Finding fun and finishing Finnish

 I started learning Finnish on Duolingo for LILT in December 2023.

So far I have learned a few words which I am listing alphabetically for my and your convenience.

Start by learning an easy word, hei for hello, like the American and increasingly Briish hi. Double it for goodbye. Hei hei.

and is ja.

Hello and goodbye would be hei ja hei hei.

Does that mean that if you are on the phone and say hello, hello, hei hei, you are saying goodbye? Better stick to the alternative word for hello, terve.

Another oddity, for us English speakers, is that terve is hello, and tervetuloa is welcome. Hello and welcome is terve ja tervetuloa.

English - Finnish (Pronunciation in brackets)

and - ja

cathedral - katedraali

cheers - kippis

congratulations - paljon onnea

funny - hauska river, bridge new, town, city, cathedral

gate - portti

goodbye - hei hei / moi moi

hello - hei (hay) moi / terve

hotel - hotelli

merry Christmas and happy new year - Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!  

salt - suola

thank you - kiitos (keetos)

welcome - tervetuloa

well - no 

yay - jee

you - sina (double dot on the a)

Finnish - English

hauska - funny

hei - hello

hei hei - goodbye

hotelli - hotel

Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!  - Merry Christmas and happy New Year

ja - and

jee - yay

katedraali - cathedral

kippis - cheers

keetos (keetos) - thank you

moi - hello

moi moi - goodbye

no - well

paljon (j pronounced like y) onnea - congratulations

portti - gate

sina double dot on the a, - you

suola - salt

terve - goodbye

tervetuloa - welcome

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

wikivoyage phrasebook Finnish

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Finnish_phrasebook

Confusions - also called False Friends

Hei hei is not hello hello but goodbye.

Ja is not yes but and.

No in Finish is not no but well.

I am updating this regularly in the coming month, then intermittently, so keep coming back.

Please share links to your faourite posts.

Next meeting is