In our final look at first novels in original languages, we’re imagining we’re on a beach somewhere in an exotic location. There is just enough shade so that we can read our books without the pages glaring up at us, and hopefully there’s a cocktail waiting for us just off to the side as well.(…)

When you are learning a new language or even just travelling to a new country, you can find yourself wrapping your lips around tongue twisters that you never even expected. Letters are not necessarily pronounced the same abroad. Adventures in paella To illustrate that point, take the humble paella. To an English speaker who has(…)

‘Pelasta mut!!!’ sings Aki Tykki of Happoradio, fixing you with a steely stare from beneath his pipo – cap, to you and me. This is the beautiful song Pelastaja which translates as ‘Saviour’, and this man, without a doubt, can save me, anytime. I digress. When I first decided to learn Finnish, because, hey, that’s(…)

Finnish is not difficult to learn, but it is certainly different from what English speakers are used to.