Extraterrestrial intelligence: the search gets harder
The opportunity to learn more about where we fit into the vastness of the cosmos is under threat from shortsighted decision makers who have politicized science.
For much of the 20th century, governments around the world wanted to boldly go where no man had gone before. More recently, though, austerity budgets around the world and political mindsets that view science with suspicion have threatened the survival of the kinds of projects that put humans on the moon.
Fiendishly funny Finnish
THOUGH Finnish might be considered a difficult language, it can at least be said that most Finns are not slow to admit this and are often more than willing to have a laugh at the expense of their native tongue. Indeed, the difficulty of the Finnish language is sometimes worn as a badge of honour.
Natives often delight in bewildering foreigners with such mouthfuls as epäjärjestelmällisyydellänsäkään – a word meaning “with his/her ability to make things unsystematic”. Words like this are practically never used, but Finns delight in the ability of their language to produce such tongue-twisters.
Finding Finnish more easily
IN A significant development for those seeking to learn the majority language here, Infopankki has recently established finnishcourses.fi, an online service that acts as a one-stop shop for those seeking to find Finnish courses in the capital region, as well as listing a number of Swedish courses.
“It’s a brand new service, so that people looking for Finnish courses can do the search by themselves,” explains Infopankki’s Jaana Rytkönen. “It collects information about courses organised in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen.”
Learning languages is child’s play
What is so tricky about learning another language?
LEARNING a second language beyond childhood is undoubtedly difficult. Now that we can move beyond this simple statement of fact, it’s worth asking why. More importantly, why is it that some people really struggle, and others find the task less onerous?
Finnished as yet?
IT’S the question that as a foreigner living in Finland either you dread hearing, or don’t mind at all: Can you speak Finnish?
UPON arriving here you have been plagued by opinions that it’s too hard, it’s impossible and that it’s not necessary in the capital region anyway. You have been taunted by the smirk that rises in the corner of a local’s mouth when they ask if you have managed to wrestle this often-complicated language into submission. But this stage passes – for more people than you’d initially expect.
PERHAPS the best advice for newcomers here is to not pay any attention to the unfortunate group of complainers that you will come across from time to time. Yes, those foreigners who lambast the language as impossible, the culture as impenetrable and the weather abominable – yet still remain living here.
Back to the future for Helsinki homebuyers
According to a Statistics Finland study, the trend in first-home purchases in the capital region has moved back towards the pattern of the early post-war years: long-term mortgages, at low interest rates.
GRANDPARENTS in present-day Finland, in the days long before they were grandparents, typically bought their home for life. For the generation that experienced the wars, loan periods were long, but mortgage interest rates were far lower than they are now.
Work and study a tough but beneficial balance for technical students
A recent survey of students in technical fields suggests that a significant majority find working to support themselves during their studies to be a burden that pays off later.
ACCORDING to a survey commissioned by the professional and labour market organisation Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland (TEK), students in these areas consider part-time and summer work to be helpful towards finding work in their own field after graduation.
Tenacity helps with study problems
A fourth-grade girl had major difficulties with mathematics and English at school, and also had problems with tasks such as taking care of her belongings and doing her homework.
Sari Kantelinen, at the time a neuropsychologist at Hyvinkää Hospital, met the girl there. “Tests were done with the girl which showed that she had wide-ranging linguistic and non-linguistic problems,” Kantelinen recalls. The tests also showed, however, that the girl had good mechanical reading skills and a good memory. Most of all she had a positive attitude towards school and learning in general.
Parental pressure can create learning difficulties, says child neurologist
According to child neurologist Sanna-Leena Vanhanen, children of highly educated parents are most likely to be subjected to excessive and self-defeating pressure to do well at school.
UNREASONABLY high expectations that parents place on their children to do well at school may be self-defeating and can even harm children, according to child neurologist Sanna-Leena Vanhanen.
Not built in a day
The success of the Finnish educational system is the fruit of over four decades of concerted effort at all levels of society.
A GOOGLE search for the Finnish educational system pulls up dozens of news articles from around the world, lauding the performance of Finnish students in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an ongoing study conducted by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development).
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