My name is Mari Kotonen and I work as a Finnish language specialist at WordDive and as a private teacher in my own business Kielitunturi. I have been teaching Finnish for adults from beginners to advanced level since 2017. I have specialized on online teaching.
I graduated from the University of Helsinki in 2020 and I finished a special training called ”Learning and studying in digital environments” (Finnish: DigiErko) for teachers at the University of Turku in 2023.
I have studied several languages (English, Swedish, German, Russian, Japanese, Spanish…) on courses and on my own and I know how much time and energy it takes. Therefore I think studying has to be interesting and fun to maintain your motivation. To improve your everyday Finnish skills, Finnish spoken language is always part of my classes. When planning the classes I will use the student’s daily surroundings which will give the student chances to use Finnish every day. Studying only from the book will not improve a versatile language proficiency, but knowing grammar helps learning and especially writing.
Education
- DigiErko, University of Turku 2022–2023
- MA Finnish language (minors Finnish litterature and pedagogical studies for teacher qualification), University of Helsinki 2014–2020
- Cook (vocational qualification), Lapin ammattiopisto 2006–2009
We highly recommend taking Mari’s Finnish course! We started learning Finnish with absolutely no prior knowledge of the language, and we can honestly recommend Mari’s Finnish course to anyone in a similar situation. As new staff members of the Korean Embassy, we had just moved to Finland and wanted to learn daily Finnish. Mari kindly came to our place and was very flexible in meeting our needs. The classes are well-structured, and the teacher makes the lessons engaging and fun, focusing on practical, everyday Finnish. Her teaching style is very approachable and supportive, helping beginners feel comfortable and confident from the start. We found this course is definitely enjoyable and useful in our daily life! Good luck with your Finnish studies! Onnea suomen opiskeluun!
– Mio & Tove, started private classes in February 2025