What the hell?

The Joys of Education
So what's happened in la-la land that's encouraged
Irene to study Finnish? A high percentage of people 30 and under speak English.
Go into almost any shop where the mastercard/amex/visa logos are flashed and
you'll be able to discuss spending money in English.

Well, the act of shopping. It started out with basic necessities (food, beer,
dry cider, etc.) and has moved into shoes (of course), gift items, and books.
It was the books that finally did me in. After being asked the umpteenth time
if I wanted,"Pussi", I figured I needed more than a dictionary.
(Pussi = bag. But my limited dictionary didn't have this form. Only
Pussittaa.)

I purchased two sets of Finnish for Dummies. Specifically, Colloquial Finnish
(€53.90)and Finnish for Foreigners (2 books/€20 each).
Both have been an endless source of entertainment. To begin with why would anyone
allow, let alone encourage, a non-native to write such a book? After buying
a non-returnable Book/CD combination set written by a Brit, I've decided it's
not a good idea.

Daniel Abondolo, author of Colloquial Finnish, has picked some interesting
conversations to translate and educate people like me. Foreigners. (As everyone
continually points out. God bless them. Otherwise I might have forgotten.)

Open the book to kappale viisi (chapter five) and you find:
Mitä me ostetaan?
("What'll we buy?" That's verbatim. What'll.)

After listening to the dialogue Tarja loosely somes it up: White trash goes
to buy crappy booze at the state monopoly. Our characters go to the off-licence
to buy cheap champagne (never a good idea). 1) Off-licences are in the U.K.
and Ireland 2) Finland sells hard liquor only at Alko.

Daniel becomes stingy with paper as the book progresses along, and decides
not to translate spoken dialogues. After chapter 6, he assumes you have mastered
sufficient Finnish to listen, read, comprehend the meaning of two people chatting.
It would be nice to first try and translate solo, but then have a reference
to verify that you've understood correctly. But noooo.

...Mä en oo ihan varma. Me ollaan yleensä Mikon kanssa menty Seurassaareen
kattoon sitä perinteistä juhannuskokkoa, mut tänä vuonna
ajateltiin tehda jotain muuta! ...

Irene picks up a dictionary, and tries to decipher the mystery.

... "I am not too certain. I am generally with Mikon...um ...at this place
called Seurasari. (And I only know that Seurasari is a place because I've been
there) kattoonn = ceiling/roof (?) traditionally midsummer, ... mutta
means 'but' but this sentence has mut ...tänne = 'give,
give it here' but tänään = 'today' ajatella = 'think,
plan on doing' jotta = 'so, that' muuttaa = change...

...I am not too certain. I am generally with Mikon under a roof in Seurasari
(?) for a traditional midsummer bonfire, but today i think that changes.

Er, what was the person saying? And how do I know if I'm right in any of my
assumptions? And what the hell does vuonna mean?

or for that matter,"swotting"???
(a British term for comes up repeatedly in the book. It's not in this passage,
but I should have had some warning the overpriced bookset was geared toward
the Brits.) grumble.

posted by irene @ 8/02/2002 09:44:00 AM