I would have loved to have learned a little bit of the language before we traveled to the country, but here were a few reasons I did not. The main one? Pretty much everyone here in Helsinko speaks English, so it would have been a lot of work that just didn't seem necessary at the end of the day.
On top of that, well, Finnish is a pretty difficult ask because most of the words simply don't have the same root words as English. I don't speak French, but as someone whose life revolves around words, I love when we are in Montreal because the French language, when written out, reads somewhat like English. While French is tougher to decipher in its spoken form, I do feel a sense of accomplishment when I understand a sign or a restaurant menu in Montreal.
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In Finland, there are fewer cognates, so it's a lot more difficult. That's not to say it's impossible, as I was able to decipher that the teatteri just up the street from our hotel is in fact a theater (even if it also has a restaurant and bar attached). Hockey, meanwhile, is jääkiekko, which sounds similar when said out loud.
Still, words such as those are few and far between here. According to Wikipedia, the Department of Defense's Language Institute classifies Finnish as a level III language (of four levels) in terms of learning difficulty for native English speakers. I'm going to assume that means Finnish is pretty difficult.
PREVIOUS POSTCARDS FROM FINLAND: Checking out the local cuisine
So to this point, I've only mastered kiitos, but it's really all you need. One of our group's first trips here was to a coffee shop up the street from the hotel - if you like coffee, this is the place to be, as there are cafes just about everywhere you turn - and as we were waiting in line, two women leaving gave a hearty "Kiitos!" to the baristas on their way out.
Finns are not necessarily known for their ebullience, and they are famous for not seeing any purpose to small talk. But It's also not a mistake that the word I've seen most on signage here is tervetuloa.
It means "welcome," and everyone here has been more than welcoming on this trip.
Kiitos, Finland.
