For our second session, we met at the library to focus on numbers, days of the week, and basic vocabulary. Rajdeep taught me how to count from 1 to 20 in Finnish and use them in short sentences. I also taught him how to do the same in Spanish. We practiced through small games, for example, guessing numbers and writing mini dialogues with dates.
I feel that my Finnish comprehension improved during this session. I can now recognize numbers when I hear them slowly, and I can say the days of the week without looking at my notes. Teaching Rajdeep the Spanish equivalents helped me consolidate my own knowledge too, because I had to explain small grammar differences that I had never thought about consciously.
A new aspect I noticed today was how motivating it is to learn by teaching. When Rajdeep asked me “Why do you say el lunes but not en lunes?” I had to reflect on Spanish rules that I normally use instinctively.
The main difficulty was memorizing Finnish pronunciation quickly, words like “torstai” (Thursday) and “keskiviikko” (Wednesday) were especially hard. We slightly changed the plan by adding games to make the repetition more fun, which worked really well
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