TRANSLATIONS IN FINNISH
HOW MUCH DO TRANSLATIONS IN FINNISH COST?
Translation cost from and to Finnish is calculated for every order individually. The price calculation takes into account various elements specific to your order – the price of sequential interpretation, whisper, and simultaneous translations is based on the time of providing the service, language combinations, location of the event, travel costs, and daily allowance. In simultaneous translation, expenses for technical support are additionally calculated depending on the number of participants in the event, etc.
The price of written translations consists of the volume and readability of the translated material, the due date of the translation, the complexity of the terminology, repetitions in the text, formatting of pictures and graphics, level of difficulty, as well as additional services chosen by the client.
IS THE PRICE LIST AVAILABLE?
Yes, the price list of translations and interpreting (simultaneous, whisper, court hearing and consecutive) from and to Finnish is an integral part of our contracts with clients. The Skrivanek Baltic translation agency always prepares detailed information about the cost of translation before starting a translation project. Every order price is fixed individually based on the Skrivanek Baltic price list. The price offer is prepared in approximately 30 minutes. In order for you to receive a price offer, feel free to send us your material to be translated and our project managers will contact you to agree on a solution.
Contact Skrivanek Baltic today for a free quote on Finnish translation or any other combination of translation and related business services. Our Finnish language services include:
- Finnish Document Translation
- Finnish Simultaneous Interpretation
- Finnish Linguistic Validation
- Finnish Consecutive Interpretation
- Finnish Transcription
- Finnish Typesetting and Graphics
- Finnish Voiceovers and Subtitling
- Finnish Staffing Solutions
- Finnish Multicultural Marketing
- Finnish Document Management
- Finnish Deposition Services
- Finnish Virtual Data Room Services
- Finnish E-learning Support
Looking for a language solution in Finnish? We will prepare a tailored solution and consult you on your subject of interest.
FACTS ABOUT THE FINNISH LANGUAGE
- Finnish is one of the two official languages in the Republic of Finland along with Swedish. The official language status is established by the Constitution of Finland (Suomen perustuslaki), renewed in 1999, and by the new Language Act (Kielilaki), which was drafted in 2003 and became effective in 2004. Since 1995, the Finnish language is one of the official languages of the European Union. It is used in all the sociolinguistic fields, as in government, education, culture, mass media, etc.
- The use of the language is regulated by other laws and decrees as well, for example, the Government Decree on the Linguistic Status of Municipalities (Valtioneuvoston asetus virka- ja itsehallintoalueiden kielellisestä jaotuksesta), Act on the Knowledge of Languages Required of Personnel in Public Bodies (Kielitaitolaki), Church Law (Kirkkolaki), Universities Act (Yliopistolaki), etc. The maintenance and research of the Finnish language, as well as grammar and the publication of dictionaries and other informative material is coordinated by the Institute for the Languages of Finland (Kotimaisten kielten keskus), which is under the administration of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture (Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö).
- Finnish Sign Language is the first language of 4000–5000 deaf Finns. In addition, 6000–9000 non-disabled Finns use it as their first or second language. Finnish Sign Language is derived from Swedish Sign Language. Nowadays, Finland-Swedish Sign Language is being used as well, which at the moment is considered to be an endangered sign language. Currently, there are only 90 Finland-Swedish Sign Language users, most of them elders, who attended the only Swedish school for the deaf in Finland. This school was closed in 1993.
- A highly developed type of regional colloquial language is Helsinki slang (Stadin slangi). It formed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries when even more Finnish-speaking residents started to arrive in Helsinki, where the Swedish Language had dominated at the time. Helsinki slang has both specific phonetic and grammatical features, and extensive vocabulary, which in different time periods was influenced by various foreign languages – initially Swedish and Russian, later on, English as well. Nowadays it has turned from commonly used slang into slang spoken mostly by teenagers.
- Most people think that the coffee countries of Europe are Italy or France. But no, it is the Finns who consume more coffee per capita than any country not only in Europe, but also in the world. On average, Finns consume about 12 kilograms of coffee every year. It is not uncommon to drink eight cups of coffee per day in Finland.
- Mobile game sensation Angry Birds gained popularity specifically in Finland. The developer of the game, Rovio Entertainment, which was founded in 2003 by students from Helsinki University of Technology, became a publicly traded company in 2017 and its net worth was 1 billion US dollars.
- Finland has been recognised as the happiest country in the world for many years in a row.
- Finland has an amazing welfare system, which supports the well-being of Finnish citizens. Within its framework, the state of Finland gives a unique gift to every expecting mother: a maternity pack or the so-called baby box. It can be considered as the initial support for the new parents, as it has various useful items, starting with baby products and ending with clothing. Furthermore, the baby box can be used as a bed as well. The tradition of gifting baby boxes in Finland is more than 80 years old.
- Do not forget about the sauna! It is the only Finnish word that will be understood by everyone in the world. There are more than 2 million saunas in the country, which is impressive, especially if we consider that the population of Finland is only 5.5 million! Sauna is very important for Finns. It is an amazing place to cleanse the body and the mind, relax and enjoy the moment, as well as meet new people and socialise. Furthermore, research indicates that regular visits to the sauna (preferably numerous times a week) provide many health benefits, including reduced risk of heart attacks and dementia. Thus, Finns quite regularly go to the sauna in their homes, gym, or work. Saunas can be found in unexpected locations when visiting Finland, for example, in student dormitories, and state institutions as well. In December of 2020, Finnish sauna traditions were included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
- Lastly – Finnish is considered to be the favourite language of heavy metal bands. That is why so many heavy metal bands that have gained popularity around the whole world have formed in Finland. In 2016, the president of the USA at the time, Barack Obama, noted that the political system in Finland is connected to its music scene. ‘I do want to point out that Finland has perhaps the most heavy metal bands in the world per capita and also ranks high on good governance,’ said Obama. Finnish groups such as HIM and Apocalyptica are more widely known in Latvia.
- On February 28, 1835, Finnish folklore specialist Elias Lönnrot published the first 32 poems from the epic Kalevala. In total there are 50 songs or poems that were published in a single issue only after 14 years. In doing this, a basis of one of the most famous epics of northern people was formed – the legend of the mythical land Kalevala. Kalevala as an epic embodied the massive work carried out by Finnish and Karelian folklore specialists and nationalists. Kalevala is based on traditional Finnish and Karelian folksongs that used free verse. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the efforts of the Finns to write down the old songs increased significantly because the trend of new poetry pervaded from Europe even more strongly. People who had knowledge of old songs started to dwindle in the south and west of Finland because of its influence, which caused folklore specialists to consider a compilation of folk songs. Finland and especially Karelia, which was a part of the Russian Empire at that time, obtained a basis of national unity through the awareness of the people. Numerous publications from folklore specialists gave hope that sometime it would be possible to compile the folksongs in one book. It was from the works of the predecessors, which were located at the University of Turku, that Elias Lönnrot got the inspiration for the epic.
- The epic Kalevala has a significant national role. Before Kalevala, Finns and Karelians did not have one unifying literary work that could set the foundation for national unity, therefore Kalevala is regarded as having a largely significant role in promoting Finnish national self-awareness. It does not need to be explained to Latvians, because this is the exact role that Lāčplēsis by Andrejs Pumpurs plays. Kalevala became popular at the beginning of the 20th century in particular, when Finns and Karelians attempted to gain independence from the Russian Empire. Therefore, it is not surprising that many Finnish companies used words found in Kalevala. Thus, a company named ‘Leminkainen’ has operated in construction, while companies that use the titles ‘Sampo’ and ‘Pohjolas’ have attempted to operate in the welfare and finance sectors. The fact that it is Finnish Culture Day or Kalevala Day on February 28, which symbolises Finnish culture, makes the epic special as well.
THE FINNISH ALPHABET
The Finnish language uses the Latin alphabet. The alphabet has the following letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s (š), t, u, v, w, x, y, z (ž) å, ä, ö.
Letters š and ž appear in the spelling of foreign words and in proper nouns from other languages – proper nouns from other languages in Finnish maintain the original spelling, they do not get modified. The Finnish alphabet follows the structure of the Swedish alphabet. Pronunciation and spelling are quite similar, pronunciation of vowels can be both long and short. Similar to Swedish, consonants can also be pronounced elongated, (except for the letters d, v, and j), and in writing the elongation of these sounds is marked with a double letter use.
There are eight vowels in Finnish: a, e, i, o, u, y, ä ja ö and 13–17 consonants: p, t, k, (b), d, (g), m, n, ŋ, (f), s, (š), h, l, r, v and j. Out of these, b, g, f and š are mostly found in foreign words and slang, and their place in the Finnish consonant system has not been consolidated. In Finnish, the main stress is on the first syllable. The length of vowels and consonants is important in the division of word meanings, which applies to almost all of the phonemes in Finnish, for example, mato (‘worm’) and matto (‘carpet’).
HOW DIFFICULT IS THE FINNISH LANGUAGE?
When starting to study the Finnish language, a completely unusual and new way of thinking must be learned – especially if the native language of the learner belongs to one of the languages in the Indo-European language family. Finnish, which belongs to the Uralic language family, differs from many languages, including the widely-used English language, which is one of the many Indo-European languages. On the other hand, Finnish might seem familiar and easier to Estonians, compared to other languages, since both Estonian and Finnish belong to the same language family.
The Finnish Language is part of the category of languages that are difficult to learn, 44 weeks or 1100 study hours would be required so that the language learner would feel confident enough about their Finnish knowledge and would join a conversation next to an office coffee machine.
WHERE AND HOW MANY PEOPLE SPEAK FINNISH?
Finnish is the native language for approximately 5.23 million people in the whole world – around 4.8 million residents in Finland, around 300 thousand in Sweden, around 50–100 thousand in East Karelia and Ingria (territories which now are parts of the Russian Republic), around 12 thousand in Norway and several tens of thousands elsewhere in the world, including in the United States of America and Australia. Based on the number of speakers, Finnish is the second most common Uralic language after Hungarian and is the most common Baltic Finno-Ugric language.
FINNISH TRANSLATOR AND INTERPRETER
Our translators, interpreters, and editors of the Finnish Language handle both standard written document translations, difficult technical and medical translations, and notarised translations. The Skrivanek Baltic translation agency also provides proofreading and stylistic improvement of texts in Finnish. Language experts will gladly provide information about cultural differences, business etiquette, history, and traditions of the country. The thematic range of the translated material from/to Finnish is quite wide, considering the frequent cooperation between both countries in various fields – business, economy, education, culture, etc. We most often do the following translations from and to Finnish for business clients – website and e-commerce content, advertising slogans, adaptations of marketing texts, cooperation agreements, and business documentation. We also do sequential translation in business or other types of conversations, conferences, and other events. For private individuals, we do translations of personal identification documents, marriage certificates, birth certificates, education documents, passports, medical documents, etc.
THE FINNISH LANGUAGE IN BUSINESS
Business etiquette varies in different regions and countries. That can create a difficult situation for people because it is burdensome to simultaneously follow international business etiquette and to focus on other business-related activities. When communicating with Finns, it is crucial to understand the Finnish communication style. One of the surprises even in business communication is that Finns are quiet. No other cultural group in the Northern countries has earned the reputation of being a reclusive, reticent, and spontaneous nation like the Finns have. The lack of desire for speaking if they do not have anything important to add, has contributed to a notion of Finns being slow-witted people, but in actuality, they are calm, thoughtful, stubborn to a certain degree, and aloof. And that’s how Finns are also in a business environment. Finns do not need direct contact and in fact, they quite easily use e-mail. That can help save time in everyday transactions. Finns are regarded as being excellent at time management and prefer to organise their workdays meticulously to accomplish as much as possible. Finnish entrepreneurs may seem formal and usually show their more informal side only to familiar people. But when you get to know your Finnish colleague, he can become your friend for the rest of your life. Finnish and Swedish are official languages in Finland, and children are required to learn both of them at school. For many Finns, Swedish is their so-called second language and 5.5% of the population speak it. Swedish speakers tend to live next to the coast and in metropolitan territories. Yet nowadays English has become the unofficial second language of Finland and more people speak English as their second language rather than Swedish.
For the most part, Finns speak English freely, and that, in particular, applies to the world of business. In reality, many Finnish companies use English as one of the company languages, similar to how it is here in Latvia. The development of business in Finland may bring large benefits, but Finns are quite deliberate. Extensive knowledge of Finnish business culture can help overcome any initial reserve that one may experience, and develop serious and long-lasting relationships. Finns are interested in people who are interested in Finland, therefore it is crucial to demonstrate an interest in everything related to the Finnish language, culture, traditions, and nature. Outside of Finland, Finnish is not used as a business language, and in the Finnish business environment, English is widely used as well. Thanks to the Finnish aloofness, business relations are quite often launched and developed via correspondence.
FINLAND AND LATVIA
The successful relationship between Latvia and Finland is based on common interests to provide stability, safety, and prosperity in the Baltic Sea region and Europe. Being geographically close to each other, Latvia and Finland implement firm and practical cooperation in the most diverse fields and levels – in economy, culture, education, defence, etc. Finland is Latvia’s eighth biggest trading partner and a significant investor. Bioeconomy, engineering, information technology, food and tourism are sectors in which great cooperation potential can be seen both in promoting exports from Latvia and in attracting investments. Cooperation with Finland is extensive in many cultural fields. Artists from both countries often visit international events hosted in the other country – exhibitions, music, film, and other festivals. Finns’ interest in Latvian literature is growing, as well as Latvians’ interest in Finland’s. In 2021 a book was published in Latvian by Aleksandrs Čaks and Finnish poet Heli Laaksonen called Paņēmi manu sirdi no plaukta. The poetry book consists of 15 poems by Aleksandrs Čaks and 15 poems by Heli Laaksonen which creates an unusual dialogue as if they were answers to Čaks’ poems. This is already the 4th book by the poet which was published in Latvian. Using Vidzeme’s coastal Livonian dialect, Guntars Godiņš has translated poems by Heli Laaksonen to Latvian. Heli Laaksonen is a very interesting and delightful Finnish poet. Anyone who has read at least one of her poems or listened to her interview, will most likely want to know more about Finland, Finnish culture, and the people.
Latvian universities have developed close relations with Finnish universities within the framework of the European Union education programme Socrates/Erasmus+, European Union Lifelong Learning programmes and projects, and the NORDPLUS projects of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ educational programme. Numerous students from Finland receive their highest education at Riga Stradiņš University and the University of Latvia. Finnish can be learned at Riga Grammar School of Nordic Languages and within the framework of the Finno-Ugric bachelor’s study programme at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia.
SOLUTIONS THAT WE PROVIDE MOST OFTEN FROM/TO FINNISH:
- general and specialised translation;
- notary-certified translation;
- localisation;
- neural machine translation;
- DTP – desktop publishing;
- text adaptation and copywriting;
- interpreting;
- language courses;
- linguistic auditing.
LANGUAGE COMBINATIONS:
Latvian to Finnish; Finnish to Latvian; Estonian to Finnish; Finnish to Estonian; Lithuanian to Finnish; Finnish to Lithuanian; Russian to Finnish; Finnish to Russian; Czech to Finnish; Finnish to Czech; Polish to Finnish; Finnish to Polish; Ukrainian to Finnish; Finnish to Ukrainian; Finnish to Spanish; Spanish to Finnish; German to Finnish; Finnish to German; Italian to Finnish; Finnish to Italian; French to Finnish; Finnish to French; Danish to Finnish; Finnish to Danish; Norwegian to Finnish; Finnish to Norwegian; Swedish to Finnish; Finnish to Swedish; English to Finnish, Finnish to English and others.
SOLUTIONS THAT WE PROVIDE MOST OFTEN FROM/TO FINNISH:
- text adaptation and copywriting;
- interpreting;
- language courses;
- linguistic auditing.
LANGUAGE COMBINATIONS:
Latvian to Finnish; Finnish to Latvian; Estonian to Finnish; Finnish to Estonian; Lithuanian to Finnish; Finnish to Lithuanian; Russian to Finnish; Finnish to Russian; Czech to Finnish; Finnish to Czech; Polish to Finnish; Finnish to Polish; Ukrainian to Finnish; Finnish to Ukrainian; Finnish to Spanish; Spanish to Finnish; German to Finnish; Finnish to German; Italian to Finnish; Finnish to Italian; French to Finnish; Finnish to French; Danish to Finnish; Finnish to Danish; Norwegian to Finnish; Finnish to Norwegian; Swedish to Finnish; Finnish to Swedish; English to Finnish, Finnish to English and others.