Finnish Isn't Easy (Even If You're Hungarian)

TL;DR:

No, Hungarian and Finnish are not "basically the same".

Yes, Finnish is hard.

And yes, it’s 100% worth it because it is interesting.

Languages have always played a big role in my life, and looking back, I am glad I was encouraged to tap into that part of my brain. I started with Russian—still the hardest language I have ever tried to learn (or maybe I just was not in the right headspace at the ripe age of seven)—alongside English in primary school. I remember attempting to write down rap lyrics and painstakingly looking up every word in the dictionary. Looking back…, I really should not have. At least not then, not there. Intense Spanish followed in secondary school, and I added Portuguese on top of it. So now that I think about it, it surprises even me that despite coming to Finland for nearly a decade before actually moving here, I did not seriously try learning Finnish until the summer of 2023.

Journey by sunlight: a Hungarian holiday read (Utas és holdvilág/Journey by Moonlight), leaving Helsinki

During these visits, I have watched Helsinki evolve: becoming more international, more open, more welcoming. But just as dear to me were the quieter, whimsical places that made me feel like time had stopped: for example, the peace of Kaskinen, where nature has offered endless inspiration for my art.

Of course, Finnish culture was not a stranger to me before my first midsummer visit in 2015. I grew up knowing about Mika Waltari, the origin of the Western sauna, The Rasmus, Nokia, and even the curious Finnish micro-communities in some Hungarian villages who kept up their rubber boot-throwing traditions and made it to the 6.30 news. Mika Häkkinen and Kimi Räikkönen were household names. I had a bit of Kalevala in school literature class. I even remember drawing Väinämöinen once. And, of course, the Moomins, Marimekko, Arabia…

And then there is the language. That connection language teachers so much like to highlight. The familiar handful of words we Hungarians can proudly recite: kéz–käsi, méz–mesi, szarv–sarvi… But, as we say in Hungary, the black soup came later. Once I started learning Finnish, I realised it is a lot more complicated than that (adding i to the end of each word). But before I get into just how complicated, I want to address a few of the most common misconceptions I have come across, especially the well-meaning but very wrong assumption that Finnish should be easy for me.

"You’re Hungarian, It Must Be Easy!"

One of the most common things people say when they hear I am Hungarian learning Finnish is: "Oh, that must be a piece of cake for you!" Cue: more like an entire cake. Plus some nervous laughter, mixed with a dash of existential dread: what if there is something wrong with me? What if I have somehow lost the brain capacity to learn a new language after turning 30? Who knows. Nevertheless, let’s clear up a few (3) myths.

1.  "You Understand Each Other, Right?"

No. Not even a little. The first time I properly heard Finnish around me, I thought it reminded me more of Japanese?! There was something about the rhythm, the endings, and the fast repetition of the “t” and “k” sounds. To my Hungarian ears, untrained on dubbed films and Hungarianised foreign names (Jules Verne as Verne Gyula??) Finnish sounded less than familiar.

2.  "You Have the Same Grammar"

Sure, we both use cases. But partitiivi?? True, some are intuitive if you speak Hungarian, I will give you that. Others make you question every linguistic instinct you think you have developed. 

There are moments when I think I get it until I walk by an ad on the street with a witty tagline that feels more like a puzzle than a sentence.

3.  "Our Languages Are Related, So It is Practically Like Dialects"

The most persistent myth that completely ignores the thousands of years that have passed since Hungarians and Finns last saw each other somewhere in the Ural Mountains. Hungarian is part of the Uralic language family, just like Finnish, but we branched off early and went our own way. Hungarians picked up influences from Turkish, Slavic, and Germanic languages along the way.

Lada jumalan selän takana or Zsiguli az isten háta mögött: Hungarian plate, Finnish countryside

Learning Finnish - An Attempt

Despite all the above (and being underprepared), I did start learning Finnish. Properly. Here is what it has been like (3).

1. Grammar: Almost Familiar

As mentioned, sometimes, my Hungarian brain helps. I can understand how cases work in theory. In practice, I am sometimes lost. It took me a while, for example, to understand the difference between menen mökille and menen mökkiin.

2. Pronunciation: Almost Comfortable

Ö and Y sounds? No problem. Hungarian has them too (ö and ü respectively). But those double consonants in the middle of words that are more like triple? Or, maybe saying Kamppi or kinkku are just tough. Not to mention the stress on the first syllable, which makes everything lack emotion.

3. Speaking: Almost Impossible

I am so comfortable with English, and Finland LETS me be. It is a privilege, really, that I can handle everything important and less important in English here. But it also becomes a trap. Why bother speaking Finnish when everyone speaks such impeccable English anyway? Still, I try. Not speaking much, rather, not making the other party switch to English for me and keeping reactions to the minimal but intentional mmhhmm, joo, kiitos, and moi.

Letting It Settle

After an intense, 10-month study period, I took a break. Unexpectedly, things started to click. Words I had engraved into my brain were suddenly there, waiting. I realised that language learning needs air, space, and quiet. I am currently at that convenient B1 level, which makes moving to C1 so uncomfortable.

I still mess up, of course. Like the time I meant to write iso rotta (big rat) in a test essay, but confidently put iso rotu (big race/breed) multiple times instead. Not quite the same. My grammar in writing is often questionable, mostly because I do not read enough literature in Finnish. But that is a whole other issue on its own.

One thing I noticed is that people I already know feel very different in Finnish. I guess speaking a new language comes with a slightly new personality, too. So I do not even try speaking Finnish with people I have known for years. It feels unnatural. In an ideal world, it would be much easier to practice with people I do not know well yet. But that would involve actively seeking out social interaction, and that is another issue on its own.

Learning Finnish has opened doors: to people, to places, to catching a Finn saying something in Budapest during the F1 season, to understanding signs in the grocery store. It has made me feel more here, like I belong. And for someone with a mixed heritage who has lived, studied, and worked in several countries, that feeling means a lot.

I find the connection and the cultural distance between Hungarian and Finnish super fascinating. I still need to read more and learn a lot more. And I definitely need to get over myself and just speak. The Hungarian accent in Finnish is not bad, unlike the heavy Eastern European accent I had in Spanish, which made me cringe every time I heard myself back.

Hi, I'm Monira! 

Life has taken me from Budapest to Glasgow, London, Frankfurt, and back to Budapest—before finally landing in Helsinki in spring 2023 (for now).

I've always loved how places, languages, and cultures shape who we are, and moving between countries has only made that fascination stronger (along with a bit of confusion and identity crisis). As for work, I am an analyst and project manager (media and HR) with a degree in Politics. Outside of numbers and data, I try to keep my creativity alive through fibre arts, painting, and design.