Finnish and other language skills during internship

Developing and using Finnish and other languages during your internship promotes your professional competence and integration into the society and working life.

Before the internship

Students have had the opportunity to develop their Finnish and other language and communication skills already before the internship, but authentic situations to use these skills during the internship in both professional and social contexts are very important. When thinking about the goals for the internship, the development of Finnish and other language and communication skills skills should be kept as a goal as well - courage to use and develop these skills further. Writing down the goals with your internship supervisor at JYU and at the organisation is highly recommended, this way it is easier to keep track of the goals and their development.

The Finnish version of this page offers tips and tools for the organisations on promoting especially Finnish during the internship of an international student, but is applicapable for a Finnish student for the promotion of other languages. It is highly recommendable that you inform the organisation of the Finnish version of the page so that you can both agree on the goals and ways to accomplish and promote this type of language aware internship.

During the internship

At the start of the internship when going through the tasks and duties of the intern with the supervisor at the organisation, the communication conventions of the organisation should be addressed as well: what kind of various communication situations are there at the organisation and which languages are used in which situations. In order to support the development of Finnish and other language and communication skills, it is advisable to agree on the goals for this, i.e. how and in which situations the intern wants to and can use Finnish and other languages. These goals are good to be discussed and written down with help of the following questions

What communication situations occur at the organisation? What texts are written and how (e-mails, reports, press releases)? In which situations are spoken languages used and what kind of language (presentations, meetings, coffee and lunch breaks)? What texts and talks should be understood in Finnish and in other languages? What languages are used in which situations?

How would the intern evaluate their own Finnish and other language skills? What tasks and situations can the intern manage in Finnish and in other languages? What can the intern do independently and where does the intern need support? In which situations does the intern want to practice operating in Finnish and in other languages during the internship?

What languages do you use? What are your shared languages? Agree on the languages to be used in each situation. What can the intern do independently in Finnish and in other lanauges, where does the intern need support and which tasks are too demanding for the intern's current Finnish and other language skills?

How do you use the languages? Agree on how you use the various languages? For example, do you always start and try to use Finnish and then add other languages if Finnish only is too demanding. How do you ensure that all parties understand what has been discussed and agreed upon?

Linguistic and communicative goals of the internship

At the start of the internship it is good to discuss together about the linguistic and communicative goals that both the intern and the organisation have regarding the internship. Below are some goals and how they manifest in the every-day actions at work.

The intern observes the linguistic and communicative environment and situations of the organisation. The intern recognises the different communicative roles and goals of the professionals in different situations. The intern becomes more skilled in interpreting various communicative situations with non-verbal clues (tone, expressions, body language, the situation, etc.) and can pick up familiar words and expressions without necessarily fully comprehending the deeper meanings of the talks and the situations. The intern can also participate in Finnish in short, routine-like and structured communication situation (greetings, introductions, how-do-you-dos etc.) (CEFR A1)

The intern familiarizes with the linguistic and communicative environment and situations of the organisation. The intern recognises the different communicative roles and goals of the professionals in different situations The intern can interpret various communicative situations with non-verbal clues (tone, expressions, body language, the situation, etc.) and can pick up familiar words and expressions and make use of them and apply them in one's own communication. The intern participates in Finnish in short, routine-like and structured communication situation (greetings, introductions how-do-.you-dos, describing events or things etc.) (CEFR A2)

The intern familiarizes with the linguistic and communicative environment and situations of the organisation. The intern can operate in different situations as expected and participates in discussions. The intern can follow with relative ease also complex communicative situations and act in them, even though not participating as an active communicator. CEFR B1)

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The intern familiarizes with the linguistic and communicative environment and situations of the organisation. The intern can operate in different situations as expected and actively participates in discussions and takes initiatives The intern can follow with ease also complex communicative situations and participates as an active communicator. (CEFR B2)

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The intern familiarizes easily with the linguistic and communicative environment and situations of the organisation. The intern can operate in different situations as expected utilizing the linguistic environment and conventions. The intern actively participates and initiates complex communicative situations and acts in them independently and can independently support others whose Finnish skills are still developing. (CEFR C1-C2, incl native speakers)

it is recommend to return to the set goals during the internships and possible update them along the way. At the end of the internship, at the latest, it is important to discuss how the intern feels about the working and using in Finnish compared with the start of the internship. Keeping this in mind, writing the goals down somewhere would be advisable.

After the internship

After the internship when writing the possible internship report, it is good to think about and analyse the linguistics and communicative goals set and met during the internship. This will also help you to verbalise and give concrete examples of your language skills in future job applications and interviews.

You can continue developing your Finnish and other language and communication skills by attending courses organised by Movi either as a degree student or with the alumni study right.

Communication and language course offerings at Movi

Study right for alumni studies

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