Congratulations on passing the YKI test! You’re in the right place if you’re wondering what’s next to advance your Finnish language skills.  

Here’s the uncomfortable truth – the YKI test is just a language test, and passing it doesn’t necessarily mean you can speak Finnish fluently. There’s a huge gap between achieving B1-B2 level and confidently using it in an academic or professional setting. 

What can possibly hold many of us back from making progress with Finnish? After feeling stuck for a long time, I retook the challenge with a different approach and spoke to three fellow learners, Vincent Dinh, Le Thuy and Ngoc Pham, to understand their journey to becoming fluent. 

In this article, we’ll discuss the challenges you might face in advancing your Finnish language skills and provide practical tips on overcoming them. 

Understanding the challenges

  • Spoken Finnish vs written Finnish: Spoken and written Finnish are vastly different from each other. 
  • Accents and slang: Accents and slang can make understanding Finnish even more complicated, and even native Finns sometimes struggle with them. 
  • English-speaking bubble: We make slow progress because we are surrounded by people who speak English or our mother tongue. 
  • Lack of advanced classes: Even in the Capital Area, very few places offered C1 – C2 language courses in Finnish. You need to quickly figure out how to guide your learning journey.

What can we do to get ahead? 

Play the long game.  

Getting to the C2 level takes an average learner roughly 1650 studying hours. In reality, it may take 2 – 3 years to become fully fluent after passing the B2-level language test. 

Therefore, be prepared to commit to a long-term learning plan and allocate your time wisely. Vincent Dinh, for example, said that he started learning Finnish every day since he arrived in Finland. Consistency eventually paid off for him. 

When I spoke to Le Thuy, she added that you must be realistic and prepared for trade-offs. At the intermediate level, building a meaningful relationship with your Finnish acquaintances and colleagues may feel impossible, as you may not be able to hold deep conversations yet. It’s frustrating and discouraging at times, but she reaffirmed that it would get easier after pushing through these first years. 

Active learning triumphs over passive learning 

It’s tempting to simply watch a Finnish clip on Youtube and call it a day. I made this mistake for years but gradually discovered the different techniques to grapple with spoken Finnish. Here’s how I do it: 

  • Choose a video or podcast with slightly more advanced vocabulary than your current level. I’d recommend listening to various topics and conversation formats so that you build up your vocabulary and get used to different conversational expressions.  
  • Use a transcription tool such as Sonix.ai to aid you with understanding spoken phrases. The tool’s accuracy can get up to 70% – 80% of the time, reducing the stress of deciphering slang and unfamiliar terms on your own. 
  • Shadowing and repetition can be powerful techniques. Vincent said he loves imitating accents, which helps him adjust his pronunciation and better understand people from different regions. 
  • Try re-telling what you’ve learned from the video in your own words. By doing so, you force your brain to comprehend the information and make connections with new words and phrases. 

Build a learning support system.  

Self-learning is powerful, but building your language-learning support system is equally important. 

  • Consider hiring a language tutor who can evaluate your language skills, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and devise a learning plan to tackle them. Be straightforward with your tutors about your targets so that they can recommend exercises suitable for your needs. 
  • You can find language partners via monicultural centres (monikulttuurikeskukset) or highschools for adults (aikuislukiot). If you need ideas of topics to talk about, check out this list to get inspiration for your conversations. 
  • Ask your colleague to speak Finnish with you during lunchtime or after work. Or, as Ngoc suggested, you can get comfortable by writing to your colleagues and asking them to proofread your emails. It may be scary when you cannot follow their conversations, so the key is to proactively raise questions and communicate with your colleagues whenever you need help. 

Vincent, Thuy and Ngoc all advised that the fastest way to advance is to put oneself out there and speak Finnish at every chance. Thuy admitted she herself had gone through many embarrassing moments of misinterpretation, but having thicker skin definitely helped her progress in the pursuit. 

Focus on clarity rather than perfection. 

At this stage, learning grammar rules may be of little additional value to you. Trying to get the correct form of genetiivi, partitiivi and nominatiivi while speaking can be counterproductive to fluency. Instead, aim to be understood. It is one surefire way to get you to speak Finnish with confidence. 

Key takeaways

Passing the YKI test is a great accomplishment, but your journey continues onwards. To advance your Finnish language skills, you need to be committed to a long-term learning plan and willing to put in the time and effort to actively immerse yourself in the language. With these tips and a consistent approach, you can confidently take the next step towards fluency in Finnish. 

Special thanks 

Vincent Dinh, Thuy Le and Ngoc Pham inspired this article with great insight into their learning journeys.  

  • Vincent Dinh is currently a Medical Student at Latvia University. Before moving to Latvia for his studies, he worked at HUS Helsinki. Vincent passed the YKI C2 level test. 
  • Many of you may have known about Thuy Le – She is one of VPF’s advisors and has been working at August Consulting for 6+ years. Check out her Aaltoliike podcast in Finnish on Spotify. 
  • Ngoc Pham is currently working as the Analytical Specialist at Oy Apotti Ab. She passed the YKI test in 2013 and advanced to full working proficiency a year later.

Author’s bio

Phuong Anh has been an avid Finnish learner since 2013. She’s a member of the VPF Finnish Speaking Club and loves to find tips to make the learning journey easier for herself and others.