Finland as a country

   I've talked a lot about the Finnish language...probably because that's what my blog is about. However I should waste one post on teaching people about the culture and geography of Finland. The culture and lifestyle there is a bit different then the U.S.. The changes aren't that significant but they are big enough changes that you would notice the. The countries climate is similar to the northern U.S., if you've ever been to Michigan, Minnesota, or Wisconsin then you know what it feels like to go to Finland. We're so used to the U.S. but you may not find Finland as that big of a change.

   I'll start you off with some fun facts about Finland. If you've ever been to Finland then you know when I mention a sauna you should know what I'm talking about. Almost every family in Finland has a personal sauna. Sauna's are believed to be emotionally and physically cleansing...therefore maybe we should all consider investing into a sauna. Finland is the 5th largest country in Europe...just a fun fact. The people in Finland also like to participate in ice hole swimming...which is just like it sounds, you cut a hole in the ice and you dive in. The two main languages of Finland are Swedish and Finnish however English is widely spoken in Finland. Finland was also the last country in Europe to take in Christianity.

   The climate and geology is also something you may find enjoyable. Finland is beautiful. The country is about 68% forests and covered by lakes and rivers. Also, the northern part of Finland has White nights and Polar nights which means that in the Summer Finland has73 days where the sun doesn't set. Polar nights means that Finland has 51 days of night where the sun doesn't rise. The climate there and geology is amazing.

   Moving to Finland would be fine with me. I Think ill just think of it as a  vacation trip though.

Finnish Sports

In Finland culture they stress to play only one sport. This way you can perfect which ever sport you chose. I'm choosing to write about this only because in America we chose to play as many sports as you can to show and better your athleticism. In this post I will translate how to say sports in the Finnish language and tell if that sport is a major sport played in the Finland culture.

Hockey: Jääkieko
Tennis: Tennis
Basketball: Koripallo
Volleyball: lentopallo
Soccer: Jalkapallo

Throw: Heittää
Catch: Saalis
Pass: Kulkea
Kick: Potkia

These are some Finnish words that either are verbs from sports that I learned or just sports. In Finland Hockey is probably the top ranked and known sport. With tennis and soccer taking second. Finland doesn't have high school sports like the US therefore all of the sports have to be played in a club. This may be the reason that they stress playing one sport. Which I hate but its  just a whole different continent.

Remember when you try and pronounce these words that double a's are strongly pronounced and j's  are a y sound. Just some things I learned when pronouncing these words. Finnish still isn't getting easier to me and I have a personal tutor. So, good luck. Hei hei.

Your boy, Seth.

My Character Strengths

Recently I have not learned much Finnish, which really goes against this whole blog. I did take a survey thought that reported my personal strengths. My personal strengths are:
1. Perseverance
2. Hope
3. Teamwork
4. Bravery
5. Love
My top 5 strengths aren't the 5 that I would chose. Mostly because my vocabulary is pretty weak, but also because love is not a good topic for me.

Anyway I need to apply these characteristics to my research. Which because of perseverance, I need to finish this Finnish project psychologically. But, based on my teamwork characteristic I may not do so well. Why? Because I'm working on this project by myself. However I do need to find some way to apply these to my research.

I apologize for this post being so short but I don't really know how to tell you about how I'm going to apply my characteristics to my studies anymore. On to the next one. Hei hei (bye in Finnish).

Finish: The language of the confused scandinavians.

In the past week I've attemepted to start learning the Finnish language. I've learned I should have picked an easier language such as Spanish or German. The Finnish language has alot of enunciation and stressed syllables which makes this hard on an English speaker. However I think the most annoying thing about this new language is that easy words in English such as shower, translate to a super long and precisely pronounced word.

Finnish is a language that has rolled r's and strong enunciation...kind of how the stereotypical Russian would speak..."Das Loomber ez Strong". If you understand what I'm saying. For example if you say "kana" which means chicken you have to enunciate the N and deeply say the K, so now the word sounds like KA-nn-NA. Also hockey, which translates to jääkiekko sounds more like YA-key-Ecko. These words aren't hard to read, but they are tricky to say.

You know how some people may say that English is a mixture of languages...well to me thats what Finnish sounds like. In the finnish language they roll their r's and enunciate certain parts of words. The Finnish language has silent j's that sounds like a Y. To an English man like myself who doesn't have much expierience with other languages...this language is hard as shiz.

I guess the best advice to give in learning this language is to be humble. This language is something you may have never heard. This language is confusing and difficult to understand or pronounce. If you've ever heard any European language like French, German, English(British), or Italian then mix all of those together and you may get a couple similar words in Finnish. I wish myself good luck. On hyvä päivä...have a good day.

Intro to Seth and his Toivo.

Hello world my name is Seth Lyons and I'm proud to invite you to my blog. I'm writing this for a project in my AP Psych high school class. Hopefully my project is successful and interesting to read.

My blog posts will be about learning the Finish language. This year I am hosting a Finish foreign exchange student named Jussi. When  I was told in school that I need to study something I made a quick choice. The Finish language will help me talk to my foreigner and lead me to learning a new language, which is something I believe everyone should be able to do. Jussi(Toivo) is a good guy and he and I bond like brothers, therefore this project will help me becoming even tighter with him.

My goal for these next couple weeks is to speak simple sentences in Finish. I'll do most of my studying I'm sure through my new "adopted" brother Toivo. However I also plan on learning a little bit of the language through the internet. Toivo will help me hear the language and the internet will help me see how it's spelled. Overall this should be a project I can keep up with because I have a Finish speaker in my home. We call him Toivo.