Thursday, June 13, 2013
10,000 Hour of Finnish
If I were to spend 10,000 hours fully committed and focused on one activity, I would attempt to teach myself how to speak and read the Finnish language. My grandfather has a strong Finnish heritage, being almost a full-blooded Finn. He knows how to speak little pieces of the language and can read some. His mother, my great-grandmother, spoke fluent Finnish, it having been her primary language. She spoke the languageto my grandfather and my mother. I would like to learn how to speak it to feel closer to my heritage, and to feel closer to my grandfather. I hope to one day journey to Finland to see where my roots started and to partake in their Midsummer Festival. A Finnish Midsummer Festival is a celebration of the Summer solstice during which the Finnish people sing, dance, feast, and burn massive bon fires symbolizing the changes of seasons. Learning the language would help me communicate with the citizens and help me get the "full experience" so to speak, of the festivities.
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I think that learning a language would definitely be a task worth dedicating 10,000 hours of focused practice. I was just wondering if you had an ability to quickly learn new languages. I was curious if you have this talent because Finnish seems like a difficult language to learn. I also think that it is pretty cool that you would choose to get closer to your heritage and family by learning this language.
ReplyDeleteI did pick up French very easily, however I also think Finnish will be hard to learn. I already know a few phrases and words. There are a lot of excess consonants, like k's and t's. It is hard to pronounce too, but I hope to teach myself how to speak it more fluently.
DeleteOur culture and ancestry is something that we should be proud of and that is awesome that you want to get closer to your roots. As Alanna mentioned dedicating 10,000 hours to a language would be worth it, especially since the Finnish language means something to you and your family. I have heard some Finnish before and agree that it will be difficult to learn but not impossible. I hope you do continue to teach yourself the language and someday make it to the Midsummer Festival.
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