Finnish 1, CONTACT teaching, Oct-Dec 2025

Course information

Learning outcomes

At course completion, you will:

- be able to introduce yourself and tell about your general background and current situation 
- be able to manage in Finnish in common social situations 
- be able to write short messages 
- understand the main words used in your environment 
- know more about Finnish customs

Content

Basic vocabulary of daily life and the basic grammatical structures of Finnish (partitive and genitive, verb types 1-5, possessives)

Practice situations related to everyday tasks and social life (asking and answering questions)

Teacher

Iida Airasmaa

Study material

Terhi Tapaninen ja Kristiina Kuparinen: Oma Suomi 1 (Chapters 1-5) (2022 edition, ISBN : 978-951-1-44826-6) and extra material provided by the teacher. Please notice that the book is compulsory for completing the course.

Workload

Teaching in group 36 h
Independent work 57 h
 

Prerequisites

This course is intended for beginners. No previous knowledge in Finnish language is required.

Evaluation

Passing the course requires regular attendance, active participation in class and completion of the given homework. Written and oral examination. The weight of the different assignments in the final evaluation is specified at the start of the course.

Teaching time and location

20.10.-5.12.2025. Teaching hours on Mondays and Fridays at 10.00-12.00 (the timetable has been updated 29.9.2025). This course is conducted as in-person instruction on campus, the teaching takes place at Aalto University campus at Otakaari 4, Espoo. Please note that you'll need the access token to get to the classrooms. Students are expected to be present at the lectures.

Exams

Written and oral examination
Course examination will be held on 8.12.2025 at 10-12. The exam room is 150, Otakaari 4.
Re-examination will be held on 12.1.2026 at 10-12. Please register in Sisu 5.1.2025 at the latest. The exam room is 202, Otakaari 4.

The examinations will be held on campus. The teacher will give further information on examinations. Oral examination time will be given by the teacher.

The teacher has four (4) weeks to grade the exam submissions starting from the exam date.

Exam instructions at the Open UniversityOpen University exam halls

Further information

CEFR level
Starting level: 0,Target Level: A1
More information on CEFR levels

Online learning environment for the course  

MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching.

Digital workspace of the course:
MyCoursesMore details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.

Registration and course fee

Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below: 
Course registration

Registration for this course starts on 22.9.2025 at 9.00  
Registration for this course ends on 13.10.2025 at 23.59

It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.

The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules

This course is organized by the Aalto University Open University. The requirements of the course are the same as in the degree studies at Aalto University Language Centre.

The number of participants is limited to 30.
Please note that this course is organized when there are at least 12 students registered for it. 

Activating Aalto ID and Multifactor Authentication

You can activate your Aalto User ID the day after the registration and you should activate it no later than the day before the start of the course.
Instructions for activating your Aalto user ID

Once you have activated your Aalto user ID, also enable multifactor authentication. Some of Aalto University's services require multifactor authentication.

Instructions for using Multifactor Authentication