Course information
Learning outcomes
At course completion, you will:
- be able to introduce yourself and tell about your general background and current situation
- be able to manage in Finnish in common social situations
- be able to write short messages
- understand the main words used in your environment
- know more about Finnish customs
Content
Basic vocabulary of daily life and the basic grammatical structures of Finnish (partitive and genitive, verb types 1-5, possessives)
Practice situations related to everyday tasks and social life (asking and answering questions)
Teacher
Nelli Karkkunen
Study material
Terhi Tapaninen ja Kristiina Kuparinen: Oma Suomi 1 (Chapters 1-5) (2022 edition, ISBN : 978-951-1-44826-6) and extra material provided by the teacher. Please notice that the book is compulsory for completing the course.
Workload
Teaching in group 36 h
Independent work 57 h
Prerequisites
This course is intended for beginners. No previous knowledge in Finnish language is required.
Evaluation
Passing the course requires regular attendance, active participation in class and completion of the given homework. Written and oral examination. The weight of the different assignments in the final evaluation is specified at the start of the course.
Teaching time and location
12.1.-18.3.2026. Teaching hours will be held online on Mondays and Wednesdays at 16.30-18.00. No teaching during 16.-18.2.2026. Teaching hours are not recorded. Students are expected to be present at the lectures.
Date |
Time |
Mon 12.1.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Wed 14.1.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Mon 19.1.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Wed 21.1.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Mon 26.1.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Wed 28.1.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Mon 2.2.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Wed 4.2.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Mon 9.2.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Wed 11.2.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Mon 23.2.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Wed 25.2.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Mon 2.3.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Wed 4.3.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Mon 9.3.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Wed 11.3.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Mon 16.3.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Wed 18.3.2026 |
16.30-18.00 |
Exams
Written and oral examination
The examination will be held on 23.3.2026, no registration.
The re-examination will be held on Tuesday 20.4.2026. Please, register in Sisu on 13.4.2026 at the latest.
The examinations will be held as a remote examination in MyCourses. The teacher will give further information on examinations.
Oral examination time will be given by the teacher.
The teacher has four (4) weeks to grade the exam submissions starting from the exam date.
Exam instructions at the Open UniversityOpen University exam halls
Further information
CEFR level
Starting level: 0,Target Level: A1
More information on CEFR levels
Online learning environment for the course
MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching.
Digital workspace of the course:
MyCourses (will be updated later)
More details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.
Registration and course fee
Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below:
Registration for this course starts on 8.12.2026 at 9.00
Registration for this course ends on 5.1.2026 at 23.59
It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.
The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules
This course is organized by the Aalto University Open University. The requirements of the course are the same as in the degree studies at Aalto University Language Centre.
The number of participants is limited to 30.
Please note that this course is organized when there are at least 12 students registered for it.
Activating Aalto ID and Multifactor Authentication
You can activate your Aalto User ID the day after the registration and you should activate it no later than the day before the start of the course.
Instructions for activating your Aalto user ID
Once you have activated your Aalto user ID, also enable multifactor authentication. Some of Aalto University's services require multifactor authentication.
Instructions for using Multifactor Authentication