Thousands of people every year study for and apply to the Finnish YKI (National Certificate of Language Proficiency) test.
Passing the test, and gaining the certificate, in either Finnish or Swedish is a mandatory step on the road to obtaining Finnish citizenship — but it is also seen as a means of integrating into Finnish society.
The YKI test is organised by the Finnish National Agency for Education and consists of four parts — speaking, listening comprehension, writing and reading comprehension — with a separate subtest for each part.
It also has three levels: basic (corresponding to language levels A1-A2), intermediate (B1-B2) and advanced (C1-C2).
Yle has created a learning pack based around understanding text and speech, with links to each of the exercises below. The language level is B1.
Each link contains a mix of short texts as well as audio or video packages, all of which are under one minute in duration.
The topics are the same as in the YKI test, and they have been prepared by three experienced Finnish teachers.
The All Points North podcast asks how to overcome linguistic hurdles when speaking Finnish as a foreigner. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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