Learn Finnish
Finnish is the rare language whose spelling is a complete description of its pronunciation: one letter, one sound, every time, nothing silent and nothing altered by its neighbours. The reading barrier is gone in an afternoon, so iLexiBox uses the on-ramp for the two systems that actually govern Finnish — where the beat falls, and which vowels may share a word.
Start at the alphabet
The Finnish on-ramp is written by hand, not generated, and it is 482 cards long. Every card is spoken in a recorded Finnish voice, and what you get right is scheduled for review rather than shown again at random.
- 29letters
- 10digits
- 23pronunciation rules
- 300core words
- 60everyday phrases
- 60sentences
Three of the pronunciation cards, exactly as the on-ramp teaches them:
- Suomi — one letter, one sound — always. Finnish spelling has no exceptions, nothing silent and nothing that changes with its neighbours, so a word is said exactly as it is written and written exactly as it is saidHelsinki — Helsinki, the capital of Finland
- kysymys — stress falls on the FIRST syllable of every word, without exception — however long the word, however many endings you glue on, the beat never moves. A lighter secondary beat lands on the third syllablekirjasto — library
- a, o, u — ä, ö, y — e, i — the eight vowels sit in three groups: BACK (a, o, u), FRONT (ä, ö, y) and NEUTRAL (e, i). A back vowel and a front vowel never share a word; e and i go with either. This is vowel harmony, and it decides the shape of every ending you will ever addkylä — village
Your first Finnish phrases
The first phrase and sentence cards of the on-ramp, each spoken in a recorded voice:
- Mitä kuuluu? MEE-ta KOO-looh — how are you?
- Kiitos hyvää. KEE-tohs HEW-vaa — I’m fine, thank you
- Mikä sinun nimesi on? MEE-ka SEE-noon NEE-meh-see ohn — what is your name?
- Minä olen opiskelija. MEE-na OH-len OH-pees-keh-lee-yah — I am a student.
- Nimeni on Tuomas. NEE-meh-nee ohn TWOH-mahs — My name is Tuomas.
Then material that does not run out
Above the on-ramp sit the practice path (A1 to C2), Make a text at your level and the album: more than 2,700 photographs, each captioned and spoken in Finnish. Finnish has practice and tools, not lessons — the only course on iLexiBox is the full English course (how each part works).
What Finnish actually costs a beginner
Stress is always on the first syllable, however long the word, which is the easy half. Vowel harmony is not: the eight vowels split into back a, o, u, front ä, ö, y and neutral e, i; a back and a front vowel never share a word; and the group decides the shape of every ending you will ever attach. Since Finnish does nearly all of its grammar with endings, harmony is not a detail but the gate to the whole system. Length matters too, in vowels and consonants alike — tuli, tuuli and tulli are three words — and length is a thing to hear, so it is on the audio.
The full English course, A1–C1 →