Finnish is the official language of (suomi or suomen kieli) Finland. Finland is located in Northern Europe and the population is 5,402,758. This country is known for its advanced farming techniques. Today, Finland is an industrialized economy. A large number of its citizens speak fluent English in addition to Finnish. This northern European country is close to Sweden, Russia, the Baltic Sea, and the Bothnia Gulf. It is very cold in Finland. The temps drop to -34 to -45 in winter months. Take a trip to Finland and you will learn that 70% to 75% of the country is forest.
Most people in Finland speak Finnish as the Finnish language is taught in schools and universities. In fact, ninety-one percent of the people in Finland speak Finnish. There are basically two official languages in Finland. The first official language is Finnish and the second official language is Swedish. There are many theories about how this language originated. Some writers say the language may have originated from the Pro-Uralic language near the Ural Mountains. The Uralic language and the Finnish language are similar in grammar. Today, the Finnish language is taught all around the world.
The people of Finland communicate by using many methods. They use land phones and cell phones. The Finns have 1.25 million land phones in operation. There are 8.39 million mobile phone users in the country. Television stations and radio stations are used to communicate information to the citizens of Finland. Citizens watch two publicly-owned television stations and one privately-owned television station. Public radio broadcasting of the Finnish language is made by 13 national and 25 regional radio stations. People in Finland also use the Internet to communicate. There are 4.3 million citizens in the country that use the web.
The Finnish language is widely used and taught in institutions of higher learning. According to the Defence Language Institute, Finnish is a level 3 language on a level 4 scale. This means that if you speak English it can be difficult to learn. Hannele Branch, a Finnish lecturer, says that “Finnish is a very demanding language.” Finnish language courses are offered at universities, adult education centres, high schools and private language schools. In most cases, you will be charged a fee for the course. You can also study this language online. There are 10 Summer Universities in Finland that offer Finnish language courses.
Contact Axis Translations for assistance with Finnish translation and transcription.
