

Thanks for watching, I'll definitely find some native Finnish speakers!

[@janus1958]

There is a bit of reasoning behind the long compound words in Finnish. As noted, the language has a lot of cases, and one of the rules is that the adjective attached to a noun, must be in the same case. If the noun is in the plural, so is the adjective. In English this would be like having to say "reds apples" rather than "red apples" Often these cases involve adding letter combinations to the end of the word(ssa. lla, sta, etc). For example, talo = house and talossa = in the house. Iso talo = the big house, and isosaa talossa = in the big house. If you have something that has a lot of descriptive terms to it, it is just simpler to cram them together into one word, with one case ending, rather than multiple separate words each with its own case ending.

[@michael.adamyk]

@janus1958 that makes a lot of sense... and it is a bit more sensible than the English habit of adding tons of modifying words both before and after!

[@finnishculturalchannel]

She has quite a strong accent. Obviously spoken Finnish sounds different from sang Finnish. Often with poems and lyrics the goal is to make the language sound pleasing: "BEHM - Hei rakas (Lyriikkavideo)". Some say Finnish fits well to metal songs also: "Mokoma - Syyttävä sormi". Somewhere between those two songs: "Anna Eriksson - Jos Mulla Olisi Sydän".

[@michael.adamyk]

@finnishculturalchannel Vokaaliharmonia is one of the most fascinating things I learned while researching for this video. After my video about Finnish history, someone sent me some Finnish poetry (from Kullervo) and I was amazed at how beautiful it looks even on the page! Even though I don't know how to pronounce everything, I imagine it flows very well.

[@finnishculturalchannel]

@@michael.adamyk I suppose not having to use back and front vowels in same words makes Finnish slightly easier-if you ignore the compound words of course. Tolkien too liked the phonetic pattern and structure of Finnish and from the Kalevala especially Kullervo's story. Maybe you have come across these videos already: "Fun facts about Finnish epic, The Kalevala", "Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot-The epic poem of Finland (12 things you should know)", "The Kalevala: Epic of the Finnish People" and "From Kalevala to Middle-Earth: Tolkien's love for Finland's MYTHS!"". Here are couple Kalevala runes sang: "Finnish Kalevala Rune song & Finland's coastline - Raudan synty (Veera Voima)", "My Kantele (Eriskummainen kantele) - Loituma" and "Loituma - missing him". A folk music group Värttinä took part in the Lord of the Rings musical production: "Värttinä - Kylä vuotti uutta kuuta".

[@michael.adamyk]

@@finnishculturalchannel that's right, I had heard that Tolkien loved the language... I didn't know he took inspiration from the mythology as well! I actually first took an interest in the Kalevala because I really love Sibelius... but those give me another angle. Thanks!

[@osemarvin2847]

Lilting...As a Finnish person, I've never heard that word before, but somehow I think I get what you mean. It's like swinging, but more lively - at least it sounds to me like it. And a bubbling brook...Funnily enough, in Finnish language, the sound of bubbling brook is often described as "liplatus" - so lilting, bubbling, liplatus :D Here's a Finnish folksong which sounds pretty much like all of those descriptions :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJvWhIB_jbShpJI Here's another one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zpyti6pjf5xmas0 I guess the reason is that we have (in Finnish language) lots of vowels, double vowels, soft consonants (like L's, H's, S's, T's, M's, N's and so on), and double soft consonants. Finnish words doesn't usually have hard edges. Therefore it's very pleasant and flowing. There are of course some exceptions , most famously the curse word "Perkele!" Famous English writer and linguistic, J.R.R Tolkien, was very, very fond of Finnish Language. When he wrote the "Lord of the rings"-trilogy, he decided that the Elvish language must be based on Finnish. And so it was. And is.

[@michael.adamyk]

Lilting means "having a light rhythmical cadence or a buoyant rhythm." I couldn't remember if that was the definition when I said it, but it does fit... and how neat that it's similar in some ways to the Finnish word! I had heard that about Tolkien in the past, but forgotten it. I'll have to look up more information about that! And thanks for the folk songs, I'm hoping to do some videos on those also!

[@Rentta]

She doesn't sound native at all and also uses way too many loan words (well i guess teens do that these days but people at her age not to that extent)

[@roamoilanen]

Maybe best way to hear what Finnish sounds like is just to listen a little bit of some Finnish podcast like "Tokmannin perustaminen, perintövero, yrittäjyys ja Suomen talous (Kyösti Kakkonen) | Puheenaihe 521". You don't have to understand a word, but you hear how it sounds when natives speaks without trying to make it sound more understandable for foreigners. Link to that video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZnTZWCOa9Wdq5o

[@asko2368]

It's not only a finnish "thing". In my experience it actually concerns all scandinavian countries and also Estonia (don't know about other baltic countries). There is a saying: "How to reckognize a real friend? You don't have to talk to him/her"

[@michael.adamyk]

Sometimes it's nice to be able to sit in comfortable silence with someone!

[@ahmakki]

Isint dreadmill a combound word in english toi? It just makes little more sence in finnish

[@michael.adamyk]

Yes, that's true. @ahmakki it's probably something where other compound words sound funny but we also have some that are rather strange, I'm just used to them. Our compound words are rarely more than two words stuck together, though, so that's definitely a difference.

[@LTS79]

I don't believe she has ever lived in Finland. She has exactly same accent as Americans who have learned finnish.

[@michael.adamyk]

Based on what she said, it does sound like she has spent much of her life abroad.

[@LTS79]

@@michael.adamyk That is strange. I know lot of finnish people who have been living abroad most of their lives and everyone of them sounds completely different than this lady. They may forget some words etc. but their accent never change like that. I've also talked with several americans who have learned finnish and everyone of them sounds exactly like this lady.

[@markusr353]

Interesting, I found her accent similar to other Finns who’ve grown up abroad and attended Amercan schools.

[@osemarvin2847]

One more Finnish Folk Song: Very flowy and smooth language. To me, the very melody and chanting alone, very much sounds like that those girls are preparing to cast a powerful spell - and the words of the song support it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqHQeIWZjcl_gpY

[@panutalus]

Fun fact: Tolkien was a linguist and he created elvish language directly from finnish

[@michael.adamyk]

That's what I've heard! That's super neat.

[@BlaecHrim]

I think (might be speaking out of my backside) the term of Finnish having long compounds is called fusional language. And when we can attach suffixes to our words is called aggulitination.

[@michael.adamyk]

I haven't heard that term before, so I looked it up. Very interesting! Both fusional and agglutination are definitely different from English.

[@Morhgoz]

About silence, it is more true in Western and Southern Finland, but we Eastern Finns are really talkative, specially we Savonians.

[@vj68895]

Finnish language has so long words and sentences that you have to first consider is the matter serious enough to form a sentence to speak out. I guess that's partly the reason for lack of small talk.😃

[@Kennethgranqvist]

Jenni don't speak really Finnish.... 🙄

[@michael.adamyk]

Good to know! I'll find something from a more native speaker. I'm guessing she left Finland when she was quite young.

[@Alderzone]

Jenni 100% speaks finnish. She just has an accent.

[@hopoheikki00]

She has a slight accent probably because she's lived abroad for so long.

[@anneliseppanen9105]

@@Alderzone She has every two or third word English 😀

[@nina-kitty6573]

She speaks Finnish, whit accent and she slangs also.. Exemple..Saying mun then minä..

[@JPPVESA]

Maailman mittakaavassa Suomen kieli on kymmenen vanahimman edelleen puhutun kielen joukossa - The Finnish language is among the ten oldest still spoken languages in the World

[@michael.adamyk]

That's amazing!

[@paulakuljunlahti]

Greetings from Finland. You are clearly Northern European by descent😉. we all from that area have the same quality of mind. we are quite calm, we talk a little but to the point, we enjoy silence and walking in nature. Jenni has clearly lived abroad for a long time. he forgets words and some words don't sound right, but that gives you an idea of ​​how to talk there. I found videos on KZbin with a song by a Finnish musician or band. in fact, the playlist has a total of 16 songs and the videos have lyrics in both Finnish and English. in this video Chisu sings and the song is Sabotage kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJCcpqOFl6aqadksi=dMUJzMV85lnky34X and here is the link to the whole list kzbin.info/aero/PLB7ynH1Bp10zLRiSS215FPO1b_8-RDBbG&si=qI_6CMdEHL_jRK-v

[@Leksi80]

Try this one. Her content is pretty much all over the place(speaking multiple languages and singing) from video to video, but in this one she does sound like the average Finnish girl from Helsinki based on her age. Having the local accent from the capital area of Finland. Very realistic sound if compared to 99% of her peers when age and locality goes. Just to help out with your comparisons. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWXFmZ6mg7NlirM

[@merjakotisaari9046]

Note that she hasn't lived in Finland for long, because she doesn't speak quite right

[@Pataassa]

Not good in small talks = very nordic. 😅 We talk straight when has something to say. Not just for fun. Exept if we are drunk. 😅

[@Pataassa]

But if you want to hear Finnish language with that melody, react to song "ievan polkka". It's very old Finnish Folk Song with no music, only language.

[@michael.adamyk]

@Pataassa thanks for the suggestion!

[@jarij.marjanen4289]

If you want to hear beautiful Finnish (not like that young woman's slang), then here is an example: Kaarlo Sarkia was a skillful poet and master of old-fashioned poems with rhymes. Rukous keväälle = A Prayer to Spring. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXupkmicZb1md9E

[@kristiinaparkkisenniemi8680]

@@jarij.marjanen4289 This is so smooth and beautiful ❤️❤️❤️

[@Kerppu68]

Melodic language - yes/no. Finnish is spoken in a very monotonous style and the words are difficult to separate by ear

[@sssukka]

But it sounds amazing in singing!

[@FinSemi]

Few weeks ago, I just watched really interesting video about Finnish vowel harmony - kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGiamKOrg7qNq9U ... It was really educative even for native as me :)

[@FinSemi]

Btw, talking about Finland and Finnish culture is really good way to summon Finnish people to watch videos. Because we are so small country, we usually are quite interested how other people will see our country, we are also very proud of Finland and we would like to help others to see good parts of it. Also we are very curious how others see us, our country and our culture.

[@michael.adamyk]

@FinSemi, haha, that's great to know! I also love learning about "less famous" and smaller places, because I don't know much about them and I'm curious. I've also been blown away by the interest and extra facts that people from Finland have been sharing in the comments and emails, so it's a ton of fun!

[@kumakamiyt]

Jenni ei ole suomalainen

[@epicwarding]

you should listen an old man talk slowly and clearly. not Finnish woman in her 30s who sounds like Starbucks style of worker

[@michael.adamyk]

I will definitely do that!

[@lapinmaki]

Her Finnish is not so pure anymore.

[@tiialarissa]

Thats not finnish... That used to be finnish.

[@Finkele1]

she has been so long in usa. She makes mistakes in finnish. Not good example

[@PonytailCanyon]

I can understand the speaker, even easily. But she is still something like the worst Finnish speaker ever. X-)

[@eskoikonen3306]

She doesna sound a native speaker

[@DNA350ppm]

One notices that Jenni doesn't speak Finnish daily as much as English, but she did great, and I do believe she'll easily reach out and will find Finnish friends without any problems at all - a certain stiffness and influence on the pronunciation happens when one lives abroad. I guess if she spends just a week or month in Finland, she starts to sound exactly like her peers and relatives. Here is one example of fluent standard Finnish, on the topic of happiness in Finland - listen for the terms: onni = luck, happy = onnellinen, iloinen, happiness = onnellisuus, tyytyväisyys kzbin.inforrBR2Q2cMjk I'm happy you take an interest in Finnish. (Olen iloinen että suomi kiinnostaa sinua. Kivaa ett' oot kiinnostunu' suomesta.) In Finnish the country and the language look the same, except for the capital letter for the country: Suomi. Names of languages, weekdays, and months, are not written with an initial capital letter in Finnish. "Lauri on suomalainen insinööri. Tietysti hän puhuu suomea. Hän puhuu myös englantia ja ruotsia. Mutta hän on aina asunut Suomessa." = Lauri is a Finnish engineer. Of course he speaks Finnish. He also speaks English and Swedish. But he has always lived in Finland.

[@michael.adamyk]

@DNA350ppm thanks for that video, and for the fun facts! So in the video, is "onni" the root word and it has "modifiers" added to the end? Is some of that also used for the different grammatical cases? It's probably much more complex that than, I know...

[@DNA350ppm]

@@michael.adamyk Indeed, "onni" is a noun, and you can build on it for other uses. The stem is "onn-". English has two case: nominative and genitive. In the case of happiness, English uses the adjective "happy" as the base for other uses, and build on it to arrive at "happiness", the noun. So one has to be flexible when one translates. German has four cases, nominative, genitive, accusative, and dative. Russian has six cases, nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, prepositional. Finnish have a few more, and those "additional ones" are mostly used instead of prepositions. Pre-position means a little word preceeding an important word in a sentence. Finnish uses post-positions, i.e. certain endings to important words in a sentence, to specify the meaning and connection. So you are correct, those endings "modify" what is talked or written about. Yes, it might look very complex at first glance, but it is systematic and logical within the context of the Finnish language. The system is not more difficult to learn than to learn prepositions in English or French or German - each language might have some variations of their own compared to other languages. But in simple contexts it is not difficult. Let's look at "talo", the Finnish noun for house. You live *in a house* - in Finnish this is expressed with the ending: -ssa - which gives *talossa*. You have water in a glass. A glass is in Finnish *lasi*, and "in the glass" is in Finnish "lasissa". You came home "from school". School is *koulu* in Finnish, and "from school" is simply expressed with the help of an other ending - namely -sta - and so that gives "koulusta" meaning exactly the same as "from the school". Do not hesitate to learn Finnish. It is a bit strange for native English speakers at first, because the system has its own features, but it is also interesting. As in any language you need not learn to write novels for litterary prizes - your first goal might be to understand and be understood in an everyday setting. And Finns are very helpful and patient with anyone who takes an interest.

[@sssukka]

​​@@DNA350ppm to add to this good info, the modifiability (is that a word) goes much further than our 15 different noun cases. You can add to verbs, also; the classic example "juoksentelisinkohan" = "I wonder if I should run around aimlessly". Juosta=to run, juoksen=I run, juoksentelen=I run around aimlessly, juoksentelisin=I would run around aimlessly, juoksentelisinko=should I run around aimlessly. And the verb for fall/drop (accidentally)=pudota Pudottaa=to drop something on purpose Pudottautua=to drop yourself on purpose (like when skydiving) Pudotuttaa=to make someone else drop something. Putoilla=to repeatedly fall (not on purpose, like leaves from a tree) Pudotella=to repeatedly drop (on purpose). Am I missing some other form? Maybe "pudotutella" (to repeatedly make someone drop something) would be grammatically correct but it may be too weird to actually use! 😂