Learn Finnish by My Way

Hi there,

To be honest, I don’t think it’s very important for you to know who I am.

What matters more is the story behind this project. Learn Finnish by My Way started with a simple feeling: gratitude.

When I moved to Finland, I received the opportunity to attend an integration course funded by the Finnish government. I was fortunate to have amazing teachers, supportive classmates, and access to education that helped me build the foundation of my Finnish language skills. At the time, I felt incredibly lucky. I was learning Finnish for free, and I wanted to give something back.

So in 2019, after only a couple of years of learning Finnish myself, I created Learn Finnish by My Way as a place to share what I was learning along the way. Back then, my vision was simple. I wanted more people around the world to discover the Finnish language. I remember joking that my dream was to make Finnish more popular internationally. It sounded a little crazy, even to me. But I genuinely loved the language. To this day, I still think Finnish is one of the most beautiful languages in the world.

Looking back, however, I realize that I was still very new to Finland. I had passed YKI, studied Finnish intensively, and could communicate well, but I didn’t yet have much real-life experience of living in Finnish society.

A lot has changed since then.

2026 marks ten years since I moved to Finland. I have now lived in Finland for a decade, been a Finnish citizen for several years, raised children in Finland, worked in Finnish environments, dealt with Finnish bureaucracy, followed Finnish news, and experienced everyday life as part of Finnish society.

In many ways, Finnish is no longer just a language I study. It has become part of my life. And that has changed the direction of this project. Today, Learn Finnish by My Way is no longer only about grammar tips or vocabulary lists. It is about helping learners experience Finnish as it is actually used in real life.

Through:

• social media posts
• podcasts
• comments
• conversations
• books
• news
• everyday Finnish culture

Because I believe language is not something that exists only in textbooks.

Language lives in people.

Language lives in stories.

Language lives in everyday life.

One thing I learned over the years is that there is no single “right” way to learn Finnish. Despite the name, Learn Finnish by My Way does not mean that you should learn Finnish exactly the way I did.

We come from different countries.

We speak different native languages.

We have different goals, interests, and learning styles.

Your way may be completely different from mine.

And that’s perfectly okay. My goal is simply to share what has worked for me, so that you can take what is useful and adapt it to your own journey.

As this community has grown, I have felt an increasing sense of responsibility. The more people who follow this project, the more I realize how important it is to provide useful, honest, and practical content. Especially for learners who live outside Finland and may not have many opportunities to interact with the language in daily life.

That is why this project means so much to me. I want to help bring real Finnish to people wherever they are in the world. I want to show that learning Finnish is possible, even if you don’t live in Finland.

And most importantly, I want to encourage you to keep going when the language feels difficult. Because every Finnish speaker started as a beginner. Including me.

Thank you for being part of this journey. I hope Learn Finnish by My Way helps you build your own relationship with the Finnish language — not my way, but your way.