Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7154 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 9 of 40 12 December 2013 at 4:10am | IP Logged |
Even though I had mentioned that I'm not keen on leading challenges, I got second thoughts after thinking again about how the few challenges in *jäŋe/*ledús fared.
I'm not thinking of starting a team challenge per se, but for my idea to be effective, it would need all members to be familiar with the following at minimum:
i) Can recognize the present tense on sight, and can write a sentence with that tense with or without consulting a grammar book or conjugational chart.
ii) Knows the personal pronouns (6 of them) in nominative, genitive, partitive and accusative.
iii) Can write a sentence using the present tense of "to be" in the affirmative (e.g. Minä olen mies - "I am a man") and negative (e.g. Minä en ole suomalainen - "I am not a Finn")
iv) Can express possessive concepts in present tense (i.e. Minulla on kirja "I have a book" and Minun kirjani on uusi "My book is new")
v) Has some familiarity with the Finnish direct object and cases related to location or direction (e.g. Talo on iso. Minä olen isossa talossa "The house is big. I am in the big house"). Mastery or being able to express these concepts grammatically on the first try is not necessary.
Beginners usually encounter these topics in their studies because they are high-frequency. I think that by the second half of the year, beginners on this team will be able to do i) to v) and then some. In addition beginners would probably have sufficient vocabulary to string a few coherent sentences with confidence using the grammar that they've already learned.
What do you think, Tollpatchig, milesaway? It would be great if I can get everyone involved as what I'm thinking of doing could ease you into deeper into Finnish in a fun way while also build some team spirit.
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Tollpatchig Senior Member United States Joined 4005 days ago 161 posts - 210 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Maltese
| Message 10 of 40 12 December 2013 at 5:27am | IP Logged |
Wow. I can tell you that I can only really do i) and iii).
I'm familiar with the whole -lla + form of olla = haben, but I don't know if I need to put the following noun in the Accusative. However, I find it hard to remember all those consonant changes when you add the endings. Suffice it to say, I just don't get Finnish grammar. I had hoped that my experience with German cases and adjective declination would make Finnish cases a breeze but that theory isn't holding water it seems.
Anyways, I'll definitely work on getting my Finnish up to speed.
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Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7154 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 11 of 40 12 December 2013 at 5:58am | IP Logged |
I wasn't thinking of trying out my idea until the second half of the year so there's some time left for you. Whatever courses you use in the meantime will get you familiar with these concepts which in a pinch will do the trick.
I advise you strongly to look at Finnish with an open mind rather than try to find parallels in German. You'll get in even more trouble than now if you stick to that habit as you continue because the way in which Finnish expresses concepts that on the surface have the same name as descriptions of German grammar (e.g. definiteness, direct object, perfect tense) are very different from how a native German monoglot thinks of them.
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milesaway Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 4329 days ago 134 posts - 181 votes Speaks: French, English*, Russian Studies: Finnish, Sign Language
| Message 12 of 40 12 December 2013 at 8:59am | IP Logged |
I can do 1, 3, 4, and 5. The second is still a work in progress.
My Finnish studies will pick up again in February. I'll be doing some Pimsleur and Suomen
Mestari until then, but at the moment I'm focusing on Icelandic as I'll be going there in
February and would like to know some basic phrases. So any challenges in Finnish would be
more successful (for me) if we could do them after February.
I'm also hoping to make a few trips to Finland this year, possibly in April/May, and
again in the summer. So, maybe I'll suck less by December, at least, that's the plan. :D
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Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7154 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 13 of 40 16 December 2013 at 5:46pm | IP Logged |
With two weeks left in the year, it seems that this team has a good chance to come into being for 2014, small as it is right now.
Нow about suggestions for the team's name? A motto? Song even?
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milesaway Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 4329 days ago 134 posts - 181 votes Speaks: French, English*, Russian Studies: Finnish, Sign Language
| Message 14 of 40 16 December 2013 at 8:36pm | IP Logged |
I don't have any grand ideas. The only two ideas I have for a team name are: Voitto and
Toivo.
My musical tastes generally go towards Finnish rock. So I'm not sure they'd make great
team songs.
I'm optimistic about 2014. Here's hoping I can start making some real progress and having
conversations in Finnish this year.
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Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7154 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 15 of 40 17 December 2013 at 6:08pm | IP Logged |
For names, here are a few ideas that came to mind:
- Team Sisu
(sisu ~ "determination, guts, will")
- Team Karhu / Laulujousten / Leijona / Suomenhevonen / Seitsenpistepirkko / Suomenpystykorva
(karhu "bear", laulujoutsen "Whooper swan", leijona "lion", suomenhevonen "Finnhorse", seitsenpistepirkko "seven-spotted ladybug", suomenpystykorva "Finnish spitz" - various creatures associated with Finland)
Our motto could be the proverb Tyvestä puuhun noustaan "one climbs the tree from the base" with the tree representing the language (cf. "learn to walk before you run")
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Tollpatchig Senior Member United States Joined 4005 days ago 161 posts - 210 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Maltese
| Message 16 of 40 19 December 2013 at 4:31pm | IP Logged |
Chung wrote:
I wasn't thinking of trying out my idea until the second half of the year so there's some time left for you. Whatever courses you use in the meantime will get you familiar with these concepts which in a pinch will do the trick.
I advise you strongly to look at Finnish with an open mind rather than try to find parallels in German. You'll get in even more trouble than now if you stick to that habit as you continue because the way in which Finnish expresses concepts that on the surface have the same name as descriptions of German grammar (e.g. definiteness, direct object, perfect tense) are very different from how a native German monoglot thinks of them. |
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Oh yeah, I'm definitely already seeing it isn't doing me much good, so let's break that habit before I start. As for the names, I'm not really feeling the whole ladybug thing, but I like the other suggestions. I can't really suggest anything since my knowledge is limited. I only know the names of songs by Finnish bands.
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