Add hints or finnish speakers page

index.rst

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    verbs
    stems
    references
+   speaksimply
 
 Upcoming chapters:
 

speaksimply.rst

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+Speak simply - hints for Finnish speakers
+=========================================
+
+People *can and do* learn Finnish all the time, but many people end up
+not for years and years.  Certainly the high penetration of English is
+part of that.  This page gives some hints on how Finnish speakers can
+help Finnish learners, because after all immersion and daily usage is
+key to learning any language.
+
+Finnish has many dialects, and the form we learn in classes isn't even
+what most people speak.  So, a bit of help can help us to learn much
+better.
+
+
+Talk about unimportant things
+-----------------------------
+It's easy to speak Finnish - you just don't speak.  But that doesn't
+help learning.
+
+I have said "if it's not important, I can understand Finnish well.  If
+it's important, I usually can't understand much."  What this basically
+means that, if something is important, you end up switching to English
+because we have stuff to get done.  Try to talk about unimportant
+things.
+
+
+Ask people about what they are learning
+---------------------------------------
+Ask people about what they are learning in classes, so you know what
+level they are at and what types of topics they know about.  That way
+you know how far to go and what the general progression is.  Our
+textbooks tend to go in themes for each chapter, if you're talking
+about something that we haven't covered yet, we'll have no idea how to
+listen or speak.  Same for different word forms, etc.
+
+Suomen Mestari is the most often used book these days (for adults),
+and this is roughly how it goes.  One book is roughly half a year for
+a non-intensive course:
+* (to be added later)
+
+
+Don't give up
+-------------
+Don't give up when speaking Finnish to people... they may be slow
+responding, but that's OK.  Since you're talking about unimportant
+things, you can take some time.
+
+
+Use Finnish words
+-----------------
+Have to think about a word in English?  Say the Finnish one first,
+help the person learn it.  Maybe even just say the Finnish one and
+leave it at that, let the person learn it.  Maybe even try
+intentionally using Finnish words.  This is easiest with nouns but you
+could try others, too.
+
+
+Try to separate words well
+--------------------------
+Finnish flows well, but this means that it can be hard to tell the
+words apart.  Don't make it unnatural, but don't try to be as fast as
+you can.  Can you make the separation of the words a bit easier to
+tell?  We tell them not just by spaces, but also by emphasis of the
+first syllable of each word.
+
+
+Try to articulate words well, especially the ends
+-------------------------------------------------
+In Finnish, you have to be able to understand words from both the
+front and end (because the ends have the forms).  But often times the
+ends vanish, change, or otherwise are hard to pick up.  When that
+happens, us learners aren't able to pick up what is said - and
+possible can't understand the whole sentence.  If you optimize the
+ends of words (as spoken Finnish does), we can't figure out what you
+are trying to say.
+
+
+Consider your puhekieli
+-----------------------
+It takes a long time for people to begin learning any spoken
+language - so if you are talking to beginners, they won't have mental
+preparation to understand what you are saying.  Of course it can be
+hard to speak kirjekieli, so try to find a proper balance.  You can
+expect we should learn the simplest puhekieli, but maybe try to
+simplify some of the more advanced forms.  But of course add more as
+time goes on.
+
+
+Listen to bad Finnish
+---------------------
+Unlike some languages, there is less existing culture of hearing bad
+Finnish on a daily basis.  So if someone tries to say something, but
+says it only slightly wrong, the listener may have no idea what it
+was.  This is frustrating, but more importantly switches the
+conversation to English.  Be happy with bad Finnish and try to listen
+to it.
+
+I don't know if it's even possible to find bad Finnish to practice...
+
+
+It's easier to read and write
+-----------------------------
+When mailing/messaging people, do use more simple Finnish even if they
+might not know right away.  It's good practice.  When in a big
+conversation with multiple people, mention them by name so that they
+know that they should pay attention to understanding it.  When
+writing, all the same things on this page apply (especially the
+spelling the word endings out fully part).
+
+
+
+Don't hide Finnish text
+-----------------------
+This isn't really a day-to-day speaking thing, but still somewhat
+relevant.  Finland has a strong bilingual culture, but emphasis is
+hiding the other language (put another way, making sure that language
+A speakers never have to see language B).  But that's the opposite of
+what you should do with English/Finnish translations: you should not
+be worried if the untranslated articles appear in Finnish too.  Put
+another way, consider the Aalto University websites.  When in English
+mode, anything that isn't translated just disappears.  It would be
+better to have it appear in Finnish still - it's easy to skip over if
+you don't want it, but if you are learning it gives you exposure.
+Plus you know that something exists.
+
+
+Make domain-specific cheatsheets
+--------------------------------
+In many languages, advanced and technical terms are similar.  Not
+necessarily in Finnish, yet these advanced terms are needed for work
+and stuff - and not taught in any basic courses.  My idea is that
+domains can make specific cheatsheets of common terms so that people
+there can learn what is relevant to them.  If anyone wants to use
+Hyvää Päivää to host this, let me know.