This book is intended as learning material for the basic course in Finnish. The title, "Tilanteesta toiseen" means ´From one situation to another´. You may find it useful to start by reading the Introduction, which explains how you can get the most out of the book.

You will find that structure of Finnish is different from that of the Indo-European languages early on in the book is intended to give you a firm base for your grammatical studies. The relevant grammatical explanations appear on the ´Explanations´ pages attached to the lessons. After a certain number of lessons there is an overview of the grammar covered in them.

The first texts are short, business-like dialogues, which will make it easier for you to practise speaking Finnis with a partner. As the course progresses the dialogues become longer and narrative texts are added. The objective is to get you used to reading in Finnish and to give you the courage to tackle new texts.

The vocabulary lists give translations of individual words, phrases, and whole sentences, which will enable you to understand the texts even though you may not yet know the various forms of the words.

We hope that the book will open up the Finnish language to you, and will enable you to cope in situations in which you need to communicate in Finnish.