Study Finnish Abroad

To learn Finnish is to learn a language that has fought hard for its existence. There are 6 million people who can help you with your study of Finnish. While it is the official language of Finland, it is also spoken by several neighbouring Nordic countries as well.

Annexed by Sweden, it would be a few hundred years until Finnish emerged as a language that could be used by the institutions and the state. Most of the credit goes to Johan Vilhelm Snellman, who made a passionate plea for the educated classes of Finland to adopt the language of the Finnish people. In 1863 the language decree made Finnish equal to Swedish in the country's administration.

Today, Finnish has established itself as the country's dominant language even though Swedish is still a mandatory language in its school system.

Finnish literature, music and cinema are growing rapidly and the language is heavily used. Every year 15-20 films are made, 12,000 books are published and 12 million records are sold!

Learn Finnish this year with Languages Abroad and soak up some of its centuries of history, culture, and traditions while you study abroad!