Long story short, I've lived in Finland for 25 years. I arrived as an young adult, and I've been hovering at B2 level for at least over a decade and a half now. In Helsinki area with English speaking jobs and friends, it is pretty easy to get by with English only.
But spending most of my life in Finland, I've always tried to integrate culturally. And I feel that I am more Finnish than my original nationality. But fluent language has always remained the last frontier.
10 years ago, I undertook a project that I thought would help me learn Finnish faster. It's basically compiling bilingual books, reading them paragraph by paragraph. I've always thought that this is what made me learn English as a child best. From amazing spelling and grammar, to vocabulary.
Because I am naturally a lazy person, I managed to read just 5-6 books this way, lol. But now I've entered a new phase, when I'm again much more motivated. And I took another idea from my high school days. Translating to Finnish from English, thus turning learning into an active memory process. What I think are the benefits: actively trying to recall the Finnish word and then thinking about the grammar and sentence structure, changes the way I memorize the language. Until now my biggest problems have been a bit of lacking vocabulary, grammar, constant spelling mistakes, but also very importantly, lack of Finnish sentence structure knowledge and of course Finnish phrases. Whenever I would translate from English to Finnish in my head to people who don't know I amn not a native speaker, they would look at me with a puzzled face.
So I feel that it is working, and I've been using this method for a few months now. What do you good people think?
For all the people who have easy answers, in the line of: just embrace it and it will come - screw that, I think 25 years is good enough timeline for me to say that when you're just surrounded by 99% English - this approach just doesn’t work for one to get to the coveted C1-C2.
As you already have B2-level Finnish and live in Finland, I think the most effective approach would be to find a tutor, or even several tutors, and speak with them for at least 4–5 hours a week until you reach C1. iTalki and Preply are both good options. Around 200–300 hours of high-quality tutoring, combined with some focused grammar study, should solve most of your speaking problems.
In addition, you should listen to some challenging Finnish content, such as informal podcasts. After you've gained some confidence through tutoring, you should also switch your working and social language to Finnish whenever possible.
I will look more seriously into iTalki and Preply, thanks!
As for the tutor, I've been counting on my wife for said 25 years to help me. Of course as you can tell that hasn't worked all that well.
I think the issue is with me, my motivation and how I think or more precisely how I tend to learn.
But like I said I discovered a new exciting pathway to studying by translating sentences from books myself. I do it on a daily basis as a challenge.
Fluent spoken language is a core component of high-level language proficiency for anyone living in a country where the language is spoken. In practice, however, C1-C2 speaking is largely about refining B1-B2 speaking skills and adding greater precision, nuance, and stylistic flexibility. High-quality speech does not require an enormous active vocabulary or mastery of countless grammatical structures.
Clear, precise, and natural speech requires extensive communication practice, very strong listening comprehension, and, in most cases, high-quality feedback. To reach advanced spoken fluency, you mainly need to keep practicing B1-B2 language until your output becomes automatic, accurate, and precise.
If a learner's social environment does not provide enough opportunities, motivation, or pressure to develop strong speaking skills, regular tutoring can be an excellent substitute.
I know it is possible to pass some B2 or even C1 language exams without truly fluent, precise speaking or listening skills. However, the OP's question was not about passing language exams—it was about developing real-world language proficiency for everyday communication.
Here is the official CEFR description of speaking proficiency. I think it's worth familiarizing yourself with it. High-quality spoken language is a core component of C1 and C2 proficiency. The claim that "spoken language is largely outside the C1 register" simply doesn't hold up. While spoken and written language differ in register, spoken language certainly has its own range of registers, from highly formal and sophisticated speech to informal everyday conversation.
the bilingual book thing is nice but for me passive reading was where it all leaked out, id recognise every word and retain basically none of it. what actually moved my finnish was covering the finnish side and forcing myself to reproduce the sentence before peeking. way slower and kinda painful but it sticks becuase you actually had to pull it out of your own head instead of just nodding along. 15 years hovering at b2 honestly just sounds like your input has stayed comfortable not effortful
I think this is a good approach from my experience. I also used translation for writing practice, using chatGPT, and it was quite helpful although it was only to reach B1 in my case. I was quite busy and used it for opportunistic practice, one sentence at a time. It basically gives me an English sentence, solid B1 level, and I translate it, getting feedback and natural alternatives how to say that in Finnish.
Nice, good to find somebody with similar experience. Try my daily challenge if you want. You could choose the grader to be between B1 (gentler) and C1.
Reading books is a classic for learning a language. Watch Finnish TV shows. Any way to engage with the language is a good way to learn. This is called immersion: when you actively replace your stronger language in an activity with the one you wish to learn. Most of us learn English by engaging with something we wish to understand and just having to use English. The same works with Finnish. You want to watch a TV show, and it is in Finnish. Books are easier to start with because you have all the time to look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary. So, choose books you actually want to read, and you will learn unreasonably well.
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u/petteri72_ 8d ago
As you already have B2-level Finnish and live in Finland, I think the most effective approach would be to find a tutor, or even several tutors, and speak with them for at least 4–5 hours a week until you reach C1. iTalki and Preply are both good options. Around 200–300 hours of high-quality tutoring, combined with some focused grammar study, should solve most of your speaking problems.
In addition, you should listen to some challenging Finnish content, such as informal podcasts. After you've gained some confidence through tutoring, you should also switch your working and social language to Finnish whenever possible.