Finland wants you to learn Finnish and pays for a lot of it. The catch is finding the course, because the system has several doors and each city names them differently. Here is the map.
Door 1: integration training (kotoutumiskoulutus)
Free, full-time, and the fastest route to B1 if you are not working. You get it through the employment services of your municipality (since 2025 these are municipal, no longer the state TE Office). You register as a job seeker, an adviser draws up an integration plan (kotoutumissuunnitelma), and the plan can include a Finnish course of several months up to about a year, aiming at B1, with workplace training. During the course you may receive an allowance. You are entitled to an integration plan for a limited number of years after your first residence registration, so do not wait.
Who: unemployed newcomers, people on family permits, refugees, spouses. Employed people can sometimes join evening versions; ask.
Door 2: adult education centres
Every city has a työväenopisto or kansalaisopisto with Finnish courses from A1 to B2, evenings and Saturdays, at a low fee per term. They also run YKI preparation courses. Registration opens in August and December and popular levels fill on the first day.
| City | Centre |
|---|---|
| Helsinki | Helsingin työväenopisto (Finnish), Helsingfors Arbis (in Swedish) |
| Espoo | Omnia |
| Vantaa | Vantaan aikuisopisto |
| Tampere | Tampereen seudun työväenopisto |
| Turku | Turun suomenkielinen työväenopisto |
| Oulu | Oulu-opisto |
Door 3: universities and universities of applied sciences
If you study or work at a university, its language centre offers Finnish courses, usually free for students and staff. Universities of applied sciences run Finnish for international degree students and, in the care sector, Finnish for nurses.
Door 4: online courses
- Kotisuomessa.fi: a free online Finnish course from the Finnish National Agency for Education, from A1 to B1.
- Adult education centres online: most now offer remote evening courses, so you can join a Helsinki course from Rovaniemi.
- This site: the course, grammar and practice sections, free.
Door 5: free conversation
- Language cafés in libraries, weekly, free, no registration. See speaking.
- Luetaan yhdessä groups for women, free.
- Red Cross language clubs.
How to find the course near you
- finnishcourses.fi: a search service for Finnish and Swedish courses in the capital region, Turku, Tampere and Oulu, plus online courses, with level and time filters.
- Kielibuusti.fi: course search across Finland and a library of self-study material.
- Your city's website, search suomen kielen kurssit or Finnish courses.
- The library desk. Librarians know every free option in the neighbourhood.
Which door for you
| Your situation | Start with |
|---|---|
| Not working, newly arrived | Integration training via employment services |
| Working full time | Evening course at the adult education centre, plus this site daily |
| Student | University language centre |
| Nurse or care worker | Universities of applied sciences' Finnish for nurses; see Finnish for work |
| Preparing for YKI in six months | YKI preparation course at the adult education centre plus mock tests |