adventuresinlearningfinnish - Tumblr blog

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

Here's a particularly Finnish classified ad:

Kokenut raitis autoileva Joulupukki kera tontun.

Experienced sober driving Santa Claus with an elf.

My partner tells me that one year a hired Santa turned up drunk at their house, hit on her grandma and refused to leave, so I guess you need to specify! 

For those of you that don't know, Santa appears in-person in Finnish houses, there's a song, and he hands out gifts. And so the kids don't recognise him there's a business of Santas for hire!

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

"Tukkoisuutta" (congestion)

"Ilmatieallergiaa" (airborne allergies)

"Poskiontelovaivoja" (sinus problems)

"Nuha" (runny nose or cold?)

"Astma" (asthma)

Found this clearing out Annopin vanha talo. I wonder if Finns still use these?!

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

It's a real thing 😂 🥔

The Finn just announced that we’d handle some things “one potato at a time”.

Another idiom she has seamlessly translated from Finnish into English that’s completely wonderful.

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

Halloween ideas for kids from 1983 Finland.

Thanks, Finland, now I can never sleep again in case the breadface children sneak into my bedroom.

Vau, miten makeet naamarit

Wow, what sweet masks

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

Presenting the MINI SAUNA!

Finns love sauna so much that there's a market for a 1m³ hot box! Perfect for that 40m² flat in the centre of Helsinki.

Tunnissa pystyyn ja kunnon löylyyn

So this means up in an hour and into a proper ... and then Google says proper bath (wrong), chatgpt says good sauna which I think misses the mark?

Doesn't it mean a proper löyly? And is there even a translation for that? 😄

löyly — the steam that rises from the sauna stove (kiuas) or the heat of the sauna

Wikipedia tells me that löyly derives from earlier languages meaning soul, spirit or ghost, which I do find rather lovely and poetic.

*I should point out that I found this in a magazine from 1983 😁

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

Sushi sounds delicious in Finnish.

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

I pass two young kids in the street.

Soon after I hear, 'Morjens, morjens!' 

I figure it's not directed at me so just walk on. 

Next, louder, 'Mikä sun nimi on?' 

Do they mean me? I hesitate...

'Sun nimi on PEKKA!' they yell and when I look round they're folded up in hysterics laughing.

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

The Finn just announced that we'd handle some things "one potato at a time".

Another idiom she has seamlessly translated from Finnish into English that's completely wonderful.

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

Finland, we're on holiday.

The Finn says, 'Look, I've been bitten by something on my Lady Toe.'

'Your...' I try to remain nonchalant, 'Lady Toe?'

'Yes.' she says, pointing to it.

'Is there... a Gentleman Toe?'

And apparently there is—toes have gender in Finnish, she tells me.

'What, all of them?' I ask, looking at her feet.

'No, don't be silly. Just the first two.'

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

If you had to summarise Finland in a photo, this might do. Is there a name for this genre of handles in mökkis? Something that middle-aged people suddenly have an overpowering urge to craft? 😂

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

Easter is my least favourite Finnish holiday, mainly because I can't pronounce it.

Hyvää pääsiäistä!

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

I asked ChatGPT for some polyglot fun sentences. Here's what it came up with.

"Ich hatte einen Traum in Roma, but it was just a pizza my mind."

"I was reading a livre about a man who had a pomme de terre for a head, it was truly un putain de roman."

"I went to Helsinki and asked for a jäätee, but they gave me a tea that was just jäätävä."

"I met a hombre who said he was très contente with his new trabajo, but when I asked him what he did, he just shrugged and said, 'C'est compliqué.'"

"Ich wollte einen pizza margherita bestellen, but the waiter told me they only had eine Margherita ohne Käse."

"Ich wollte eine pizza mit salsiccia und funghi bestellen, but the pizzaiolo said they only had uma pizza com linguiça e cogumelos."

It's a little pizza obsessed I think! :D

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

I made a game with ChatGPT where we learn Finnish by doing a dungeon crawl 🗡️. I can only imagine how much fun this will be when it's all hooked up with video and voice acting!

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

Inflation-busting recipes. Picked up this amazing 1983 recipe book today in a thrift shop. The Finn tells me that velli = gruel? Vesi = water. So, water gruel? It's literally rye flour and water... 😬

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

This causes me actual pain. Too many times in life I've been excited, ordering a cheese and onion pie, and been absolutely devastated after recieving a cheese and onion quiche.

Piirakka - pie, tart, quiche, pasty (all of them, apparently)

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

My Finnish partner sent a message to a WhatsApp group we're in saying:

'Grhm, what about us?'

So I asked her, 'What's grhm?'

'You know, that noise you make to get attention? I tried to translate it into English.'

'What is it in Finnish?' I asked.

'Kröhöm!' she said.

I asked her to write it down.

She then spent some time making the noise.

'Oh, ahem!' I guess finally.

'I guess.'

I love the difference in onomatopoeic words in languages!

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

There's a photo of a little bird in the Helsingin Sanomat, I wonder that that is in English? 🐦

Töpökääpiötypäkkö

Now that is a WORD.

Cute little dwarf? says Google translate.

I honestly don't even know how to break this word down. Kääpiö is 'dwarf'? I can't figure out the rest, like where does cute come from, for a start?

It is cute though...