These days, I am addicted to the book illustrating the vivid experience of the author who faces many challenges to learn foreign languages. It is perhaps because of not only the usefulness of the language itself but also the fact that such a story reminds me of the existence of diverse cultures worldwide and the fascination of the language associated with it. This fact is quite difficult to realize in daily life, where I am surrounded by people who speak the same language as I do.
This book is the essay of the life of the author to study culture and language in Finland, not a book to study the Finnish language. Apparently, it’s not a new book (published before I was born), but it’s exciting to read. It covers a lot of topics that happened in the country during his stay, such as life at the university, the culture of the sauna, the history of the country, and so on. Finland is not a country we are closely familiar with, so it’s quite interesting to know the country from the perspective of the author.
One chapter is illustrated with the vowel and consonants of the Finnish language and the author’s struggle to learn it. Although the pages are covered with a bunch of grammatical words and explanations, I could not help being deeply intrigued by her fresh sense of humor and the way she describes the grammar of Finnish. I quickly found learning the Finnish language is not an easy task in comparison with learning English, for example, which I have encountered quite a few challenges throughout my life.
I don’t think I can allocate time to focus on Finnish for now, but I would like to read the book again when I have a chance to learn it. The book will definitely bring me the joy of touching the unfamiliar culture and language, which will lead me to study the Finnish language then.
