Colloquial Finnish: The Complete Course for Beginners

by Daniel Abondolo

Colloquial Finnish is easy to use with no prior knowledge of the language required. These CDs are recorded by native Finnish speakers and will play on any audio system. The material can be used on its own or to accompany the book, helping you with pronunciation and listening skills.

Paperback

First published December 18, 1997

Reviews

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text is a great addition to my Finnish learning library. I find it very practical for learning grammar. I probably wouldn't use this by itself because it is so grammar focused but now that I am at an A2 level this book really helps me fill in the gaps for grammatical structures. The topics are very conversationally relevant and it's easier to search (esp in digital copy) to find the grammar topic I need using basic types of things I want to say.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Routledge's Colloquial language series, not least because they make the audio available for free on their website, so I don't have to fuss with CDs, download codes or anything like that. I decided to give Colloquial Finnish a try because it never hurts to review. To my enormous surprise, I recognized one of the voices in the dialogs - my professor Riitta-Liisa Valijärvi had apparently lent her voice to the book.
I was shocked how quickly the pace of grammar in the book jumps from 0 to 60, but I suppose that's simply unavoidable for Finnish, which is so different from English or other Indo-European languages. I was really pleased with the book's (well-defined) blend of formal and colloquial Finnish; in contrast to the extreme slang in the book Kato Hei, this book maintained a register that felt familiar and natural to me. I don't know how I would have perceived this book if I had approached it as a total beginner, but for review purposes it was excellent. I could see myself re-reading it on the ferry to Finland as a last-minute crash-course refresher.

[Christian Crowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for advanced learners, and I'll return to it when I've gotten farther in my studies. The etymology info is particularly helpful, like indicating the glottal stop following words like ole and huone

[Moud Barthez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isn't that Easy to start with, but it's kinda good.
it should be the 5th or the 10th.
B1 level i guess