2024: The update of the Suomipassi as part of the Guiding Towards Fluent Finnish project
The Suomipassi was downloaded thousands of times and received a lot of positive feedback. Over the years, the app’s technology became outdated and could no longer be fixed. In 2023, the CeLCS at the University of Turku started a two-year project called “Guiding Towards Fluent Finnish” (OSUS), with one of its goals being the update of Suomipassi. During 2024, Suomipassi was practically completely rebuilt using the Flutter tool. The passport’s appearance is fresher, the categorization more user-friendly, and previous functions have been improved. The content has been updated, and Suomipassi now includes over 350 phrases and, among other things, recycling vocabulary.
A major update is that the main language of the Suomipassi is now colloquial Finnish, and the audios have also been recorded in spoken Finnish: the learner immediately hears authentic spoken language instead of written language. Favorite phrases can be marked in Favorites category, and users can give themselves a smiley for rating the speaking experience. As before, speaking a phrase can be stamped, and the speaking location can be seen on the map. Read more about using the passport and its features on the “How to use Suomipassi” tab.
Additionally, in the spring of 2025, the CeLCS will offer a Suomipassi course for the first time, for which students will receive 1 credit. You will hear more about the course concept later when the course starts!
As additional material, a YouTube video has been made about the Suomipassi, where you can listen to the top 50 phrases of the Suomipassi and practice pronunciation. The video is designed with a hands-free concept: you can listen to the phrases continuously, for example, on the bus ride home, without having to click on them separately.