Best digital tools for learning Finnish?

April 29, 2017 11:33 AM

My stepson is half-Finnish and very close to his relatives in Finland, but we live in the US. He wants to keep learning the language. Along with finding tutors, conversation, opportunities to visit the country, etc, I'd like to find him some digital tools. I can get him an old Android phone or iPod Touch to run apps on. The great Duolingo doesn't have a Finnish unit, unfortunately -- can anyone recommend apps or other learning tools for the language?

Ideally, the more fun and game-like the better -- he's nine, and really likes things with scores, points, leaderboards etc. (And of course recommendations for simple podcasts, cartoons and videos, etc, also welcome.) Thanks very much!

posted by Stevia Agave to Education (8 answers total)

Mango Languages has a Finnish conversational course. Mango is often available through public libraries for free. There is an for both android and apple.
posted by carrioncomfort at 11:57 AM on April 29, 2017

Memrise is similar to Duolingo and has quite a few Finnish courses - it's a bit rougher around the edges than Duolingo but great for languages that they don't do.
posted by Lluvia at 1:49 PM on April 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Not digital, but my friends who grew up speaking Finnish all attended the Finnish Concordia Language Villages camp. It's a great program.
posted by goggie at 2:31 PM on April 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Try the WordDive app. It's made in Finland by Finns, with Finnish as one of the available languages. I've used the Estonian language course and it's pretty good. Mostly focused on vocabulary, though you also pick up some grammar implicitly through reading the example sentences (and actually its possible that the Finnish version does have grammar, I think they do for some languages, just not Estonian). It's not cheap (£8/month) but you can try a small introductory unit free of charge to see if it'd suit him.
posted by penguin pie at 3:59 PM on April 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Seconding Concordia as a non-digital option (the exact opposite really, since no electronic devices are allowed there). They've been at it for decades and people ship their kids in from all over the country--there's foolproof transportation from and to the airport for every session.

It may seem bonkers to send a nine year old to sleepaway camp in nowheresville Minnesota but the place is truly legendary and worth every penny.

My kids have been going to the Spanish camp for a few years (my younger was ten the first year she went and looooooved it), so feel free to hit me up if you have any questions about the camp in general--I know from talking to people with experience in the other language villages that there's a lot of similarities amongst them. I am acquainted with a family whose kids have gone to the Finnish camp and I'd be happy to ask them about anything Finn-specific.
posted by padraigin at 8:55 PM on April 29, 2017

I've seen Glossika's Finnish learning materials praised at The Language Learners' Forum. If you search that forum you may find further suggestions.
posted by bertran at 12:42 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: As always here, this is wonderfully helpful advice across the spectrum of different approaches. Thanks very much everyone!
posted by Stevia Agave at 3:16 PM on April 30, 2017

I'm afraid both of these may lack the points systems he likes, but just in case they're helpful:

The "Pod101" people have a Finnish podcast and some free flashcard things:
https://www.finnishpod101.com/finnish-word-lists/?coreX=100
and a Finnish Word of the Day:
https://www.finnishpod101.com/finnish-phrases/

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The 50 Languages site offers Finnish:
https://www.50languages.com/phrasebook/em/fi/

You can download the audio and use the online lessons, and they have a free app as well.
posted by kristi at 10:21 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]