A bold plunge into a Finnish-language work environment helps in learning the language
Programmer Aleksei Anisimov had studied Finnish before moving to Finland. He had hoped that, in the new workplace, his language skills would naturally develop thanks to Finnish-speaking colleagues. However, the official language of the international company was English.
“There weren't many opportunities to speak Finnish in an English-speaking workplace,” Aleksei says.
Instead of taking a language course, Aleksei wanted private instruction where the time could be spent more efficiently, focusing solely on his learning. The employer agreed to pay for Aleksei’s lessons, and, according to Aleksei, the teacher was very good.
A boost from independent practice
In addition to private lessons, he was able to practise Finnish with the help of television series, blog entries and YouTube videos. Reading a foreign language is frustrating if you don’t understand anything, but Aleksei got some successful experiences from books written in simplified language. At the same time, he had the chance to practise his conversational skills by messaging with friends, in addition to which his rowing teammates helped Aleksei with the language.
“These elements worked together well to improve my Finnish. After that, I gained a little courage and started taking every opportunity I had to speak Finnish.”
Aleksei also found opportunities to speak Finnish at the workplace. He says that he understands written language better than spoken, which makes it good that he had the option to write messages to clients in Finnish.
Into the Finnish-language work environment
Later, Aleksei changed jobs to another Finnish IT company. In the new Finnish-language work environment, everyone was extremely helpful and prepared to switch languages, but Aleksei refused:
“Everyone spoke Finnish, and it felt a little strange that it was only for my sake that all of my colleagues should speak English.”
In the current workplace, English is used as a second working language, if necessary, but daily meetings are held in Finnish. Over the course of a year, speaking Finnish in the work environment has enormously improved Aleksei’s language skills, and he is happy with his decision to switch jobs.
Interview and text by Lyyra Virtanen.
Listen to an excerpt from Alexei Anisimov's interview on YouTube:
A bold plunge into a Finnish-language work environment helps in learning the language
Aleksei Anisimov, who works in the IT sector, knows that Finnish is difficult to learn when the language is not used at the workplace. Aleksei describes the things that have helped and supported him in learning Finnish. Interview by Lyyra Virtanen (in Finnish).
