Foreign university students in Finland are keen to learn Finnish

In summertime foreign university students in Finland work hard on their Finnish.  Before beginning their exchange period in Finland over 300 ERASMUS students study the rudiments of Finnish.  Moreover, 170 university students of Finnish from all over the world participate in intensive courses on different levels intended to improve their practical proficiency.

Preparatory courses are arranged for ERASMUS students in both Finnish and Swedish.  This year the language courses attracted almost 600 applicants from 24 European countries.  The Germans are the most interested.  Others keen to learn Finnish include Spanish, Czech, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, French and Austrian university students.

The ERASMUS language courses are held in August in six towns:  Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Rovaniemi, Tampere, Turku and Vaasa, the most popular of these being Helsinki, Tampere and Jyväskylä.

Intensive courses in Finnish are offered in the towns of Savonlinna, Vaasa, Oulu and Jyväskylä. Participants in summer courses come from countries in which Finnish is offered as a university subject.  Finnish language and culture are taught at 101 universities in 30 countries all over the world.  Russia and Germany have the most universities offering Finnish, and traditionally most course participants come from these countries, also this year.  The second largest contingents come from Hungary and Poland this year – countries in which Finnish language at university level enjoys a long tradition and firmly established position.  The arrivals from farthest away this year come from Japan, Canada and the USA.

In addition to language practice and grammar revision the courses offer instruction in Finnish culture and literature and enhance participants’ knowledge about Finland.