How to Navigate Uusi kielemme to Study Finnish

Uusi kielemme is not a structured course, so there is no single correct starting page. The site works best if you treat it as a reference library: pick a topic you actually care about, open the vocabulary or grammar overview, and read the article that matches your current level. This guide explains how the site is organized, where the main entry points are, and how to avoid getting overwhelmed by the amount of material.

What Uusi kielemme actually is

Uusi kielemme (roughly "our new language") is a long-running website with detailed explanations of Finnish vocabulary and grammar in English. It has been online since 2007 and contains more than 650 articles. The author, Inge, is a non-native Finnish learner with a master's degree in Finnish from the University of Tampere, and the site was created because clear English-language explanations of Finnish grammar were hard to find.

Two things follow from this:

• It is a collection of articles, not a lesson plan. There is no page that says "start here."
• Coverage is broad rather than sequential, so you choose the order yourself.

The two main entry points

Vocabulary overview

The vocabulary overview page is divided into three parts: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. According to the site itself, this division is not especially important. The stronger recommendation is to study first whatever interests you most — vocabulary sticks better when the topic is one you want to talk about.

Grammar overview

The grammar overview page mixes topics of all difficulty levels rather than sorting them into a sequence. Some individual articles mark which sections are aimed at more advanced students, which is the main signal you get about difficulty. If a section feels too hard, that is a normal part of using this site, not a sign you started in the wrong place.

A practical way to work through the site

1. Decide what you need right now: a grammar point you just hit in class, or vocabulary for a topic you care about.
2. Open the matching overview page (vocabulary or grammar) and scan for that topic.
3. Read the article, but check for any note marking advanced sections before committing to the whole thing.
4. If a page feels too dense, close it and pick a narrower topic instead. The site's own stated worry is that readers get overwhelmed by the amount of information on a single page.

Interactive exercises and extra materials

The site previously required points for interactive exercises and extra materials. That has changed: these are now free for everyone at https://uusikielemme.fi/extra/. Users who had an active account at the time of the change were refunded. If you want practice rather than reading, that page is the place to go.

On mobile

If you are on a mobile device, the vocabulary and grammar overview pages are reachable through the menu at the top left. Desktop users can use the same overview pages directly.

What the site is not good for

• It will not tell you what to study next. You supply that decision.
• It does not present a graded path from beginner to advanced, even though the vocabulary page has three levels.
• It assumes you can tolerate reading about a topic before you have mastered it, since grammar topics of different levels sit side by side.

Quick reference

If you are unsure where to begin, pick one topic you genuinely want to understand and start there. The site is built for that kind of use, and the newest articles listed on the homepage are a reasonable place to see what has been added recently.