Finnish is a language of efficiency and ambiguity at the same time. Embrace the chaos.
Finnish will not come quickly. You will confuse kissa (cat) with kisa (competition) and accidentally invite your cat to a race. You will spend ten minutes trying to say “I would like a glass of water” only to realize the word vesi changes to veden in the genitive and vettä in the partitive and vedellä if you’re on top of it. From Start to Finnish- A Short Course in Finnish
Finnish has no “please.” Instead, you modulate your tone or use kiitos at the end of a request. Yksi kahvi, kiitos (one coffee, thanks) is perfectly polite. Finnish is a language of efficiency and ambiguity
Finnish people are famously quiet. This is not rudeness; it is linguistic efficiency. Small talk in English is a dance. Small talk in Finnish is a fire drill. You will hear No niin used for almost any occasion—it can mean “let’s go,” “I see,” “oh really,” “okay,” or simply fill silence. You will confuse kissa (cat) with kisa (competition)