Learning a new language

And there is a movie called Sisu.

My wife had a friend at work who went to Michigan Tech- in the middle of Finn country in Michigan- and loved what Sisu meant so much that her daughter's middle name is Sisu.

Sisu is why Finland never became part of the Soviet Union.  

alfadriver said:

And there is a movie called Sisu.

My wife had a friend at work who went to Michigan Tech- in the middle of Finn country in Michigan- and loved what Sisu meant so much that her daughter's middle name is Sisu.

Sisu is why Finland never became part of the Soviet Union.  

That movie is hilarious. Rambo goes to the Tundra. 

The Finns have fought the Russians 30-40 times. It builds character Worth noting that although Finns aren't Scandinavian, they often did fight alongside the Vikings when they made their Eastern quests, and my Swedish friends talk of them with a measure of awe regarding their sheer hell-raising ability once you get past that stoic exterior. Am I indulging in stereotypes? A little, but having spent a lot of my life around people of Finnish extraction, I can tell you that there's something to it.

Please report back after your trip. Would be interested in getting a report.

Edit: That Top Gear episode is a hoot! I wish that there was something like that racing where I live!

alfadriver said:

And there is a movie called Sisu.

My wife had a friend at work who went to Michigan Tech- in the middle of Finn country in Michigan- and loved what Sisu meant so much that her daughter's middle name is Sisu.

Sisu is why Finland never became part of the Soviet Union.  

When I finally got to register the '81 RX-7 after nearly four years of hunting down weird hard to find parts (because dangit I wanted it to be near as stock as possible/practical) I wanted to get SISU as the license plate.

Taken.

The kind lady at the BMV took it upon herself to look for S1SU, 5I5U, etc.  All taken.

There's a kind of downside to the concept of sisu, as that it can manifest an almost Slavic resignation to one's lot and just grind through and accept it instead of trying to make something better.  That was a bit poignant when I read about that but the old slav in me can respect it enough to accept it can have some validity.

When I was learning Korean one thing that I found worked really well for me was watching Korean TV show at the same time that I would study on my own with Duolingo. I would watch the show normally with English subtitles all the way. Then re-watch the show with English dub and Korean subtitles and then tried it with Korean only. Anytime there was something I didn't know I would write it down and study it on its own. Keep a notebook with things you find challenging to look back on! Notes are so important. 

Also try to integrate it into your daily life. A friend of mine is learning Spanish and changed her phone settings to be in Spanish. She knows where everything is in English so changing it so Spanish helps her associate things easier.