Finnish and English side by side

The Aalto University weaving workshop uses English and Finnish in parallel. The physical linguistic landscape of the workshop is designed to present both professional vocabulary (such as parts of looms, names of fibres, wools and wool blends) and everyday phrases (e.g. "have a nice day" and "last one out turns the lights off") The language landscape creates a safe atmosphere with space for using different languages.

The workshop sections of Bachelor’s degree courses mainly take place in Finnish, as the language of instruction is Finnish. If exchange students join the group, they follow the workshops in Finnish and receive support in English. The support may be provided by a teacher or support student, who translates the Finnish into English, if necessary, and pairs up with the exchange student. The workshop sections for Master’s degrees all take place in English.

Multilingual instructions and materials

The courses use the multilingual WeavePoint program, whose language selection includes English, Finnish, Swedish and German. The language of the program is easy to change, making it an excellent tool for learning professional language in different languages.

The students can see English and Finnish side by side in all printed instructions (such as weaving on looms and computers, storing files on looms) and in course materials. Course materials in English and Finnish are available to students in both digital and printed form in the workshop room.

Multilingualism is encouraged

The courses encourage students and help them find teaching materials in different languages, which supports the development of their multilingual professional vocabulary. In some cases, the teacher or workshop master searches for videos online with the student, or the student learns a new technique by watching, for example, a Finnish-language video, in which case they use the workshop’s professional vocabulary or ask a teacher or workshop master for advice.

At workshops, students have the opportunity to use all the languages they know in parallel, both in guided sessions and in independent work. In addition, a multilingual material and yarn room is under development.

Thanks go to Tiina Saivo, Aalto University's weaving workshop master, for her cooperation with Kielibuusti.