General Course Information about Finnish for Foreigner courses

• The language of instruction in the Finnish for Foreigners courses is Finnish in all groups (including level 1). (The teacher can, however, use some other language as an aid if she/he feels it is needed). The participants are expected to master the Western alphabet.

• The length of the Basic and Advanced courses is 52 lessons. Each lesson comprises 45 minutes. Helsinki Summer University has credited Finnish for Foreigner courses (basic courses) according to European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) used in European universities. One ECTS equals to 26,7 hours of study. One basic course is estimated to be 4 op/4 ECTS credits.

• The levels of the courses are indicated in Arabic numerals: stages 1 - 5 and 6 - 9. The different groups of equal levels, if more than one, are indicated by letters (A-Q).

• The basic courses focus on the grammar. The courses are intensive and require homework.

• In matters concerning your visa, please contact the Finnish Embassy or Consulate in your country. Visas to Finland are not issued for the sole reason of summer university studies, since attending Finnish language courses is not regarded as fulltime study. Therefore Summer University does not send any invitations.

• The Summer University does not award grants to course registrants or provide accommodation.

• Information is subject to change without notice, the updated information is available at the Summer University office.

Course fees

• The course fee of the Basic courses (levels 1 - 5) and the Advanced courses (levels 6 - 9) in each group is 90 euro, Oral skills courses 70 euro.
• Fees of the other courses: see course description.

Tests and certificates

• Each Basic and Advanced level course has a final examination at the end of the course. (The final exam is included in the number of lessons.) Each course has also one re-exam. The students will be given a certificate after a succesfull completion of each course.

Textbooks

• The following textbooks are used in all the basic courses (levels 1 - 5):
Lepäsmaa & Silfverberg, Suomen kielen alkeisoppikirja (6th or later ed.) and Silfverberg, Harjoituskirja suomen kielen perusopetusta varten.
• In the advanced courses (levels 6 - 9) the books are Silfverberg, Suomen kielen jatko-oppikirja (5th or later ed.) & Silfverberg, Harjoituskirja suomen kielen jatko-opetusta varten.
• In the oral skills courses there is no textbook used; the teacher will provide the course material. In the Lear Finnish Grammar course the book is: White, Suomen kielioppia ulkomaalaisille.
• Textbooks are available in bookshops and should be purchased beforehand.
• A vocabulary for the books can be purchased from the publisher. Visit www.finnlectura.fi or call +358 (0)9 74151 005.