Russian beginner advanced course

Venla, the service and administration manager at Helsinki Adult Education, decided to return to language studies and visited our advanced beginner Russian course.

Surprisingly quickly, that time of year has arrived again, when the evenings seem darker by the day and in the mornings you have to find your mittens before going out. The return to routine is inevitably ahead, and the brain and body that relaxed during the summer vacation need a little preparation to face the darkness of autumn. Of course, the community college offers the perfect remedy for this, with its hundreds of hobby opportunities.

I have tried to fit in one language course each year alongside my dance and physical education courses, so that my brain can also enjoy some exercise. Last year, the language chosen was Russian, the basics of which I had already studied a few years ago, but I thought it best to enroll in the beginner group again. This year, my studies will continue with the advanced beginner course.

Knowledge of the Russian language is a great asset

Russia has long been of interest to me, primarily because of its geographical proximity, but also because of its incredibly rich culture. After a few trips to Russia, my motivation to study the language has only grown even more after I realized that my other language skills are not of much help, especially when going outside the tourist centers. The inability to speak and understand the local language has made communication and getting around clumsy and fumbling. And unlike often in Finland, Russians do not seem to be more annoyed by their poor English, but rather puzzled by the unfortunate language skills of a foolish tourist. What has annoyed me most about my trips to Russia is that even though I feel closer culturally to Russians than, say, Spaniards, my lack of language skills necessarily places me in the position of an outsider. Language is ultimately the decisive key to understanding cultural identity and it also opens up a new way of thinking. For example, the absence of a copula (the verb to be) in Russian sentence structure inevitably distorts our conventional way of perceiving language.

It's worth exploring our eastern neighbor

It is high time that we learned to appreciate the beautiful language more here, not least because of our border neighborhood. We visit Sweden and Estonia from time to time, but Russia has remained an unknown country for many Finns. On the other hand, however, there are more and more dual citizens of Russia and Finland living in Finland, and Russian tourism to Finland has recently revived again after the strengthening of the ruble. Russianness has and will have a lasting impact on Finnish culture, language and society.

Forward letter by letter and word by word

Even though I have a good command of the Cyrillic alphabet, fluent reading and writing feels like I'm light years away. The slow pronunciation of the alphabet and the tongue in the middle of my mouth writing letter by letter also makes me think about the whole concept of literacy. We Western Europeans so often get stuck in the idea that literacy is measured by mastery of the Latin alphabet, and it's only in a basic Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Korean, Arabic or Hindi course that we realize that we are in a similar position in terms of reading and writing as immigrants we consider illiterate.

“Acquiring Russian has undoubtedly been slower than any other language I’ve studied so far, but it also offers small insights as rewards. That feeling when you manage to write several words in a row without failing! And how great it is to notice that you can distinguish familiar words from the stream of Russian speech passing by on the street! Not to mention loanwords!”

Venla

Service and Administration Manager, Helsinki Adult Education Institute

I have known that there are many words of Russian origin in the slang of the city (sontsa, kohmelo, lafka, murju, etc.), but I have been delighted to notice that in addition to the slang, there are also loanwords from the vocabulary of my late Karelian grandmother, who spoke Finnish completely (a vot, koussikka, tsaiju or saijju). And how often do we think that such everyday words as iknu, lusikka, kuljeskella, tuumäilla and tarava have migrated to our language from our eastern neighbor.

Attitude towards the Russian language

The attitude towards the Russian language may still be lukewarm in certain circles, sometimes due to historical reasons, sometimes due to the political situation in Russia and human rights violations, or sometimes just due to general stupidity and racism, but it is to be hoped that the language and culture would be seen as separate from Putinism, religious fanaticism and nationalism. My own goals for the near future regarding the Russian language are quite moderate and practical for now, but in the long term I would certainly hope to be able to read Pushkin in the original language, at the latest by the time I retire!

Text: Venla, Helsinki Adult Education Institute

Photos: Venla, Helsinki Adult Education Institute and Nikita Karimov, Unsplash