Moving to Finland: The Finnish You Actually Need

Read this first: how Finns actually talk to you

Three things to know before you walk into any Finnish situation:

• You can almost always switch to English. Most Finns under 60 speak fluent English and will switch the moment they sense you struggling. This is convenient and it is also why so many migrants live in Finland for ten years without learning Finnish. Decide in advance whether you'll insist on Finnish or accept the English switch — both are valid choices.
• Silence is fine. Finnish conversation has more pauses than English. You don't need to fill them. Trying to fill them with English will get you switched to English.
• Spoken Finnish (puhekieli) is very different from written Finnish (kirjakieli). Textbooks teach kirjakieli. Real Finns speak puhekieli — mä for minä, oo for ole, dropped final vowels. Don't worry about reproducing it; just train your ear to recognise it.

At Kela (social insurance)

Kela is the Finnish Social Insurance Institution. You will deal with them for parental leave, sickness benefits, child support, housing benefit, unemployment, the prescription reimbursement. Their service letters are notoriously bureaucratic.

Key words to recognise in Kela letters:

• päätös — decision
• hakemus — application
• liite / liitteet — attachment / attachments
• lisätietoja — more information required
• etuus — benefit
• maksupäivä — payment date
• oikaisuvaatimus — appeal / claim for correction
• määräaika — deadline
• Kelan asiointipalvelu — Kela e-service

Phrases for the desk:

• Minulla on aika kello kymmeneltä. — I have an appointment at ten o'clock.
• Olen hakenut asumistukea. — I have applied for housing benefit.
• En ymmärtänyt päätöstänne. — I didn't understand your decision.
• Voiko tämän tehdä netissä? — Can this be done online?
• Mihin mennessä minun pitää vastata? — By when do I need to reply?

Most Kela appointments can now be booked online and done via video. If you book a phone appointment in Finnish, the staff will often switch to English. If you want to practise Finnish, book the appointment in person and tell them haluaisin asioida suomeksi — "I would like to be served in Finnish." They'll slow down for you.

At the doctor

Finnish public healthcare is excellent and bureaucratic. The first hurdle is usually the call centre or the chat where you describe your symptoms to get an appointment slot.

Describing what's wrong:

• Minulla on kuumetta. — I have a fever.
• Minulla on yskä. — I have a cough.
• Selkä on kipeä. — My back hurts.
• Pää on kipeä. — My head hurts. (or Päätä särkee.)
• Vatsaan koskee. — My stomach hurts.
• Olen ollut sairaana viikon. — I have been sick for a week.
• Tarvitsen sairauslomaa. — I need a sick leave certificate.
• Olen allerginen penisilliinille. — I'm allergic to penicillin.

Words to recognise:

• terveysasema — health station (public clinic)
• hoitaja — nurse
• lääkäri — doctor
• resepti — prescription
• apteekki — pharmacy
• verikokeet — blood tests
• lähete — referral
• sairausloma — sick leave
• päivystys — emergency duty / out-of-hours service

If you can't manage in Finnish for medical reasons, switch to English without hesitation. Healthcare is one place where being understood beats practising language. Almost all doctors speak fluent English. Nurses in older clinics sometimes don't.

At daycare (päiväkoti) and school

If you have children, Finnish daycare is one of the warmest and most professional systems in the world. The staff communicate in Finnish by default but switch easily.

Pickup and drop-off phrases:

• Tulin hakemaan [lapsen nimi]. — I came to pick up [child's name].
• Tuon hänet aamulla kahdeksalta. — I'll bring her at eight in the morning.
• Hän on tänään sairaana. — He is sick today.
• Mitä kuuluu päivälle? — How was the day?
• Söikö hän hyvin? — Did he eat well?
• Nukkuiko hän päiväunet? — Did she take a nap?

Words to recognise on notes home:

• vanhempainilta — parents' evening
• retki — excursion / field trip
• juhla — celebration / party
• kuljetus — transport / transportation arrangement
• lupa — permission
• varhaiskasvatus — early childhood education
• esiopetus — pre-school (year before school)
• opettaja — teacher
• Wilma — the school messaging system (not a Finnish word, but you'll see it constantly)

Housing and landlord

Whether you rent privately or from a housing company (taloyhtiö), most communication is in Finnish.

Common phrases:

• Vuokrasopimus loppuu kesäkuussa. — The rental contract ends in June.
• Vuokra maksetaan kuun viimeinen päivä. — The rent is paid on the last day of the month.
• Hana vuotaa. — The tap is leaking.
• Patteri ei lämpene. — The radiator isn't heating.
• Olen vuokralainen. — I am the tenant.
• Vuokranantaja — landlord.
• Isännöitsijä — housing manager (a Finnish institution — he handles the building, not the tenants directly).
• Saunavuoro — sauna shift (your apartment's allocated weekly sauna slot in the building).

At the grocery store

Grocery shopping is the lowest-stakes practice ground. The vocabulary repeats. Use it daily.

At the till:

• Haluatko kuitin? — Do you want a receipt?
• Onko bonuskortti? — Do you have a loyalty card?
• Maksatteko kortilla? — Will you pay by card?
• Tarvitsetko kassin? — Do you need a bag?
• Hyvää päivän jatkoa! — Have a good rest of the day! (standard goodbye)

Useful product vocabulary:

• maito — milk · kevytmaito — semi-skimmed milk · rasvaton — fat-free
• leipä — bread · ruisleipä — rye bread (Finland's national bread)
• juusto — cheese
• kana — chicken · nauta — beef · sika — pork · lohi — salmon
• peruna — potato · porkkana — carrot · tomaatti — tomato
• kahvi — coffee (the Finnish national drink)
• tarjous — sale / offer · alennus — discount
• parasta ennen — best before

On the bus, train, metro

Finnish public transport is excellent. You don't need much Finnish to use it — but a few phrases help.

• Yksi aikuinen Helsinkiin, kiitos. — One adult to Helsinki, please.
• Missä pysähdytään? — Where are we stopping?
• Onko tämä bussi Pasilan suuntaan? — Is this bus going toward Pasila?
• Seuraava pysäkki: Hakaniemi. — Next stop: Hakaniemi.
• Vaihtoyhteys. — Connection / transfer.

At work

Workplace Finnish varies enormously by industry. Healthcare, public sector, education, and retail are Finnish-by-default. Tech, biotech, and academia often operate in English even within Finland. If you're in an English-speaking workplace and want to switch, you have to ask explicitly.

Polite workplace Finnish:

• Hyvää huomenta! — Good morning! (until ~10am)
• Päivää! — Good day! (mid-day)
• Hyvää viikonloppua! — Have a good weekend! (Friday goodbye)
• Olen lomalla ensi viikolla. — I'm on holiday next week.
• Olen etänä huomenna. — I'm remote tomorrow.
• Kahvitauko — coffee break. The 9 am and 2 pm coffee breaks are not optional cultural rituals — they are how Finnish workplaces build trust.
• Lounas — lunch.
• Voinko liittyä? — Can I join? (asking to sit at a lunch table with colleagues)

At Migri (immigration)

Migri (Maahanmuuttovirasto) handles residence permits, family permits, citizenship. Their service language is officially Finnish, Swedish, and English — you can use English at the desk and on most forms.

Words you'll see constantly:

• oleskelulupa — residence permit
• jatkolupa — extension permit
• pysyvä oleskelulupa — permanent residence permit
• kansalaisuus — citizenship
• hakemus — application
• tunnistautuminen — identification
• todistus — certificate
• YKI-todistus — YKI certificate (the language test for citizenship)

Small talk — the only patterns you need

Finnish small talk is short. You don't need to perform extroversion. The whole vocabulary fits on a card:

• Mitä kuuluu? — How are you? · response: Ihan hyvää, kiitos. Entä sinulle? — Just fine, thanks. And you?
• Mukava nähdä! — Nice to see you!
• Pitkästä aikaa. — Long time no see.
• Onpa kylmä! — How cold! (acceptable conversation in Finland from October to April)
• Kiitos paljon. — Thank you very much.
• Ei kestä. — You're welcome. (literally "it doesn't carry" — meaning "it's nothing")
• Anteeksi. — Sorry / excuse me.

The phrase that opens doors

One sentence to memorise above all others:

Anteeksi, opiskelen suomea. Voisitteko puhua hitaammin?

"Sorry, I am studying Finnish. Could you please speak more slowly?" Finns will switch back from English the moment you say this, and they will slow down. It is the single most useful sentence in Finland for a learner.

How SpeakNord teaches survival Finnish

SpeakNord's onboarding asks why you're learning (work, family, residency, daily life), your daily situations, and your target profession. Vocabulary and exercises are biased toward your real Finnish — if you said you work in healthcare, you get healthcare vocabulary early. If you said you have a Finnish family, you get household and family words. The Live Finnish Camera lets you photograph real Finnish signs and letters and learn the vocabulary in context.