Study Guide

Objectives (course unit)

The course provides the basics of the Finnish language (estimated level A1.2)

After completing the course, the students will be able to:
• pronounce Finnish quite correctly
• understand and use short and simply structured expressions that concern basic
situations related to everyday life (introducing oneself and one’s family, simple shopping and food)
• learn to build up their vocabulary
• learn to use the basic structure of Finnish
• know, use and understand simple spoken and written expressions connected to
everyday life.

Content (course unit)

• study book Suomen mestari 1, chapters 1–4, 8:
o pronunciation exercises
o vocabulary exercises
o structural exercises
o conversational and drama exercises
o listening comprehension exercises
o reading comprehension exercises
o written exercises.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2) (course unit)

Students have been able to complete all the assignments acceptably and attended contact lessons at least 80 %. They can exchange greetings/farewells, introduce oneself and name a few objects. It is hard for them to attend a simple conversation or create a short text. Their pronunciation causes difficulties to understand meanings of produced speech.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4) (course unit)

Students have been able to complete all the assignments acceptably and attended contact lessons at least 80 %. Students have an active attitude towards studying Finnish language showing that by completing tasks according to the schedule. They are able to cope in the most common simple everyday situations. Students can use typical grammatical structures e.g. basic verb conjugation, possessive structure and partitive in simple sentences. They can write brief texts and pronounce Finnish quite clearly.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5) (course unit)

Students have been able to complete all the assignments acceptably and attended contact lessons at least 80 %. They have a positive and active attitude towards learning language. They can pronounce Finnish distinctively and are able to use suitable and varied expressions in everyday situations using grammar almost correctly. Students can participate in a conversation asking and responding to questions about topics studied in the course. They can write simple texts and recombine words and phrases into new sentences.

Location and time

TAMK main campus

Exam schedules

Monday 5 December written test

Assessment methods and criteria

Final tests (60 % weight on the evaluation)
Home work (25 % weight on the evaluation)
Meeting participation (15 % weight on the evaluation)

Notice that the evaluation criteria below are general descriptions of different student profiles, and will be elaborated in the orientation meeting.

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

We will have course meetings in a classroom. In addition to that, you will get home work that you need to submit. In the end of the course, we will have an exam in oral and written skills.

We practice speaking, listening, writing and reading. Furthermore, you will get acquainted with the basics of Finnish pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.

Learning materials

Coursebook Suomen mestari 1 and teacher's material

Student workload

ECTs course means 5 x 27 hours of work.
Group meetings twice a week.
Home work: 6-8 hours per week (may vary individually) and active attitude towards Finnish-speaking society.

Content scheduling

Basic information of Finnish language, pronunciation, greetings, numbers, time expressions, positive and negative verb conjugation, verb types, question sentences, nationalities, simple declensions, everyday vocabulary e.g.
• How is Finnish pronounced?
• Why do I need to pay attention to how words are written?
• How to make simple statements, ask questions and answer them?
• How to write short messages in Finnish?
• What to say in situations like shopping, travelling in Finland?
• How to be polite, and build up small talk in Finnish?

Completion alternatives

Not available

Practical training and working life cooperation

Not available.

Assessment criteria - fail (0) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

Uncompleted assignments, big difficulties to understand and produce the simplest basic phrases and expressions.

Assessment criteria - satisfactory (1-2) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

The student has completed all the assignments acceptably and attended contact lessons at least 80 %. The student is able to tell a few things about oneself in Finnish comprehensively. The student recognises typical grammatic structures like possessive structure, verb types and partitive.

Assessment criteria - good (3-4) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

The student has an active attitude towards studying Finnish language and culture showing that by completing written tasks according to the schedule. The student is able to use the typical grammatic structures like possessive structure, verb types and partitive in simple sentences. He/she is able to cope in most common everyday situations like introducing and shopping and tell simple things about his/her day, family, spare time etc. The student is able to write brief messages (e.g. e-mail, text message, and post card) in Finnish and is able to pronounce Finnish clearly enough.

Assessment criteria - excellent (5) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

The student has a positive and active attitude towards learning Finnish and is genuinely interested in Finnish culture, and brings it up by comparing Finnish culture to his/her own. He/she can pronounce Finnish distinctively and is able to use suitable and varied expressions in everyday situations using grammar almost correctly. The student is able to write brief texts in Finnish, which are mostly correct.