There are two official languages in Finland: Finnish and Swedish, although Swedish is a small minority.  You should fill out our Words To Know Sheet and take it with you for reference.

You may find it helpful to begin creating a list of words and meanings that are distinctly Finnish. Use our list as a guide, or starting point; then add your own additional Finland-specific phrases. You may find that in making a conscious effort to learn the Finnish lingo, you will begin to understand other aspects of Finnish culture more clearly. In addition, you should also know how to dial a country's 24-hour emergency phone number (equivalent to a 9-1-1 system).

You may find it helpful to print and cut out our Service Icons Card that you can carry with you. The card contains a series of simple images that represent services you may require—services like a telephone, post-office, taxi, and hospital. If you don’t remember, or don’t know, how to say a certain word in the native language, you can point to the picture on the card that represents that word. For example, if you need to find a telephone, you can show someone the picture of a telephone on the card and they can assist you. It is better to already be able to comfortably communicate in one of the official languages when studying in Finland. However, you should keep this card with you just in case you forget how to say a certain word, or, in the case of injury, you become physically unable to verbally communicate.