Learn how to say many common phrases that people use every day to introduce themselves
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| Series Introduction |
| Tiina: Hi everyone, Tiina here, and welcome to FinnishPod101.com. This is Basic Bootcamp Lesson 1 - Self Introduction: Basic Greetings in Finnish. This is the first in a five-part series that will help you ease your way into Finnish. |
| Reeta: Hei, olen Reeta! Hey everyone, I’m Reeta. Now, the idea of a bootcamp calls to mind sweating and toil. But our bootcamp is different! |
| Tiina: Yes, you won’t have to sweat, we promise. |
| Reeta: We’ll go over all the basics that will really help you understand Finnish in a fast and easy way. |
| Tiina: And we’ll have fun doing it! |
| Reeta: Yes, and we won’t blow any whistles at you or scream at you to do two-hundred pushups…though that might work too. We’ll see how it goes. |
| Lesson Details |
| Reeta: Okay, in this lesson, you will learn how to introduce yourself and ask someone their name! |
| Tiina: What could be more basic than this? We promise you, you will have this conversation no fewer than two hundred times in your first month in Finland. |
| Reeta: Hmm, or maybe more! |
| Tiina: This conversation is between strangers. |
| Reeta: The language they are using is polite, because they don’t know each other, but it is not overly formal. |
| Tiina: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| Dialogue |
| Reeta: Hei, Minun nimeni on Sari, mikä sinun nimesi on? |
| Tiina: Hei Sari, minun nimeni on Mary. |
| Reeta: Hauska tutustua. |
| Tiina: Kiitos samoin. |
| Tiina: Let’s hear it slowly now. |
| Reeta: Nyt kuunnellaan sama hitaasti. |
| Reeta: Hei, Minun nimeni on Sari, mikä sinun nimesi on? |
| Tiina: Hei Sari, minun nimeni on Mary. |
| Reeta: Hauska tutustua. |
| Tiina: Kiitos samoin. |
| Tiina: And now with the translation. |
| Reeta: Ja nyt käännös. |
| Reeta: Hei, Minun nimeni on Sari, mikä sinun nimesi on? |
| Reeta: Hello. My name is Sari. What’s your name? |
| Tiina: Hei Sari, minun nimeni on Mary. |
| Tiina: Hello Sari. My name is Mary. |
| Reeta: Hauska tutustua. |
| Reeta: Nice to meet you. |
| Tiina: Kiitos samoin. |
| Tiina: Me too. |
| Post conversation banter |
| Tiina: So Reeta, can you tell us what do people in Finland do when they first meet? Like, is there any sort of custom? |
| Reeta: For the first time, it’s enough for men and women to shake hands while introducing themselves. |
| Tiina: I would say that shaking hands is a must in Finland. |
| Reeta: Yes, but once you become friendlier with Finns, we hug and tap each other on the shoulders. |
| Tiina: Men, as well, hug each other? |
| Reeta: Oh, that’s a good question. Actually, close female friends are not afraid to be emotional in Finland, but men tend to stick to the hand shaking. And when meeting the first time, even for women it is better to stick to the handshakes and smiles. |
| Tiina: And in a business situation? |
| Reeta: Again, a handshake is your best bet. |
| Tiina: Sounds easy to me! Okay, let’s take a closer look at these self-introductions. |
| Reeta: We’ll start with the vocabulary words for this lesson. |
| Vocabulary List |
| Tiina: Okay, first we have... |
| Reeta: Hei |
| Tiina: Hello. |
| Reeta: Hei (slow, breakdown speed) |
| Reeta: Hei |
| Tiina: And next? |
| Reeta: Minun |
| Tiina: My |
| Reeta: Minun (slow, breakdown speed) |
| Reeta: Minun |
| Tiina: Next? |
| Reeta: nimeni |
| Tiina: my name |
| Reeta: nimeni(slow, breakdown speed) |
| Reeta: nimeni |
| Tiina: And next? |
| Reeta: on |
| Tiina: is |
| Reeta: on (slow) |
| Tiina: on |
| Tiina: And next? |
| Reeta: Hauska tutustua. |
| Tiina: Nice to meet you |
| Reeta: Hauska tutustua.(slow, breakdown speed) |
| Reeta: Hauska tutustua. |
| Tiina: Next we have? |
| Reeta: Minun nimeni on |
| Tiina: My name is |
| Reeta: Minun nimeni on (slow, breakdown speed) |
| Reeta: Minun nimeni on |
| Tiina: And finally? |
| Reeta: Kiitos samoin. |
| Tiina: Thanks, you too |
| Reeta: Kiitos samoin. (slow, breakdown speed) |
| Reeta: Kiitos samoin. |
| Vocabulary Usage |
| Tiina: Okay, so our first word here is "hello". |
| Reeta: Hei. |
| Tiina: Wait a minute. Don’t we also have “Moi” |
| Reeta: Yes, you’re right. Moi is also Norwegian and it is more like “hey,” and a bit more familiar, so it sounds a little bit awkward here. |
| Tiina: I see, so it’s more often used to greet people you already know well. |
| Reeta: Yes that’s right. |
| Tiina: Could you say our first word for us again? |
| Reeta: Hei. Hei. |
| Tiina: In the conversation, we also heard Hauska tutustua. |
| Reeta: Hauska tutustua means something along the lines of "Pleasant to meet you." |
| Tiina: Of course, in this situation, the speaker is “delighted” to meet the other person. And so here it has the sense of the English expression “Nice to meet you.” But let’s break down this phrase a bit. |
| Reeta: Hauska means "pleasant, or fun." |
| Tiina: And the second word... |
| Reeta: tutustua |
| Tiina: Means “to meet or to get acquainted with .” so altogether it is... |
| Reeta: Hauska tutustua. |
| Tiina: Listeners, listen and repeat: |
| Reeta: Hauska tutustua. Hauska tutustua. |
| Tiina: Now that you said that, naturally, I can’t help but want to respond, Kiitos samoin, which means "Thank you, same to you." Can we break that down? |
| Reeta: Kiitos means thank you, and samoin means “as well” or “similarly”. |
| Tiina: Ok so let’s hear it again at least, slowly? |
| Reeta: Kiitos samoin. |
| Tiina: Listeners, listen and repeats |
| Reeta: Kiitos samoin. Kiitos samoin. |
| Tiina: Now that wasn't so difficult, was it? Hope everyone isn’t getting too overheated in the boot camp. Maybe it’s time for some push-ups |
| Reeta: I think I could use some; I’m getting a little out of shape. But for now let’s move on to the grammar section. |
| Grammar Section |
| Reeta: Let’s take a look at this lesson’s grammar point, which is introducing yourself in Finnish. |
| Tiina: What if your companion is, for some reason, hesitant to introduce themselves? |
| Reeta: Well, it’s okay to become a little aggressive in your desire to get to know them. |
| Tiina: Yes, just go ahead and ask their name yourself! |
| Reeta: Mikä sinun nimesi on? This is how your question should sound. |
| Tiina: Literally, it means "What is your name?" |
| Reeta: Mikä |
| Tiina: Means "What," Let’s hear it one time again slowly. |
| Reeta: Mikä |
| Tiina: And one time again fast. Listeners, repeat after, B. |
| Reeta: Mikä |
| Tiina: Next |
| Reeta: sinun |
| Tiina: Means "your." Let’s hear it slowly please. |
| Reeta: sinun |
| Tiina: And fast again. Listeners, repeat after, B. |
| Reeta: sinun |
| Tiina: Next, |
| Reeta: nimesi |
| Tiina: Means “your name.” Let’s hear it one more time slowly. |
| Reeta: nimesi |
| And one more time repeat. |
| Reeta: nimesi |
| Tiina: And the last word? |
| Reeta: on |
| Tiina: And it means “is”, right. Let’s hear that one more time. Listeners, please repeat. |
| Reeta: on |
| Tiina: So all together the question is |
| Reeta: Mikä sinun nimesi on? |
| Tiina: Listeners, listen to the phrase, and repeat it out loud. |
| Reeta: Mikä sinun nimesi on? |
| Reeta: Mikä sinun nimesi on? |
| Tiina: Not too hard for our first boot camp lesson, huh! |
| Reeta: No, it isn’t. And if you just use this little bit of Finnish, you will already have gone a long way to impressing anyone you might meet in Finland. |
| Tiina: That’s right. There’s no better way to signal your interest and respect for the culture than to try to speak a little bit of the language, even if you only know the basics. |
| Reeta: Yes, now to recap, let’s try a short dialogue. Imagine your name is Mary. Try to answer the question out loud with the phrase we learned in this lesson. |
| Reeta: Mikä sinun nimesi on? |
| Reeta: Minun nimeni on Mary. |
| Tiina: Great! Now what if someone says to you, |
| Reeta: Hauska tutustua. |
| Tiina: What do you say? |
| Reeta: Kiitos samoin. |
| Tiina: Great! Now what do you say if you want to learn someone’s name? |
| Reeta: Mikä sinun nimesi on? |
| Tiina: There you go! |
| Reeta: Well done! |
Outro |
|---|
| Tiina: That’s it for this lesson. |
| Reeta: Thanks for listening. Hei hei! |
| Tiina: See you next time! |
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