The next phase started in spring 2018 as a part of cooperation with Study in Turku. The idea of converting a Finnish passport into a mobile app came from one of the students: it would be much easier to carry it around. Suomipassi and Study in Turku are ideally suited to each other: the aim of both is to give the international student the keys to a good and smooth everyday life and to make students feel that Turku is a great place to live and study. When a newly-arrived foreigner has this kind of concrete tool to support his/her Finnish language studies, it also becomes easier to start to use the language. The application is a digital aid and motivator, but it is important to remember that it does not replace systematic and long-term development of language skills.

At the beginning of the project, the content was created, i.e. the phrases, which were modified based on student feedback. There are many more phrases in the mobile app compared to the printed version and in addition, there is food vocabulary, numbers and some spoken language. At first, it was supposed to be only in Finnish, English and Swedish but active Finnish language students wanted to participate in the project and translated the phrases into Chinese, Russian, German and Spanish. It’s great to see how enthusiastic students have been about this project! We also wanted to add audio files to help with the pronunciation and they were recorded in eRappu with the help of designer Timo Hulkko from the Centre for Language and Communication Studies. In the printed version, students needed to ask the staff to stamp the passport but in the mobile application students can mark the phrase to be completed themselves. In addition they can mark the place on the map and later see the route of where they have been speaking Finnish. Students can share their experiences with friends or in class.

Download the application from your appstore!

Suomipassi mobile application briefly:

  • made by and for Finnish language learners
  • has phrases that focus on daily situations
  • helps students to get to know their new home town
  • motivates students to speak Finnish as the other person knows that  you’re learning it
  • is pedagogically designed – can be used as a part of Finnish language courses
  • encourages students to go outside the classroom to speak Finnish
  • is all free of charge

What can you do with it?

  • practice pronunciation by listening to the phrases
  • mark the places you’ve visited on the map and see your route of where you have been speaking Finnish (for registered users)
  • see the phrases you’ve completed
  • use it in 10 languages: Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, German, Italian, French, Arabic + spoken language

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