Learn five things that will help you make the most out of your travels in Finland
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| Tiina: Hey everybody, welcome back to the All About series on FinnishPod101.com. This is lesson 6: Can You Answer These 5 Questions About Finland? I'm Tiina. |
| Reeta: And I'm Reeta. In this lesson, we have something special… |
| Tiina: A quiz! Which may have some of you thinking 'oh no~', but don’t worry. This will be a fun one. |
| Reeta: We’re not going to test out your Finnish skills or anything like that yet. |
| Tiina: Nope, these questions are all about Finland itself – society, geography, culture… so you can see how much you know about Finland! |
| Reeta: Yes, because learning Finnish is much more than just learning a language. |
| Tiina: You learn about people, life, society, all that good stuff. |
| Reeta: If you pass, you can go on to the next lesson! |
| Tiina: And if you don’t pass… you can still go on to the next lesson! So, no pressure. |
| Reeta: So everyone, are you ready? |
| Tiina: Alright, let’s get started! |
| Reeta: Ed, you’ll be the one taking the test! |
| Tiina: Me? Okay, well, I’ll do my best! |
| Reeta: Okay, so here’s the first question, which is about geography. |
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| Audio |
| How many regions (or maakunta) does Finland have? |
| A) 25 B) 19 C) 33 |
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| Tiina: Okay, I know this one… 19! |
| Reeta: Correct! Finland has 19 regions! So, do you know which one has the most people? |
| Tiina: Well, I’m going to guess Helsinki. |
| Reeta: Close! The region of Uusimaa, which also includes the capital. Now, how about the biggest region in terms of size? |
| Tiina: Hmm, if it has the most people, maybe Uusimaa is also the biggest. |
| Reeta: (answer) Well, the answer is Lappi, or Lapland in English, the northernmost province. Guess where Helsinki ranks on the list for population? |
| Tiina: It must be the biggest! |
| Reeta: That's right! It’s the biggest city, with a population of about half a million! |
| Tiina: Oh, that’s still quite small, isn’t it? But I guess compared to Finland’s population of 5.3 million, that is quite a lot in one city. |
| Reeta: Ok, now let’s move to the next question. |
| Audio |
| We will give the names of three popular sightseeing places. Please choose the one that is in Helsinki! |
| A) Turun linna B) Muumimaa C) Temppeliaukion kirkko |
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| Tiina: Does everyone know the answer? Let’s see… Turun linna is located in Turku, the western city that used to be the capital before Helsinki. Turun is a genitive of Turku, and linna means "castle", so actually it means Castle of Turku. Muumimaa is in Naantali, near Turku, and it known as Moominland in English. It sounds like a fun place! So the answer must be Temppeliaukion kirkko! |
| Reeta: Correct! Temppeliaukion kirkko is in Helsinki. It is a church made of stone and located underground. It’s a beautiful church by the way. |
| Tiina: That’s right – it’s in Helsinki. |
| Reeta: Okay, now let’s go on to an economics question. Or rather, a question about money. |
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| Audio |
| What is the national currency of Finland? |
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| Tiina: This one’s easy – it’s the euro, abbreviated as e. |
| Reeta: Right. And do you know how many euros equal 1 US dollar? |
| Tiina: Hmm, 1.1 euros per US dollar? |
| Reeta: At the current rate, it’s about 1 euro per 1.3 US dollar. |
| Tiina: Ok, I was close! |
| Reeta: Yeah. Okay, now the next one is a true/false question! This time we are doing to debunk a myth about Finland. |
| Tiina: Sounds fun! |
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| Audio |
| Finland is in Lapland. True/false. |
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| Tiina: Well, of course this is false. Sorry to disappoint. |
| Reeta: Yes, it's quite far from the truth. I think the first thing a lot of people imagine when they think of Finland is Lapland and the Northern lights, to the point where they think that they’re synonymous. But Finland is a long country, and actually from the south of Finland or from Helsinki, it's about 1000km to the Northern parts. It’s pretty far away. |
| Reeta: And it's pretty cold there, and during the winter, days are very short and during the summer it doesn’t get dark at all. That's a pretty big contrast, isn't it? |
| Tiina: It is – But the area is definitely worth a visit, either during the winter for the Northern lights and ski resorts, or during the summer for hiking and beautiful landscapes. |
| Reeta: Second of all – and you should know this, Tiina – the Finnish have no terms for “she ” or “he”, which might seem strange at first. |
| Tiina: Well, first, you will figure out if it’s a she or a he from the context. It won't be that difficult when you are in the situation. But maybe the main reason for this is that Finland is a country where discrimination by sex or by any other means is strictly prohibited, so they seem to think everyone is equal and human in the same way. |
| Reeta: Wow, that is interesting, isn’t it. And it makes sense, too. But anyway that’s all for our quiz! |
| Tiina: We hope you had fun and that you learned something! You should try asking your friends and family these questions, and see how they do! |
| Reeta: That sounds like a fun idea! You can teach other people what you’ve just learned about Finland. |
| Tiina: And this is just the beginning of all the interesting things about Finland. You'll find out more as you learn the language and experience the culture firsthand. |
| Reeta: Everyone, come and share any interesting facts you know about Finland in the comments section on FinnishPod101.com! |
| Tiina: Yes, see you there! Bye everyone! |
| Reeta: Hei hei! |
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