Finnish Frequency Dictionaries
The Finnish Frequency Dictionaries help you learn Finnish fast.
Learning by frequency (how often you'll use a word) is far better than learning random vocabulary. If you learn Finnish vocabulary randomly, you'll waste a lot of time studying words that you will probably never or rarely use.
Some prefer to learn thematically. Most traditional language classes are based on thematic learning. While in theory, this is a great approach: Make sure the learners can handle themselves in a broad range of situations. In practice, it is slow and horribly inefficient.
Think about it. Why are you spending your beginner lessons learning vocabulary about the airport or the bathroom, and learning the names of all the things in the bathroom? How often does that come up in daily conversation? Plus, people at an airport usually speak English anyway.
Why not focus on the most used words in a language. Words that you'll use.. over and over again? Because 98.5% of all language education fails, we decided it was time to step it up.
The frequency dictionaries are broken up into four parts. They cover vocabulary for:
- Beginners
- Intermediate students
- Advanced learners
- Near-fluent students
If you can read, you can benefit from these dictionaries.
- Finnish Frequency Dictionary 1 - Essential Vocabulary - 2500 most common Finnish Words
- Finnish Frequency Dictionary 2 - Intermediate Vocabulary - 2501-5000 most common Finnish Words
- Finnish Frequency Dictionary 3 - Advanced Vocabulary - 5001-7500 most common Finnish Words
- Finnish Frequency Dictionary 4 - Master Vocabulary - 7501-10.000 most common Finnish Words
You can roughly divide each frequency dictionary into three parts. The outline of the books is the same. The only thing that differs is the vocabulary and the sentences.
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General frequency
A list covering 2500 of the most common Finnish words. This general frequency list gives you all vocabulary you need to know to learn Finnish. The vocabulary is presented in a neatly organized, structured method. Just learn ten words a day, and you'll improve fast enough to impress yourself and your friends.
The data is based on subtitles, because subtitles cover both written and spoken Finnish. This makes subtitles the best source to create a practical vocabulary to learn Finnish.
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Frequency as Part of Speech
We give you a word list of the most common Finnish:
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Adjectives
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Adverbs
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Conjunctions
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Prepositions
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Pronouns
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Nouns
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Numerals
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Verbs
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This way, you can target precisely what you want to study, and in what area you'd like to improve.
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Alphabet
In the back of the books, you will find an alphabetical dictionary. Just like a regular Finnish dictionary, it is sorted by alphabet. It is an easy way to look up Finnish words.
Parallel Text Sample Sentences
Because learning vocabulary from a pure word list isn't really natural, we added sample sentences. They mimic natural learning. You learn a language in chunks: usually in short sentences, or parts thereof.
Sample sentences also help you see the word used in context. They also provide you with reading practice. Because the translation of the sentence is also given, the frequency dictionary doubles as a bilingual book.
Depending on the book, you get the equivalent of reading a 70-90 page bilingual book. That is quite some reading practice, especially if you finish all four.
IPA Phonetic Spelling
Correct pronunciation of foreign words often is difficult and irregular. Even in English, it is quite often not straightforward. This poem illustrates pronunciation difficulties well:
Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye; your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh, hear my prayer.
To help you get your pronunciation right, we added IPA phonetic spelling of Finnish words. This way, you will always know the proper pronunciation. No more embarrassing pronunciation mistakes!
Conclusion
The Finnish Frequency Dictionaries provide all learners of Finnish and Flemish with a simple, structured method. You can efficiently learn new vocabulary with these frequency dictionaries. You will save loads of time by not learning Finnish words you will never, or very rarely, use.