April 28th, or bachelor degree is close to its finish

Today was the last day of studies at the Faculty of Law of Petrozavodsk State University.

It was marked by my qualification examination in the English language in the sphere of professional communication (law). Getting minor in Russia is pretty different from getting it in Finland or somewhere else. I do not blame Russian educational system, just it how the things are, and students and professors both may suffer from it. But me and my friend made it - we went through stressful phonetic lessons (even though today I still pronounced working in the way that it did not sound different from walking), compiling written translation portfolios to final examination. The first part of it was made in the form of written home examination (translation from English to Russian), then we had oral translation and, finally, presentation of results of scientific research in English. Mine was dedicated to issues of forest crimes - this topic captivated me back in the third year of studies when I was working on KARELIA ENPI CBC project.

May the situation be that the English language is just in tool in getting better knowledge of the world but I still see this minor degree as a success of coming over bureacratic difficulties, ignoring people saying that I am crazy to go to study in the "provincial university" and whatever. Now I make less phonetic mistakes, I have certain grasp of rules of intonation and it is already a big progress!

Debate on the carpet

May my worries be the reason or whatever, but I had quite a weird dream. I was somewhere at the conference/seminar/whatever and I was shown a carpet and was asked to convince the public that it is the best in the world.

What is the point of this dream? One version may be that my participation in debating is pointless but I highly doubt it. I have not achieved much but I am looking forward to achieve more. It is more likely that the dream symbolised my need to persuade, convince people around me - admissions office, future colleagues, new friends, old friends. Sometimes the idea of convincing may sound absurd and unproductive as debating about the carpet but who knows what I will need!

On youth politics

I keep saying to myself that I am out of politics.

Today I got interviewed for radio programme in Finnish (broadcast in Russian Karelia) as a member of the Youth Parliament of the Republic of Karelia, where I have been for one year and a half already. I was asnwering some basic questions (How I got there? What I am doing there?) and I understand that what I do comprises politics. Maybe, not the politics in its common sense , as it meant by many people who see politics as the sphere encompassing those rich deputies and crazy deputy candidates who dare to fight for the privilege of power. But the youth politics give much more possibilities. Someone may be worried that it does not give visible results. Anyway, it is all about risks. We cannot claim that unsuccessful piece of legislation is a more substantive result than lively discussion which is not documented effectively from the legal sense of view but still can have so much influence on the future!

Sunny photo of me with Barents Regional Youth Council going as a special addition for this inspiring post:)

Last week of studying

Plan of the preparation for final exam in English:
1. Learn to speak as someone from BBC (mission is unaccomplishable, so go to point 2)
2. Treat your audience as idiots - not because they are, but because without it you will be too lazy to explain what you mean when defending your thesis (well, no one is obliged by law to know what I mean by corpus delicti, mens rea or illegal timber)
3. Look back at point 2 and believe that the audience are not complete idiots - otherwise you will look as complete idiot yourself.
4. Speak as a successful lawyer even though you are not sure whether your bachelor degree diploma is on its way.
5. Prove people that doing minor subject in addition to major subject is absolutely normal (in Russia it is still not a common practice).

Even though sometimes people do not understand what I am trying to communicate to them, studying phonetics is a great fun and definitely has been useful and inspirational for me!

Finnish and me

At the moment of writing this, I have been learning Finnish for 6,5 years. No, wait, for 6 years 9 months, that is even more. Struggling with monikon partitiivi, making first effort to book a room in the weird hostel in Kuopio where the only 80-year-old administrator speaks no foreign languages, reading anime magazines for teenagers to get basic reading skills - all this experience is already being forgotten  as now I try to move forward.

Good books, university courses, time management skills and advanced ability to get focused on studies are the necessary ingredients that one needs to be able to say more than en puhu suomea (I do not speak Finnish). But to get advanced in language you need something more. Feeling of the language.

I came to Joensuu in the beginning of January to send my application documents. The city is quiet and peaceful, my international friends are travelling all over the world. I send the documents with the hopes that they reach their destination in all senses, that is, they reach not only the postal address of the University Admissions Finland, but also the melt the hearts of admissions offices of the universities I am applying too.

Well, that does not really matter. What matters, is that by that time I was starting to forget Finnish. No university courses anymore (all courses in Petrozavodsk University are too basic), no language practice except for rare encounters with Finnish colleagues at work. And there is the result: I am sitting in kitchen, drinking tea and understand less than 30% per cent of basic conversation held in Finnish.

And this was when I understood for what I should learn language. Not for good-looking CV, not even for master degree portfolio, not for the guarantees that I can explain myself at hairdresser's or at pharmacy. I can do that already. To progress with language, I need to fuel my studies with enthusiasm.

This enthusiasm may be based on irrational dreams, may stem from expectations that will never come true. I may be too afraid to say phrases which I have learnt but could not say before because I did not know to whom they can be addressed. Or maybe I will fail at courses held in Finnish language in my master degree, if I ever get admitted to it. It does not matter, because now I understand why really I should learn Finnish.

During my next trip to Joensuu in February I was staying at the place of my friend who bought books in Finnish after having been studying Finnish just for 2 years. And then I understood that I have never ever tried to read books in Finnish. Was that because my Finnish language teacher kept saying that it is too difficult or because I saw no point in that myself? So, I took the first book in Finnish and read it at normal speed (without looking into dictionary at all).  Another Finnish kaveri (friend) of mine said that he has already read Russian classics in Russian. After learning Russian for 6 years he is reading books which I, as a native speaker, was too lazy to read at school!

Last week I was caught in the shop for old books and got interviewed for Karjalainen (local newspaper). From that time in Joensuu I brought 3 books in Finnish (not even books for children). I read them and I see no differences in reading books in English and Finnish: maybe one day I will finally see no difficulties in communicating in Finnish at all.

View the language not as a compilation of academic books you have to look through a night before exam you are forced to take, view it as the way to your dreams, treat it with emotion, trust in it and you will succeed.