While working I studied at the night school in Käpylä, which later on in my studies became the Eira High School for Adults. At first I only studied French, but I ended up studying four languages: German, French, Italian and Spanish. In the Spring of 2002 I began to wonder what would become of my incipient language proficiency in Finland where there are so few opportunities to maintain it. It was then that I had some kind of an epiphany: Helsinki also has a university!

My German language skills paved the way for me to be accepted into the University of Helsinki, with German Philology as my major. My original plan was to study at least German, French and Italian Philology, respectively. With the latter two it only became possible with time and further studies at the Language Centre.

It wasn’t a simple process, because at the time the potential students for the French courses at the Language Centre were chosen based on how far they had advanced in their studies. So I chose Italian to start with. In addition to Italian and French, the Language Centre has offered me the opportunity to study Russian, on which I have also taken intensive courses at the then Department of Slavic and Baltic Studies.

I know it is a cliché, but for me languages are windows into other cultures. I am no longer reliant on just Finnish and English, but able to study a wider variety of source material in its original language. It is a common view that languages are merely a tool for communication, as if it was a simple task to transmit the contents of one language to another. In reality, language is also a mode of thinking.

In addition to studying languages, I have also completed the intermediary studies on European Area and Cultural Studies (Studia Europaea), a minor in Intercultural Encounters, and the basic module in European Studies.

For me it is all about lifelong learning. It is a matter of overall quality of life and your attitude towards it. I use what I have learned in a variety of contexts, but the difficulty lies in evaluating how useful something will be, and for whom.