Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to FinnishPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 6 - Making a Phone Call in Finland. I’m Michael.
Nico: Hei. I'm Nico.
Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask about the well-being and whereabouts of your friends and family. The conversation takes place on the phone. The people on the phone are at home.
Nico: It's between Heikki, who lives in Finland, and his sister Linnea, who lives in the United States.
Michael: The speakers are family, so they’ll be using informal Finnish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Heikki: Haloo. Heikki.
Linnea: Moi Heikki! Linnea täällä!
Heikki: Linnea!Mikä yllätys!Soitatko Amerikasta?
Linnea: Soitanpa hyvinkin. Mitä sulle, ja teille kaikille kuuluu?
Heikki: Meille kaikille kuuluu ihan hyvää. Oltiin juuri Ainon kanssa lomalla Helsingissä. Mutta miten sinä voit, ja Steven?
Linnea: Ihan hyvin, joskin Steven on aika väsynyt, koska hänellä on ollut niin paljon töitä. Mutta pian meilläkin alkaa loma! Ajattelimme tulla käymään Suomessa!
Heikki: No se on mahtavaa! Mennään sitten mökille yhdessä.
Linnea: Ehdottomasti!
Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Heikki: Haloo. Heikki.
Linnea: Moi Heikki! Linnea täällä!
Heikki: Linnea!Mikä yllätys!Soitatko Amerikasta?
Linnea: Soitanpa hyvinkin. Mitä sulle, ja teille kaikille kuuluu?
Heikki: Meille kaikille kuuluu ihan hyvää. Oltiin juuri Ainon kanssa lomalla Helsingissä. Mutta miten sinä voit, ja Steven?
Linnea: Ihan hyvin, joskin Steven on aika väsynyt, koska hänellä on ollut niin paljon töitä. Mutta pian meilläkin alkaa loma! Ajattelimme tulla käymään Suomessa!
Heikki: No se on mahtavaa! Mennään sitten mökille yhdessä.
Linnea: Ehdottomasti!
Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Heikki: Hello. Heikki.
Linnea: Hi, Heikki! Linnea here!
Heikki: Linnea! What a surprise! Are you calling from America?
Linnea: I sure am. How are you, and the rest of the family?
Heikki: We are all just fine. Aino and I just had a holiday in Helsinki. But how are you, and Steven?
Linnea: We’re fine too, though Steven is pretty tired since he’s had so much work. But soon we’ll also have our holidays! We were thinking of visiting Finland!
Heikki: Well that's fantastic! Let's all go to the summer house together then.
Linnea: Absolutely!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Michael: Nico, how do Finns like to spend their vacation time?
Nico: Finnish people love to spend their weekends, and especially their summer holidays, at summer houses, surrounded by nature. Most Finns can get to a summer house because while the country has just 5.5 million people, there are over half a million summer houses!
Michael: That sounds fantastic!
Nico: During the summer and winter holidays, renting cabins is also popular. The summer houses are often located in the middle of a forest, by a lake.
Michael: So you can really enjoy the natural environment. How well-equipped are summer houses?
Nico: Well, modern cabins have modern day comforts, such as electricity, water, and entertainment, but in many places the water is still carried from the lake, and the cabins and sauna are heated by burning wood in the fireplace.
Michael: Wow! When’s the most popular time to go to one of these cabins?
Nico: The most popular time for the Finns to head out to their summer houses is during Juhannus, which is called midsummer, when people relax and enjoy the nightless night with their families and friends. They eat good food, go to the sauna, swim in the lake, and go fishing.
Michael: It sounds nice. Is there a specific Finnish word for “summer house”?
Nico: Yes, it’s kesämökki.
Michael: We hope you get a chance to go to one, listeners! Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Nico: haloo [natural native speed]
Michael: hello
Nico: haloo [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Nico: haloo [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Nico: moi [natural native speed]
Michael: hi
Nico: moi [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Nico: moi [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Nico: yllätys [natural native speed]
Michael: surprise
Nico: yllätys [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Nico: yllätys [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Nico: soittaa [natural native speed]
Michael: to call
Nico: soittaa [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Nico: soittaa [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Nico: hyvää [natural native speed]
Michael: good
Nico: hyvää[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Nico: hyvää [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Nico: voida [natural native speed]
Michael: to be able to
Nico: voida[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Nico: voida [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Nico: hyvin [natural native speed]
Michael: well
Nico: hyvin[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Nico: hyvin [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Nico: väsynyt [natural native speed]
Michael: tired
Nico: väsynyt[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Nico: väsynyt [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Nico: yhdessä [natural native speed]
Michael: together
Nico: yhdessä [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Nico: yhdessä [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Michael: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is..
Nico: Mitä kuuluu?
Michael: meaning "How are you?"
Nico: The question mitä kuuluu? is made up of two words - the question word mitä meaning "what," and the verb kuulua, which in this case means “going” or “belonging.”
Michael: So the question is basically asking “how’s it going?”. It’s literally “what things are belonging to you now?,” meaning what is happening in the life of the other person. So how can you use it?
Nico: You generally use this sentence when you’re asking a person you know how they are doing. You can use it in slightly formal situations as well if you’re greeting a person you've met before.
Michael: But you shouldn't use it when you meet someone for the first time, right?
Nico: That’s right. The answer to the question is almost always hyvää kiitos which means "fine, thank you." Between friends, however, the answer can be more detailed and accurate.
Michael: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Nico: Sure. For example, you can say.. Hei, pitkästä aikaa, mitä kuuluu?
Michael: ..which means "Hello, long time no see, how are you?". Okay, what's the next phrase?
Nico: Miten voit?
Michael: This has the same meaning, "How are you?".
Nico: It’s made up of two words - the question word miten, "how," and the verb voida, which refers to “being” or “doing.”
Michael: This phrase is particularly common when you want to politely ask a person who has been ill or suffered an injury how they are recovering. Like with the previous phrase, you wouldn't say this to someone you've just met, but it can be used even in slightly formal situations with acquaintances. So what’s the most common answer to this question, Nico?
Nico: The answer can be more detailed and accurate if you’re speaking to your friends.
Michael: Can you give us an example using this word?
Nico: Sure. For example, you can say.. Kuulin että olit sairaana. Miten voit nyt?
Michael: .. which means "I heard you were ill. How are you now?". Okay, now onto the grammar.

Lesson focus

Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk to family and friends on the phone and inquire about their well-being.
Nico: In the lesson Heikki got a phone call from his sister Linnea, who lives in the United States. When you greet someone you haven’t seen or talked to for a long time, you can say pitkästä aikaa,
Michael: meaning “long time no see!”
Nico: But in the dialogue, Heikki was so surprised that he said mikä yllätys!,
Michael: meaning “what a surprise!”
Nico: We already saw that a polite way to ask how someone is is mitä kuuluu or miten voit. A more casual way to express the same is miten menee.
Michael: Can you repeat that?
Nico: miten menee. Unlike the English "how are you?" you wouldn't say this to people you see every day. We generally reserve these phrases for when we haven’t seen someone for a while and want to know how they’re doing.
Michael: In the dialogue, Linnea asked Heikki about his family.
Nico: Yes, she asked in a very casual and friendly way, Mitä sulle, ja teille kaikille kuuluu?,
Michael: meaning “How are you, and the rest of the family?”. Would it be different in a formal situation?
Nico: In formal language, the question mitä sulle kuuluu would be mitä sinulle kuuluu?
Michael: Can you repeat it?
Nico: Sure! Mitä sinulle kuuluu? You can answer this question by saying minulle kuuluu hyvää, kiitos.
Michael: That means “I’m fine thank you.”
Nico: In the dialogue Heikki replied with meille kaikille kuuluu ihan hyvää.
Michael: “We are all quite fine.”
Nico: Another compact way of answering this question is Kiitos hyvää.
Michael: “Fine, thank you.”
Nico: Finally, you can say Kiitos kysymästä.
Michael: Which means "Thanks for asking.” Ok, can you give us some practical examples, Nico?
Nico: Firstly, Hei, mitä sinulle kuuluu?
Michael: "Hi, how are you?"
Nico: Miten äitisi voi?
Michael: "How is your mother?"
Nico: Here’s another. Voiko perheesi hyvin?
Michael: "Is your family well?"

Outro

Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Nico: Hei hei.

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