Steps towards YKI:
Writing

The self-study edition
January 2025

Steps towards YKI: Writing

The self-study edition
January 2025

Steps towards YKI: Writing

The self-study edition
January 2025

   Are you preparing for the intermediate Finnish YKI test? 

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

Teacher:

Mari Nikonen 

Price:

Early bird price 75 €, when you sign up by 9 December 2024

Regular price: 85 €. Prices include VAT 25,5 %.

The early bird price 75 euros is the lowest price point for the course in the last 30 days. 

"The course is exceptionally well-organized. I found it enjoyable, thanks to Mari, the teacher, who adeptly simplified the content and provided thorough explanations."

 - Ahmed Algahawi A student in Steps towards YKI: Writing in January 2024

Are you preparing for the intermediate Finnish YKI test?

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

"The course is exceptionally well-organized.

I found it enjoyable, thanks to Mari, the teacher, who adeptly simplified the content and provided thorough explanations."

- Ahmed Algahawi A student in Steps towards YKI: Writing in January 2024

Teacher:

Mari Nikonen 

Price:

Early bird price 75 euros, when you sign up by 9 December 2024

Regular price 85 euros

Prices include VAT 25,5 %

The early bird price is the lowest price point for the course in the last 30 days.

ENROLL HERE

Moi!



My name is Mari Nikonen and I'm the founder of Ask a Finnish Teacher. I have been teaching Finnish to adult learners since 2008, and helping students prepare for YKI since 2010.

I'm one of the authors of YKIä kohti, a textbook for intermediate YKI preparation.

My goal in everything that I do is to help my students feel at home with the Finnish language. 

I'm can't wait to meet you and help you prepare for YKI.

Tervetuloa kurssille!



"I feel this course just captured exactly what I needed to prepare myself without any of the unnecessary and difficult logistical things that come with contact teaching.

It is truly made for introverts in the best possible way :)"

- A student in Steps towards YKI: Writing, January 2024

  • I walk you through the writing 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 Whatsapp group. 
  • We will have three live co-working sessions on Zoom to help you stay on track (optional). 
  • The course material consists of pre-recorded videos, guided YKI style exercises, two YKI style practice tests and cheat sheets to sum it all up. 
  • The course is focused on teaching you the real world language skills and strategies that you need to succeed in YKI.

    Course schedule in January 2025

You will have access to the materials on signing up, and can start studying immediately.

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

Here's our schedule for January 2025:


Starting date: 2 January 2025

This is when you can start sharing your work with me and getting feedback for it. Our course Whatsapp group will also open on the starting date.

End date: 31 January 2025

This is the last day to send me your work for feedback.

You can complete the entire course before the January YKI test (25/1/2025).

Live Zoom co-working sessions

1. Friday 3 January, 12:00-13:00
2. Wednesday 15 January, 18.30-19.30
3. Tuesday 21 January, 9.00-10.00

The Zoom sessions are an optional part of the course. I have tried to find three different times to take different schedules into account, so that hopefully you can find at least one session that works for your schedule.

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.

  • I walk you through the writing 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 co-working sessions and to help you stay on track (optional).    
  • The course material consists of pre-recorded videos, guided YKI style exercises, two YKI style practice tests and cheat sheets to sum it all up. 
  • The course is focused on teaching you the real world language skills and strategies that you need to succeed in YKI.

Course schedule in January 2025

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

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

Here's our schedule for January 2025:

Starting date: 2 January 2025

This is when you can start sharing your work with me and getting feedback for it. Our course Whatsapp group will also open on the starting date.

End date: 31 January 2025  

This is the last day to send me your work for feedback.  You can complete the entire course before the January YKI test (25/1/2025).

Live co-working sessions on Zoom:

1. Friday 3 January, 12:00-13:00
2. Wednesday 15 January, 18.30-19.30
3. Tuesday 21 January, 9.00-10.00  

All times are Finnish time.

The Zoom sessions are an optional part of the course. I have tried to find three different times to take different schedules into account, so that hopefully you can find at least one session that works for your schedule.  

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

 "Very helpful course indeed in writing! It will help to inprove grammar, vocabulary and construction of sentences. Mari is very professional teacher."

- Norie

"Its good, well organised. I really liked the first part when we have to visualise how life will be after passing YKI. I wish to write this feedback in finnish next time."

- Isha Singh




 "Great intructions and background materials, cheat sheets, examples and exercises.

It was also good that the course was in both Finnish and English so that people with different language levels could understand and navigate the materials more easily.

I would thoroughly recommend the course even if your skills are not quite at an intermediate level."

 


"Mari, kiitos paljon sinulle kurssista!! Se on tosi arvokas!!

Minä pidin tosi paljon arvioinnista, että sinä arvioit tekstejämme.

En tiedä edes, mitä haluaisin parantaa kurssissa, koska se on ihana!

Paljon kiitoksia sinulle tosi arvokkaasta kurssista!!!"

- Liubov





"Enjoyed the Writing course and learned the writing tips and tricks, very good teacher and checking all the answers from all of us and giving us feedback with full enthusiasm. She has power of making us all level up and encourage us for learning Finnish Language. Very good work. I like it and recommend it to friends especially for Writing."

- Chandni Gandhi





This course is for you if you

  • have a busy schedule and can't commit to a traditional language course with live lessons at a set time.
  • 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 and peer support. 



" I really really really appreciate the self-paced aspect of this course. I would not be able energy wise and time wise to go to a contact teaching course at this point in my life. So without this and the speaking course I would have not gathered the courage to apply to the YKI test! Thank you so much for making this possible.  

I really appreciate the feedback - my husband doesn't know what is level 3, so receiving so concrete feedback about the level I am at and what to improve has been invaluable."  

- A student in Steps towards YKI: Writing in January 2024

How many writing assignments are there? 

The course includes 42 YKI style writing tasks altogether: 15 core tasks and 27 extra tasks for the students 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.

I will read and comment on both the core tasks and the extra tasks, but I will give more detailed feedback for the core tasks than the extra tasks. 

How will I get feedback?  

We will have a shared Google Docs file for all your writing assignments. This can feel difficult at first, if you aren't used to sharing your writing with others, but it's absolutely worth it.

The advantage of sharing your work with the group is that during the course, you gain confidence and insight that wouldn't be possible to achieve with individual submissions.

If you choose to read the other students' work and my comments on their work, you'll get a very clear idea of what a successful writing task looks like at YKI 3 and YKI 4. My students have also found that seeing what other students are writing helps to stay motivated.

When are our lessons?

This course doesn't include any traditional live lessons. Instead, our lessons are pre-recorded videos and exercises, so that you can study whenever fits your schedule best.

We have three live co-working sessions, where we meet, chat and write, and I'm there in real time to help you. We also have a course Whatsapp group where you can ask for help whenever you need it.  

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

This course has a full refund policy until 31 January 2025.

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.

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.

The best way to find out if you're at the right level is to sign up and start studying. The full refund policy means that you have nothing to lose.

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. 

ENROLL HERE

" I really really really appreciate the self-paced aspect of this course. I would not be able energy wise and time wise to go to a contact teaching course at this point in my life. So without this and the speaking course I would have not gathered the courage to apply to the YKI test! Thank you so much for making this possible.

I really appreciate the feedback - my husband doesn't know what is level 3, so receiving so concrete feedback about the level I am at and what to improve has been invaluable."

- A student in Steps towards YKI: Writing in January 2024


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 would still to have feedback as well as teacher and peer support. 
  • You're ready to put in the work needed to level up your language skills. 

    How many writing assignments are there?

The course includes 42 YKI style writing tasks altogether: 15 core tasks and 27 extra tasks for the students 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.  

I will read and comment on both the core tasks and the extra tasks, but I will give more detailed feedback for the core tasks than the extra tasks.

    How will I get feedback?

We will have a shared Google Docs file for all your writing assignments.

This can feel difficult at first, if you aren't used to sharing your writing with others, but it's absolutely worth it! The advantage of sharing your work with the group is that during the course, you gain confidence and insight that wouldn't be possible to achieve if you were just emailing me your work.

If you choose to read the other students' work and my comments on their work, you'll get a very clear idea of what a successful writing task looks like at YKI 3 and YKI 4. My students have also found that seeing what other students are writing helps a lot with motivation. 

    When are our lessons? 

This course doesn't include any traditional live lessons. Instead, our lessons are pre-recorded videos and exercises, so that you can study whenever fits your schedule best.

We have three live co-working sessions, where we meet, chat and write, and I'm there in real time to help you. We also have a course Whatsapp group where you can ask for help whenever you need it. 

   How do I register?

Click here on 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.

The best way to see if the course is at the right level for you is to enroll and start studying - there's a full refund policy in place, so you don't lose anything by trying it out and seeing if this is the right course for you. 

    What if the course is not what I  expected?

This course has a full refund policy until 31 January 2025. 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

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