Palapeli = Done.

It's been a tough two and a half months not being able to blog as much as I would like as I have been studying and taking Finnish lessons via Palapeli.

The exams were this past week and involved 3 days worth of tests.

Monday:  The speech test.  You are in a room with two teachers - one to ask you the questions, the other to mark your responses down.
Some questions I was asked and not necessarily in this order (translated English):

• What's your name?
• Are you married?
• Do you have children?
• Tell us about your family.
• How old are you?
• How long have you lived in Finland for?
• Why do you live in Finland?
• What is your profession?
• What do you like to do?  (hobbies)
• What would you like to do in Finland? (Long term goal or dream)
• What is your nationality?
• What country are you from?
• Where do you live?

Then - the describe the pictures session:

You look at a comic strip and describe the time and what the character is doing.

"They wake up at 6, they shower, they eat breakfast, then go to the bus then get to work ...etc."

Then the situation questions...this was brutal for me as the teacher who asked me the questions wasn't my regular teacher (she was marking my responses down) so I was just picking words and stringing them together and hoping they made sense...

• You're in a grocery store and want to know where the pepper is.  How do you ask for help and where the pepper is?
• You're in the grocery store and you found the pepper but it doesn't have a price.  How do you inquire about the price of it?
• You're waiting at the bus stop and when the bus comes - you need to ask the driver if this bus goes to the hospital.  What do you say?
• You get on the bus and your bus card (pass) is empty - what do you say or do?  

Then it was conversation time.

• "Huomenta!" - I responded with "Huomenta, mit� kuuluu?" (Good morning, how are you?)  Apparently that was the wrong answer - I should have just stuck with "Huomenta."  Why was this the wrong answer (sort of)?  Because her next question was:
• "Mit� kuuluu?"
• Do you know where the bathroom is?
• Can I borrow a pen?

That's all I can remember, considering it's been over 2 weeks since I started this post and did the exams.

The written ones were alright...mix and match, write a description of photos, label things, explain what's going on based on advertisements, write your profile out etc.

Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take my tests home (so I could give you a slightly better description) because they re-use the tests every time it seems.

The final markings are based on A-C levels - based on comprehension, reading and speech - so if your percentage (out of 100%) was a bit low - do not stress.

Mine were 82 and 76% respectively (there were two written exams plus a listening one) but my A levels were A 1.2-1.3 - so pretty good for a beginner studying Finnish!
And if you're wondering (sorry I don't have the descriptions of levels with me right now) a C-level is pretty much a native to Finland who speaks Finnish as their mother-tongue.
So if you're not a C-level...don't worry.

I have learned since that Palapeli is not available anywhere else in Finland - just in Jyv�skyl�...but I'm sure if you live in a different part of Finland - your city will have something similar to offer assistance to foreigners to learn the language!

And afterwards - there is another couple classes then there's some group outing...then perhaps a massive potluck - I wouldn't know because I left early to travel to Wales.

Good luck!