Steps towards YKI:
Speaking

The self-study edition
YKI levels 3 and 4

Steps towards YKI: Speaking

The self-study edition
YKI levels 3 and 4

Steps towards YKI: Speaking

The self-study edition
YKI levels 3 and 4

   Are you preparing for the intermediate Finnish YKI test? 

Steps towards YKI: Speaking is a self-study course to help you prepare for the intermediate YKI speaking part whenever works best for you, with support and feedback from an experienced teacher.

Teacher:

Mari Nikonen 

Price:

85 €, including VAT 25,5 %. 

"This is a fantastic course that is useful not only for those who think about attending the YKI test but for anybody who wants to improve their speaking skills.

The course contains a great variety of different speaking tasks. At the same time, it demystified the YKI test for me, since all the tasks are presented as they are in the actual test. The detailed feedback helps to improve. Highly recommended!"

- Friederike Lüpke, a student in Steps towards YKI February 2024

Are you preparing for the intermediate Finnish YKI test?

Steps towards YKI: Speaking is a self-study course to help you prepare for the YKI speaking part whenever works best for you, with support and feedback from an experienced teacher.

Teacher:

Mari Nikonen 

Price:

85 €, inluding VAT 25,5 % 

"This is a fantastic course that is useful not only for those who think about attending the YKI test but for anybody who wants to improve their speaking skills.

 The course contains a great variety of different speaking tasks. At the same time, it demystified the YKI test for me, since all the tasks are presented as they are in the actual test. The detailed feedback helps to improve. Highly recommended!"  

- Friederike Lüpke, a student in Steps towards YKI February 2024

  • I walk you through the speaking part of the YKI intermediate test and what to expect.
  • The course includes feedback for your work as well as teacher and peer support in our course Telegram group.
  • We will have three live Zoom meetings to help you stay on track. 
  • The course material consists of pre-recorded videos, guided YKI style exercises and two YKI style practice tests. 
  • The course is focused on teaching you the real world language skills and strategies that you need to succeed in YKI.
  • Extra practice with a tailored learning program on Opeton, a language learning app, in October 2024 (optional). 

    Course schedule in October 2024

You will have access to the materials right away, and can start studying immediately.

The interactive part of the course will take place in October, and I warmly recommend that you join us for personal feedback, support and extra practice with Opeton. However, the course also works well for independent study.

During the interactive part of the course, we will have an active Telegram group where you can share your work, get feedback and ask questions whenever works best for you. We will also meet three times on Zoom for questions and speaking practice.

Here's our schedule for October 2024:

Starting date: 1 October 2024
End date: 3 November 2024

Live Zoom sessions (optional):

1. Thursday 3 October, 9:00-10:00, Finnish time
2. Tuesday 15 October, 12:00-13:00 Finnish time
3. Thursday 24 October, 18:00-19:00 Finnish time


You will have access to the course materials when you sign up, and for at least 3 months after the interactive part of the course ends.

Targeted extra assignments with Opeton will be available all through the interactive part of the course. There will be four extra assignments a day, and the time you'll need to complete them is 10 minutes a day.

  • I walk you through the speaking part of the YKI intermediate test and what to expect.
  • The course includes feedback for your work as well as teacher and peer support in our course Telegram group.
  • We will have two live co-working sessions and one live Zoom meeting to help you stay on track.    
  • The course material consists of pre-recorded videos, guided YKI style exercises and two YKI style practice tests.
  • The course is focused on teaching you the real world language skills and strategies that you need to succeed in YKI.
  • Extra practice with Opeton, a language learning app, in October (optional). 

Course schedule in October 2024

You will have access to the materials right away, and can start studying immediately.  

The interactive part of the course will take place in October, and I warmly recommend that you join us for personal feedback and support. However, the course also works well for independent study.  

During the interactive part of the course, we will have an active Telegram group where you can share your work, get feedback and ask questions whenever works best for you. We will also meet three times on Zoom for questions and speaking practice.
 
Here's our schedule for October 2024:

Starting date: 1 October 2024
End date: 3 November 2024  

Live Zoom sessions (optional): 

1. Thursday 3 October, 9:00-10:00  

2. Tuesday 15 October, 12:00-13:00

3. Thursday 24 October, 18:00-19:00


All times are Finnish time.  

You will have access to the course materials when you sign up, and for at least 3 months after the interactive part of the course ends.    

What my students are saying

 "The course is really well structured, with short parts, so you can do one at the time and you dont get exhausted.  

Videos are both in Finnish and English, as well as all the written material. There are plenty of tips for each type of the exercises, and a lot of examples to practice!  

Teacher is really nice and answer all the questions and give feedback about homeworks."

- Cayetana, a student in Steps towards YKI September 2023


 



 "The course is just perfect! Especially for someone who lacks confidence more than knowledge, having all parts translated to English helped build up the confidence well.
 
Also the YKI mini tests helped a lot. The useful phrases and slang language words also helped me during the test to reduce the times I blacked out :)"

- A student in Steps towards YKI September 2023

"The course was very useful for me.  It will be good if there are more exercises "

- Martin Kralev, a Student in Steps towards YKI September 2023

 "Kiitos paljon kurssista Mari! Olen varma siitä, että sinun kurssi auttoi minua kehittämään minun kielen tasoa huomattavasti. Minun mielestäni kurssilla on paljon erilaisia ja hyödyllisiä tehtäviä."

- Viktoriia, a student in Steps towards YKI September 2023

"This course doesn't just help you go through being relaxed with the speaking part but it also calms your doubts with the actual tasks."

- A student in Steps towards YKI September 2023




"The course was super good. This course helped me to talk much better. The feedbacks given by you for every exercises gave me more confidence. To be honest, I was able to do spontaneous talking during my YKI speaking test, which I believe is because of this course. Thanks a lot Mari :)"
 
- A student in Steps towards YKI September 2023

Minun mielestäni kurssi oli tosi hyödyllistä ja kivaa. Tykkäsin, että kurssilla oli paljon materiaaleja ja tehtäviä.

- A student in Steps towards YKI September 2023


This course is for you if

  • You have a busy schedule and can't commit to a traditional language course schedule.
  • You want to prepare for YKI as efficiently as possible, with all the key information summed up in one place.
  • You're ready to put in the work needed to level up your language skills.  
  • You would like to have feedback as well as teacher an peer support. 

How many speaking assignments are there? 

The course includes 20 YKI style speaking tasks altogether, and a wide range of extra tasks on Opeton for those who would like more practice.

I will be giving you feedback on what already works and what needs to improved on to reach YKI levels 3 and 4, depending on your current level and goal.

Who is the teacher?

My name is Mari Nikonen. I'm a Helsinki based Finnish teacher, and have been teaching Finnish to adult learners since 2008. I completed my master's degree in Finnish as a second language in 2013 at the University of Helsinki. I’ve been helping students prepare for the YKI test since 2010.

How do I register?

Click here or on the "enroll here" buttons anywhere on this page. The link will take you to a checkout page (powered by Stripe) where you can purchase the course and start studying immediately. Stripe accepts international credit and debit cards.

If you'd prefer to use Finnish online banking, you can also purchase the course in my other online store, powered by Holvi. After the purchase, you'll receive instructions on how to access the course material.  

If you'd prefer an invoice, email me at mari@askafinnishteacher.com and we'll set up your course access together.

What will I miss if I can't make the Zoom meetings? 

The Zoom meetings are a fully optional part of the course, and they are there to help you stay on track. If they don't work for your schedule, feel free to skip them.

In the Zoom meetings, we will work on the course material together and there will always be ample time for questions.

What if I sign up and pay for the course, but it's not what I expected?

This course has a full refund policy until 3 November 2024.

If you are unhappy with course in any way, just email me at mari@askafinnishteacher.com and we will set up your refund together.  

How do I know if I'm at the right level?

You will get the most out of this course if you're at least at A2 in Finnish when the course starts.

Here's a blog post I've written about figuring out if this is the right moment to attend. However, all the information will also be provided in English, so if your goal is just to find out what is expected of you in the YKI speaking test, you can attend at any level.

Course curriculum

Questions?

I'm more than happy to answer any questions you might have!

You can email me at mari@askafinnishteacher.com, call or message me on my phone: +358 40 554 29 55. 

"I recommend Mari, for a simple reason. She herself took the YKI test, and understands more than other professors about the struggle for passing the test. Super recommended for those who want to pass the writing or speaking sections of the test."

- Rafael Vera, a student in Steps towards YKI: Speaking in February 2024


"Todella mahtava kurssi, joka oli minulle erittäin hyödyllistä. Olen nyt ymmärtänyt, miten YKI:n puhuminen-tehtävät toimivat ja tiedän, mitä taitoni on ja mitä minulla on vielä harjoitettavaa. Mari on hieno, empaattinen ja erittäin pätevä sekä luova opettaja. Suositelen kurssin kaikille, jotka haluavat päästä YKI tenttiin."

- Friederike Lüpke, a student in Steps towards YKI: Speaking in February 2024




This course is for you if

  • You have a busy schedule and can't commit to a traditional language course with live lessons.
  • You want to prepare for YKI as efficiently as possible, with all the key information summed up in one place.
  • You would like to have feedback for your work as well as teacher and peer support. 
  • You're ready to put in the work needed to level up your language skills. 

    How many speaking assignments are there?

The course includes 20 YKI style speaking tasks altogether, and a wide range of tailored extra tasks on language learning app Opeton for those who would like to practice more.

I will be giving you feedback on what already works and what needs to improved on to reach YKI levels 3 and 4, depending on your current level and goal.  

Opeton will be in use during the interactive part of the course, and there will be 10 minutes of targeted extra practice with the app every day (70 minutes a week) all through October.

    Who is the teacher?

My name is Mari Nikonen. I'm a Helsinki based Finnish teacher, and have been teaching Finnish to adult learners since 2008. I completed my master's degree in Finnish as a second language in 2013 at the University of Helsinki. I’ve been helping students prepare for the YKI test since 2010.

   How do I register?

Click here or on the "enroll here" buttons anywhere on this page. The link will take you to a checkout page (powered by Stripe) where you can purchase the course and start studying immediately. Stripe accepts international credit and debit cards.

If you'd prefer to use Finnish online banking, you can also purchase the course in my other online store, powered by Holvi. After the purchase, you'll receive instructions on how to access the course material.

If you'd prefer an invoice, email me at mari@askafinnishteacher.com and we'll set up your course access together.

   How do I know if I'm at the right level?

You will get the most out of this course if you're at least at A2 in Finnish when the course starts. However, all the information will also be provided in English, so if your goal is just to find out what is expected of you in the YKI speaking test, you can attend at any level.

Here's a blog post I've written about figuring out if this is the right moment to attend.

   What will I miss if I can't make the Zoom meetings? 

The Zoom meetings are a fully optional part of the course, and they are there to help you stay on track. If they don't work for your schedule, feel free to skip them.

In the Zoom meetings, we will work on the course material together and there will always be ample time for questions.

    What if the course is not what I  expected?

This course has a full refund policy until 3 November 2024. If you are unhappy with course in any way, just email me at mari@askafinnishteacher.com and we will set up your refund together.

    Questions? 

I'm more than happy to answer any questions you might have!

You can email me at mari@askafinnishteacher.com, call or message me on my phone:
+358 40 554 29 55.

Course curriculum

© 2024 Ask a Finnish Teacher