Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
Becky: Welcome to 3-Minute Finnish Season 1, Lesson 8 - Talking About Your Age. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask someone's age and how to say yours in Finnish.
Body
Becky: Here's the informal way to ask 'How old are you?' in Finnish.
Nico: [Normal] Kuinka vanha olet?
Becky: First is a word meaning 'how'
Nico: [Normal] kuinka [Slow] kuinka
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'old'
Nico: [Normal] vanha [Slow] vanha
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'are you'
Nico: [Normal] olet [Slow] olet
Becky: Listen again to the informal question meaning 'How old are you?'
Nico: [Slow] Kuinka vanha olet? [Normal] Kuinka vanha olet?
Becky: Now, imagine you're speaking to someone you don’t know well. Here's the formal way to ask, 'Excuse me, how old are you?'
Nico: [Normal] Anteeksi, kuinka vanha olette?
Becky: First is a word meaning 'excuse me'
Nico: [Normal] anteeksi [Slow] anteeksi
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'how'
Nico: [Normal] kuinka [Slow] kuinka
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'old'
Nico: [Normal] vanha [Slow] vanha
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'you are (plural)'
Nico: [Normal] olette [Slow] olette
Becky: Listen again to the formal question meaning 'Excuse me, how old are you?'
Nico: [Slow] Anteeksi, kuinka vanha olette? [Normal] Anteeksi, kuinka vanha olette?
Becky: Here's a response meaning 'I am 17 years old.'
Nico: [Normal] Olen 17 vuotta vanha.
Becky: First is a word meaning 'I am'
Nico: [Normal] olen [Slow] olen
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'seventeen'
Nico: [Normal] seitsemäntoista [Slow] seitsemäntoista
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'years'
Nico: [Normal] vuotta [Slow] vuotta
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'old'
Nico: [Normal] vanha [Slow] vanha
Becky: Listen again to the response, 'I am 17 years old.'
Nico: [Slow] Olen 17 vuotta vanha. [Normal] Olen 17 vuotta vanha.
Becky: Here's a response meaning, 'I prefer not to say.'
Nico: [Normal] En halua sanoa.
Becky: First is a word meaning 'I don't'
Nico: [Normal] en [Slow] en
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'want'
Nico: [Normal] halua [Slow] halua
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'to say'
Nico: [Normal] sanoa [Slow] sanoa
Becky: Listen again to the response, 'I prefer not to say.'
Nico: [Slow] En halua sanoa. [Normal] En halua sanoa.
Cultural Insight
Becky: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Nico: It's not very common to ask someone's age in social situations in Finland. Friends or fellow students might ask, but especially in business related situations, age should be irrelevant. Your age may be checked though, when you are trying to go into places or events with an age restriction, or when you are trying to buy alcohol from the Finnish liquor store, Alko, which is the only place where anything stronger than 4.7% can be purchased. Anyone who looks under 30 years old may be asked to show their I.D. when purchasing alcohol.

Outro

Becky: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson!
Nico: Hei hei!

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