Studying Finnish in Finland

An opportunity to study Finnish

There are various opportunities to study Finnish in Finland, depending on your current skills in the Finnish language.

Beginner's level courses in Finnish

If you are interested in visiting Finland for short-term language courses, please refer to the links on the right-hand margin ("sources of information for Finnish language courses in Finland"). For example the Summer Universities arrange Finnish language and culture courses on many different levels annually. Please contact the course organisers directly for detailed info on what is on offer, how to apply, etc. Depending on your nationality, you may need to apply for a visa in order to participate in a language course in Finland. Information on visa procedures is available from Finnish Immigration Service MIGRI or the Finnish embassy in your home country.

Please note that CIMO does not organise any beginner's level courses in Finnish, nor do we have any scholarships for beginner's level Finnish language studies.

Finnish language courses for students at Finnish universities and polytechnics

Most of the universities and polytechnics in Finland offer courses in the Finnish language for their international students, so if you have already been accepted as an exchange student or a degree student to a Finnish university or polytechnic, please contact the institution in question for more information.

Finnish language courses for Erasmus students

If you are coming to Finland as an Erasmus exchange student the Erasmus Intensive Language Courses give you an opportunity to study Finnish in Finland before the beginning of the semester. Please contact the Erasmus coordinator of your home university and ask how to apply for EILC courses (EILC = Erasmus Intensive Language Course).

You can find information on the available EILC courses in Finland at the 'Erasmus Intensive Language Courses' section of this website.

Finnish studies for advanced students

Finnish can also be studied at degree student level at various Finnish universities. Please note that the Finnish departments do not usually provide language courses as such, instead, the focus of teaching is on linguistics. In other words, to be eligible to apply for these degree studies you usually need to have advanced skills in Finnish, as the programmes are offered in Finnish only.

The following universities offer degree studies in Finnish language (the following web sites are in Finnish, Åbo Akademi site in Swedish):

• University of Helsinki - Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies
  
• University of Eastern Finland - Finnish Language and Cultural Research
  
• University of Jyväskylä - Department of Languages / Finnish
  
• University of Oulu - Finnish Language
  
• University of Tampere - School of Modern Languages and Translation Sciences / Finnish Language
  
• University of Turku - School of Languages and Translation Studies / Finnish Language
  
• University of Vaasa - Department of Modern Finnish and Translation
  
• Åbo Akademi (Swedish-speaking university) - Finnish Language / Finska språket

If you are interested in applying as a degree student to the above Finnish language departments, please contact the institution in question directly for detailed advice.

CIMO's support for studying Finnish

CIMO gives advanced-level students of the Finnish language and culture at universities outside Finland an opportunity to come to practise their Finnish in Finland by

• organising summer courses in Finnish language and culture
• offering students an opportunity to come to Finland as trainees on the Suomea Suomessa programme
• awarding grants to students (for one term) and researchers (for 1–2 terms) of the Finnish language and culture.

For further information, please visit CIMO’s web service www.cimo.fi