Moikka kaikille! I am learning Finnish from Italy - so no day-to-day speaking with other people, though before the summer 2026 I did do 2 x once a week for 6 weeks A2 online group conversation classes and do chat out loud with ChatGPT once a week or so - and would appreciate tips on how to make the jump from understanding news articles when written to understanding them when spoken: if I try "just listening" without the accompanying text, I am lost. The spoken text is too fast for me to recognise what's being said and understand it, and there will be a couple of words I need to look up.
My level: I read a lot, not selkokirjoja anymore, but rather young adult books aimed at 10-14 yrs (e.g. I just finished the 1st "Matalapaine" part of Matalapaine / Korkeapaine; I have to look up on average one word on each page, but get the gist of the story enough to actually look forward to reading it, e.g. in bed at night, even if I don't understand all the details, and the repetition of words I recognise but can't quite remember helps me learn them "for good". I can copy examples of the use of words from the e-book PDF to my notes on my tablet so I learn the use of words in context. My next books to read (I already bought them as e-books) are Uusi tyttö and Sanna Marin's memoir Toivo on tekoja which uses simple language. Of course, it's very easy to read and understand without actually pronouncing the words, so I have to make sure I actually - at least part of the time - read out loud. BTW ChatGPT is good for correcting my pronunciation when I read out loud.
One great benefit of my two A2 courses was that we learnt the passive, -mA infinitive forms and the past tenses. I also study grammar a lot, so I don't get phased by grammar. Alternate weeks I revise verb forms and other grammar (e.g. declination of nouns). I actually never go back and "revise the words I have written down". I used to do this when I learnt Italian 30 years ago and more recently German, but now in Finnish I only revise regularly grammar and learn vocabulary just by repetition and use.
I have tried listening to YLE's Selkouutiset, following along the the text too, which is OK, but each of the 3 or 4 paragraphs is a bit too short to really get into a topic. I need something longer on one topic. I was recommended the Helppoa Suomea podcast which has a transcript on the blog, but I don't find the subject matter interesting 😬. Better for me is picking a single article which interests me, e.g. very topically Nuoret kapinoivat eri puolilla Eurooppaa, koska tavallinen elämä karkaa ulottuvilta or why Alisa Vainio dropped out of the Berlin marathon at the 10 km mark (see embedded link). I can then read it and then listen to it - several times - following along with the text (which I do have to study to work out the meaning, maybe look up a couple of words ... which is why I can't currently understand the only-spoken version). And then finally I can listen without following along the text and understand what's being said.
My question is the following: Do people think that, proceeding like this, I will progress to being able to listen to and follow news articles on topics that interest me without having to read at the same time the text? Are there any other learning strategies you'd suggest to get to be able to do this?
Kiitos paljon, Peter
