Over the autumn, Kielibuusti’s new project period has kicked into gear, and there is a buzz on both its network and the kielibuusti.fi website.
Although only Aalto University and the University of Helsinki are involved during this project period, we hope, and will keep hoping, for the participation of all Finnish higher education institutions. Indeed, thanks to Kielibuusti’s national network of universities, we have been able to present themes related to the project in three webinars during the autumn.
Kieliboosti has also been involved, and on show, in many events, and has also attracted the attention of the media. The Kielibuusti.fi website continues to grow, and its social media presence is being strengthened once more. Find out more about this under the headlines below and make a note of upcoming events that interest you.
The next newsletter will come out in the spring, but before that, we will wind down for the holidays and wish all those following Kielibuusti a merry Christmas!
Warm season’s greetings from the Kielibuusti team!
A webinar held on 17 October, titled Supporting L2 Finnish Speakers Applying to University, presented the work of three projects:
*Towards University, a project run jointly by the University of Oulu and the University of Lapland, aims to create preparatory training and guidance for immigrants applying to university programmes taught in Finnish. The project was presented by Sinikka Vuonokari-Kämäräinen (University of Lapland) and Anne Koskela and Tanja Seppälä (University of Oulu).
*A project run by the University of Jyväskylä aims to open three new application pathways for L2 Finnish speakers to seek admission to primary school teacher, nursery education and social work programmes. Sanna Mustonen, Kirsi Leskinen and Tuija Lehtonen (University of Jyväskylä) presented and expanded on these pathways and their design process.
The University of Helsinki’s AKVA programme, designed to prepare immigrants for university education, ended in 2024. Karoliina Kopsa and Alisa Uusi-Kilponen (University of Helsinki) presented the programme and its recent impact assessment.
Sixty-eight people signed up for the webinar, and the speakers also answered questions in the chat.
A webinar held on 30 October, titled Social Studies and Pronunciation, presented material created in the Kielibuusti project. Social Studies for Learners of Finnish is a free web course for A2–B1 level learners of Finnish who are interested in the workings of Finnish society and who wish to learn vocabulary related to societal themes. University teacher Sari Päivärinne (University of Helsinki) introduced the audience to the web course’s diverse content and structure and explained how the material could be used either as a complete web course or as individual units. Päivärinne also explained her work as a creator and developer of the course material. The web course is built on the old Vilma website, which required considerable work to update.
The second half of the webinar was devoted to presenting Kielibuusti’s pronunciation material. The speakers were three of the four creators of the content package Boost your Finnish pronunciation: Leena Ferreira, Emmi Pollari and Taija Udd. The fourth author was Réka Aarnos.
The presentation offered a taste of the material and information on the choices made and the goals that motivated them. The speakers also provided tips on how the material could be used for self-study or supplementary content for a course. Sixty-seven people registered for the webinar, of whom 50 were online during the webinar.
On 27 November, the final webinar focused on the Guiding Towards Fluent Finnish project – an L2 Finnish teaching development initiative run by the University of Turku’s Centre for Language and Communications Studies. The webinar presented the actions taken and lessons learned in the project over recent years as well as the practical tools created to support students’ learning of Finnish.
Emilia Hongisto provided a general overview of the project and the knowledge it provided them about conducting project work. Eveliina Suuniitty presented the guidance and study path models developed for L2 Finnish learners, while Niina Kekki discussed online Finnish courses and suitable means of activating students in that learning context. The project also developed the Suomipassi (Finnish Passport) app, with Jenni Laaksonen describing its idea and the marketing and corporate collaboration involved. The app can be found at kielibuusti.fi. In addition, the webinar touched on some Finnish language videos that could be useful to other Finnish teachers.
As many as 231 people signed up for the webinar, with the speakers fielding questions from the audience. The presentation also generated a lively discussion in the chat.
Kielibuusti remains an active player in the Talent Boost network. On 8 October, in the network’s Newsroom, members of Kielibuusti presented the project’s new activities and content on the kielibuusti.fi website.
Members of Kielibuusti also took part in the Talent Boost Summit, held on 29 October in Helsinki. At the event, jointly produced by representatives of the Talent Boost network and employers, participants discussed the integration of international talent into Finnish society from a wide range of perspectives, with language questions arising throughout the day. Members of Kielibuusti were delighted to note how language awareness had increased within the network in recent years. In addition, representatives of different parties on the executive panel enquired about investment in language training as well as support for a more accepting atmosphere and the development of language skills in the workplace.
Kielibuusti’s earlier activities have also received praise and acclaim:
Duunitori named a 2024 recruitment pilot for multilingual customer service agents, jointly created by OP Uusimaa, the City of Espoo, Kielibuusti, and Omnia Skills Centre for Immigrants, the most impactful recruitment act of the year. Advice on language-aware recruitment is available on the Kielibuusti website: Language aware recruitment | Kielibuusti
Around that time, a YLE article titled “Finland’s language training ‘not equally accessible to everyone’” mentioned Kielibuusti while praising the improved opportunities for digital self-study available in recent years. Kielibuusti was described as a platform that, in addition to its language-learning opportunities, allowed learners of Finnish and Swedish to become familiar with Finnish society, culture and media.
You can find continuously updated material on the Kielibuusti website on language learning and support designed to assist language learners and the language learning environment that scaffolds them. Here are a few suggestions for different focus groups:
Language learners, have you found out about Kielibuusti’s language-learning tips, such as Language Hints for Everyday Life and Follow the Media and Learn Finnish?
Teachers, have you been inspired by the app-pedagogy and Finnish L2 teaching pilot material? And have you discovered how the Suomipassi mobile app encourages learners to get out of the classroom?
Supervisors, are you familiar with the Supervisor’s Seven Steps to Addressing Language Issues, or have you acquainted yourselves with the Language Learning Tasks for Traineeships material?
Employees, does your work community know about using language technology to support language learning and enhance working life or about practising language skills in social situations?
We hope that kielibuusti.fi will gain new users and successfully support the language-learning journey of international talent. Similarly, we hope that the website will continue to grow, so if you wish to suggest suitable material for the website, such as tools, good practice, study material or research findings produced by various organisations or projects, contact us at kielibuusti-info@helsinki.fi.
Get to know the updated self-study material search engine – there are new apps for learners to practise for the National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) as well as a glossary of medical terms. The AI-based Finnish it! and Lukla apps offer a broad range of approaches to studying for the YKI certificate in all the skill areas. The apps provide comprehensive feedback on user responses as well as suggestions for them to improve their language skills further. In turn, multilingual glossaries of terms in different areas of medicine support the language skills of people working or studying in the healthcare sector.
The texts in the language tests and integration sections have been updated to take account of the reform to the Integration Act. According to the new law, municipalities bear greater responsibility for arranging integration services. The section text is now available in Finnish and English, with a Swedish version forthcoming.
Kielibuusti has reintroduced its practice of sharing weekly language tips on Instagram and Facebook. A new hint to support language learning in everyday life is broadcast every Wednesday afternoon. Therefore, it is worth following Kielibuusti’s social media channels and sharing them with others who may benefit from them.
Originating from the Kielibuusti project, Kielisepät (Language Smiths) is an independent learning community for advanced learners of Finnish that supports and encourages people on their language-learning journey. The community arranges events and group activities and jointly develops learning resources, hints and tips, and other content for the kielisepat.fi website.
During the autumn, the community arranged three get-togethers at Metsätalo in Helsinki, where a diverse group of participants were able to discuss various learning-related themes, familiarise themselves with the website’s new content, hang out, and play board games. More information on the community’s activities can be found on their website, while they can be contacted at kielisepat@helsinki.fi.
By clicking on the event listings, you can find out more and register for different webinars.
Keep up with all the latest developments!