Hi!

[Timppa91]

Hello Digicamera!

In the beginning of 2017 I'm moving with my wife to Finland (she is Finnish). I'm from Belgium myself, so currently I only speak Dutch/English :).
I'm hoping via this forum to learn more Finnish myself and of course learning still more about my hobby photography!
I might be less active in the beginning, But I will do my best to be part of the community.
I just have to ask, would it be ok to sometimes write something in English? Hopefully over time it will change into Finnish!

Timothy

[xorsa]

Welcome, it's okay to me, you'll learn finnish soon

[moonshine]

Tervetuloa!

Where are moving to? Minne muutat?

Maybe join a local camera club? Oletko miettinyt kameraseuraan liittymistä?

Finnish is a tough language to learn! Pretty much the only real option is to force yourself to interaction with crazy and weird finns in Finnish. :-) Make it happen, day by day.

[Kryptos]

Tervetuloa!

Fine by me! Not everyone here can read English, from what I gather, but many can.

Don't be afraid to mix Finnish and English. I do that all the time when I speak with my Swedish speaking friends here in Northern Espoo. As you know, I'm sure, Swedish is the second official language in Finland, and my best friends have Swedish as their native tongue. They're bi-lingual, but I feel stupid when we're together and I'm the only one with Finnish as his native tongue, and the rest switch to Finnish on my account. I told them to cut that off. The only way to learn is to use the language.

So, I'm not fluent in Swedish, but I've overcome my shyness to speak. I know I make many mistakes, but nobody cares. I get my point across. When I get tongue-tied on how to say something in Swedish, I switch to Finnish mid sentence and continue again with Swedish when I'm past the bit that was difficult for me. I suggest you do the same. Use Finnish when you can, don't worry about mistakes much, and freely mix English and Finnish.

And just as a friendly warning, digicamera.net is a home for a whole bunch of curmudgeons. So there's that to look forward to here, as well.

[Timppa91]

Terve!

Kiitos for the warm welcome!

We will start living in Turku, but the idea is to move to Jyväskylä (Hoping I will be accepted for a study there).
Joining a local camera club would be a great idea!
I love wildlife photography the most, so joining a club or even a weekend with some other photographers in the field would be awesome.

I know a lot of Curmudgeons on a Dutch speaking forum, so I'm used to it :).

[TiRy]

Welcome aboard!

Bunch of fantastic photos you have there in your flickr! Wow! I'm excited to see what you can create here in Finland, especially in the darkest times when many of native people don't even hesitate to grab a camera. I'm sure you see things so much different while everything is new for you.

There's a section "Linkkejä kuviin ja gallerioihin" (Links to photos and gallerys) where you can present your work. Take a challenge and make a post!

[moonshine]

We will start living in Turku, but the idea is to move to Jyväskylä (Hoping I will be accepted for a study there).
Joining a local camera club would be a great idea!
I love wildlife photography the most, so joining a club or even a weekend with some other photographers in the field would be awesome.

I know plenty of forum members live either in Jyväskylä or Turku.

I used to live in Jyväskylä (studied there as well :). The local camera club's mailing list: http://lists.jyu.fi/mailman/listinfo/jy ... ameraseura (they're nice people and organize a lot of events)

For wildlife photography, I think the Eastern Finland would be very interesting for you. A good chance to see and photograph bears and wolves up close in nature, even a wolverine if you're lucky. :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzbrWCbBeWQ

As a proper introduction to the Finnish nature, this is a must watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7RwpO4pfHc

[Timppa91]

My wife has seen wolverine prints in the snow in the past and lynx footprints under her bedroom window! (Paltamo region).

Finnish nature is without a doubt so much better then Belgian!
I will make sure to check that club in Jyväskylä as soon we move there :).
And amazing video! :o, Getting more and more excited to move!

TiRy, Thank you for the compliment and the tip about posting!

[Sundo]

As a proper introduction to the Finnish nature, this is a must watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7RwpO4pfHc

And as a proper introduction to the nature of Finns I would recommend http://finnishnightmares.blogspot.fi/. For the rest of the nordic countries http://satwcomic.com/ is an excellent introduction.

[pantagruel]

And don't believe anybody who says (like Moonshine above) that Finnish is a tough language to learn. That is an old, stupid myth that is kept alive by

a) ignorance

b) a desire of a small, peripherical and globally uninteresting nation to feel a little special and exceptional among all world's better-known nations

c) the fact that generally (in bigger cities at least) our skills in English are at such level that you can quite well manage your daily affairs and most superficial levels of social communication without having to learn Finnish - and be left out of all deeper social communication

c) is the real danger. Finnish can be learned just as any language by going to a language course, by working for it and by stubbornly using the skills in Finnish you have achieved in every possible situation (see what Kryptos above writes).

[moonshine]

And don't believe anybody who says (like Moonshine above) that Finnish is a tough language to learn. That is an old, stupid myth that is kept alive by

a) ignorance

b) a desire of a small, peripherical and globally uninteresting nation to feel a little special and exceptional among all world's better-known nations

c) the fact that generally (in bigger cities at least) our skills in English are at such level that you can quite well manage your daily affairs and most superficial levels of social communication without having to learn Finnish - and be left out of all deeper social communication

c) is the real danger. Finnish can be learned just as any language by going to a language course, by working for it and by stubbornly using the skills in Finnish you have achieved in every possible situation (see what Kryptos above writes).

Wow, a great interpretation and analysis! Chill out, dude... :-)

Btw, I totally agree with Kryptos. Of course, I didn't mean tough as in impossible, but realistically tough. Especially the writing part with complex grammar.

[pantagruel]

Yes Finnish has its own complexities but so have all languages, and all you need is good enough skills to make you a social insider instead of outsider. You don't need to be able to write a novel in Finnish.

I still think the major problem is good-willing Finns who surround somebody who tries to learn the language and keep on telling again and again how difficult language Finnish is and change to English as soon as the poor learner needs half a second to find some word.

So I agree with Moonshine: Make it happen, day by day!

[Timppa91]

Everything you guys write is so true!

I was so bad in learning French, that I went to a French speaking family in Walloon (French part of Belgium). I was so bad in it, that they got tired of it and started speaking English to me!

But now I will make sure to tell the Finns to keep speaking Finnish to me.

And I know about the Finnishnightmares website, it is so good ! I will fit right in, if I read all of that :o

[Maffer]

Finnish is rather easy - you do not need to say anything. It depends where you move during the late night (0-6 am) but usually it is more healthy to say nothing in crowded places. ABC gas stations are good places to start fights in the countryside with local hill billies.

Most Finns, if met out there in the wilderness just snarl and growl when passing by. Maybe toss a curse or two. Loud cursing in the dark usually means there is a photographer trying to compose without any light at all. Or battery just ran out in mirrorless toy camera @ -35C temp.

Elevator conversations are easy too - they do not exist.

[Timppa91]

So the less I speak, the better I am at Finnish?
I can do that!

[mremonen]

So the less I speak, the better I am at Finnish?

Yes.

I can do that!

No you can't. You think you can, but you really cannot. When you sit at the table with other people, after 10 minutes of complete silence you'll start to feel the pressure to say something. Finn's haven't even started noticing the silence yet.

Once I was with my father up north trekking Karhunkierros for approx. a week or so. We probably exchanged less than 10 sentences during the time. You talk if you have something meaningful to say. Otherwise you keep quiet. Unless you are drunk. Then you talk all the time and stop only to have a swig from your bottle of Koskenkorva. Or when you pass out.

[moonshine]

mremonen
Paikkakunta: itähelsinki
Innovoija (innovator) – 2–3% väestöstä: uskalias, koulutettu, omaa useita informaation lähteitä;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skHY4_WQXYE

[Timppa91]

So the less I speak, the better I am at Finnish?

Yes.

I can do that!

No you can't. You think you can, but you really cannot. When you sit at the table with other people, after 10 minutes of complete silence you'll start to feel the pressure to say something. Finn's haven't even started noticing the silence yet.

Once I was with my father up north trekking Karhunkierros for approx. a week or so. We probably exchanged less than 10 sentences during the time. You talk if you have something meaningful to say. Otherwise you keep quiet. Unless you are drunk. Then you talk all the time and stop only to have a swig from your bottle of Koskenkorva. Or when you pass out.

I remember my first dinner with the in-laws, not a word, I toughed I did something bad or was not accepted :o
In Belgium it is common that you would have to answer so many questions!

And when we did Karhunkierros, I have to agree that I was talking the most.
So hmm, I got to learn to be Finnish silent then.
Handy for photography tough , Belgium nature is already so limited, and when you finally got a spot, there are some people talking there all the time, scarring the animals away.

[Maffer]

If you want to photograph The Real Animals in Finland, you need to wait in the shadows for countless hours in total silence. If there are others in the same spot you will never see anything else than common birds.

[moonshine]

Stereotypes are sometimes fun and even insightful when you know to treat them just as stereotypes. :-)

In reality, Finland is a LONG country with diverse subcultures. For example, Helsinki is totally different from countryside; the only common denominators being the language and narratives of winter war...