Briefly in English

Turku Summer University organises Finnish language courses for foreigners throughout the year enabling students to study the whole year without a pause. The course selection includes courses suitable for beginners as well as for more advanced students. You can find all of our current Finnish courses here.

The table below presents our Finnish course curriculum. The skill levels are set according to The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF or CEFR). In case you are uncertain which course to choose, please contact our office so that we can help you to find the course that suits you the best.

Students are usually admitted on the courses in the order of enrolments. See further information about enrolments and payments below. Please note that summer universities do not award grants for either Finnish or international students, and all the expenses must be covered by the student.

We’d also like to offer you a chance to learn Finnish on Facebook. Join our Facebook group Turun kesäyliopisto – Finnish for Foreigners. You can discuss with others, share your experiences and thoughts about the Finnish language and culture and comment on our posts. Join the group now and practice your writing skills.

You can enrol in our courses on our website. Choose the course you are interested in and click Enrol in the course at the top or at the bottom of the page.

On the next page you will then be asked to identify yourself by using your own bank user identifiers or mobile certificate (Mobiilivarmenne) to continue. If you do not have a Finnish personal identity code, Finnish online bank user identifiers or Mobiilivarmenne, you can still enrol by clicking the link at the bottom of the page (”Minulla ei ole suomalaista henkilötunnusta / I don’t have a Finnish personal identity code”) and then entering your date of birth.
After this step you will be forwarded to the next page to fill the enrolment form.

The course fee is paid as an online payment (Finnish online banking, Visa, Visa Electron, Master Card, Mobilepay) when enrolling in the course. Please note that Turku Summer University does not accept cash payments nor do we award grants.

If your course fee is paid by your employer or some other payer instead of yourself, please contact us before enrolling. An invoice for the course fee will then be sent to your employer/other payer. Please note, that if your employer/other payer does not pay the invoice, the course fee will be claimed from you.

Enrolments are binding (see cancellation policy below). If you have questions about the contents or the language of any course, please contact our office before enrolling. Students are usually admitted on the courses in the order of enrolments.

You will receive further information about the course by e-mail about a week prior to the start of the course to the e-mail address that you have filled in the enrolment form. If you do not receive the message, please also check your spam folder.

See further info about student discounts below.

If you cannot participate in the course after all, we kindly ask you to cancel your enrolment without delay! You can cancel your enrolment by e-mail (kesayliopisto(at)turunkesayliopisto.fi). We will always send you a confirmation of a successful cancellation.

If you cancel your participation less than 14 days before the course starts, the course fee will be charged in full.

If the cancellation is done more than 14 days before the start of the course, the online payment will be refunded with a handling fee of 5 € charged. In the case that your employer or some other payer was to pay the course fee, they will not receive an invoice if the cancellation is done more than 14 in advance.

If you need to cancel your attendance due to illness less than 14 days before the course starts, please contact us as soon as possible. The course fee will be refunded if a sick leave certificate (by a nurse or a doctor) is provided.

If the course is cancelled by Turku Summer University, we will refund the online payment course fee in full.

Turku Summer University is not responsible for the operation of students’ hardware or software. The course fee will not be returned if a participant cannot attend the online lessons because of individual connection problems or other technical problems.

Please note that if the cancellation is not submitted at all and the student does not attend the classes, the course fee will be charged in full.

Student discounts are granted on Turku University’s Open University courses (including some language courses). You are entitled to student price if you are a registered degree student in a Finnish university or a university of applied sciences, or a student in general upper secondary school or upper comprehensive school. Student discounts are marked separately on our registration form (Student price). Please note that the student discount is personal and cannot be granted when the course fee is paid by an employer/other payer.

Turku Summer University does not offer accommodation. If you are an exchange student or a degree student, you may be in contact with TYS about housing options: https://www.tys.fi/en/

Turku Summer University cannot grant you admission letters or other proof of enrolment to help you with visa/student residence permit applications, since our courses are part-time and non-degree studies.

Turku Summer University provides yearly statistics to Statistics Finland, Finnish National Agency for Education and Suomen kesäyliopistot ry. The provided statistics include e.g. the number of students and teachers, enrolments, lessons and background information of students and teachers, etc., to be used in statistics and reports of the educational system in Finland (TilastoL 280/2004). The forwarded statistics cannot be linked to the original personal data.