#startyourFinnish #speaking Speaking Finnish to yourself?

Summer is coming next week. It means that time of course breaks, summer vacations and so on is coming as well. For many of us it means getting away from Finnish language environment for a while. Probably, you know the feeling that you feel a bit uncomfortable having to speak a foreign language even after staying a couple of days at home. Summer can make it worse, even though you really need a deserved holiday!

Here are some tacticts that may help you not to lose your speaking competence (and even boost it):


1. Speak to yourself. It may sound a bit difficult, but it does help. Talk about what makes you happy or worries you. Sounds a bit as a psychological advice, but it is the way to grow your vocabulary fast without getting into the academic debris.

2. Talk through what you are writing. You can actually talk through the e-mails in Finnish you send (mentally translating them from written Finnish to spoken Finnish) or the messenges that you send to your friends.

3. Speak to your dog. I do not have a dog, but my friends say that it helps. What I do practice, is speaking to dogs in public transport. It is a proven way to start a conversation and the dog will not blame you for your grammar mistakes (neither will its owner).

4. Speak to the podcasts. Supla.fi offers a compilation of podcasts where you can listen to podcasts and reply to them on your own... Or whatever you like, if you feel that "speak to yourself" advice confuses you or you need some topic for discussion.

5. Sing. I know a person who learned Finnish by listening to and singing gospel songs in Finnish just because he likes gospel songs. Just find your favourite music and sing along! To combine your speaking skills with networking skills, please check the most popular karaoke songs in Finnish (here I am still not that good guide).