Finnish YKI · Study guide & topic library
Browse reported topics from 2021 to 2026, then practise with our original writing and speaking sets. Everything on this page is available without signing in.
Reports focus on intermediate Finnish. Some community documents do not state a level. Select a year to see its available topics.
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing
Intermediate · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Intermediate · Finnish · Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking
The report identifies the year; the exact day and month are unclear.
Intermediate · Finnish · Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Intermediate · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing, Speaking, Reading
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Intermediate · Finnish · Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Intermediate · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Level not stated · Finnish · Writing, Speaking
Choose “Practice idea & Finnish words” beside a topic for an original activity. Words are grouped by the broader theme, so choose the ones that fit your situation.
Practise here, without an account
Six tasks with Finnish instructions, English guidance, sample responses and self-checks. These sets focus on writing and speaking; they are not a full four-skill mock exam.
Created by YKI Test Prep for independent study. The situations and responses are original. Suggested durations are our practice timings, not official exam limits. Examples show one possible response and have not been assigned an official proficiency score.
Original writing set
3 tasks · Suggested practice: 35 minutes
Complete the three tasks before opening the examples. Plan your purpose and reader first, write in Finnish, then use the checks to revise your work. Copy any drafts you want to keep before leaving this page.
Informal message · 10 minutes suggested
Ystäväsi on lainannut sinulle polkupyörän. Et pääse palauttamaan sitä sovittuna päivänä. Kirjoita ystävällesi viesti. Kiitä lainasta, selitä miksi suunnitelma muuttuu ja ehdota uutta aikaa.
Your friend has lent you a bicycle. You cannot return it on the agreed day. Thank your friend, explain the change and suggest a new time.
Hei Leena!
Kiitos, kun lainasit minulle pyörääsi. Siitä on ollut paljon apua työmatkoilla. Meidän piti tavata lauantaina, mutta joudun silloin töihin. Voisinko palauttaa pyörän sunnuntaina noin kello 16? Voin tuoda sen kotiisi, jos olet paikalla. Jos sunnuntai ei sovi, ehdota sinulle sopivaa aikaa.
Pahoittelut muutoksesta!
Terveisin Alex
Hi Leena!
Thank you for lending me your bicycle. It has helped a lot with my commute. We were supposed to meet on Saturday, but I have to work then. Could I return the bicycle on Sunday at about 4 pm? I can bring it to your home if you are there. If Sunday does not suit you, suggest a time that works for you.
Sorry about the change!
Best wishes, Alex
The message answers all three instructions and gives the friend a practical alternative. Meidän piti tavata means ‘we were supposed to meet’. Voisinko…? introduces a polite request. The friendly opening and short closing fit a personal message.
Formal enquiry · 10 minutes suggested
Olet irtisanonut kuntosalijäsenyytesi, mutta saat uuden laskun. Kirjoita kuntosalin asiakaspalveluun. Kerro, milloin irtisanoit jäsenyyden, selitä ongelma ja pyydä selvittämään laskun syy.
You cancelled your gym membership but received another bill. Write to customer service. Give the cancellation date, explain the problem and ask them to investigate the bill.
Hei,
Irtisanoin kuntosalijäsenyyteni verkkopalvelussanne 3. maaliskuuta ja sain siitä vahvistuksen sähköpostitse. Tänään sain kuitenkin laskun huhtikuun jäsenmaksusta.
Voisitteko tarkistaa, miksi lasku on lähetetty ja onko siinä virhe? Asiakasnumeroni on 12345. Voin lähettää teille kopion irtisanomisvahvistuksesta. Pyydän, että ilmoitatte minulle sähköpostitse, miten asia ratkaistaan.
Kiitos avustanne.
Ystävällisin terveisin
Alex
Hello,
I cancelled my gym membership through your online service on 3 March and received confirmation by email. Today, however, I received a bill for April’s membership fee.
Could you check why the bill was sent and whether it contains an error? My customer number is 12345. I can send you a copy of the cancellation confirmation. Please let me know by email how the matter will be resolved.
Thank you for your help.
Kind regards,
Alex
The cancellation date and customer number help the recipient locate the issue. Kuitenkin signals the unexpected bill. The writer asks for clarification rather than assuming the charge is wrong, then gives a clear way to respond. The names, dates and customer number are fictional details for this exercise.
Opinion text · 15 minutes suggested
Pitäisikö keskustassa vähentää autoliikennettä? Kirjoita mielipideteksti paikallislehden verkkosivulle. Kerro kantasi, perustele se kahdella syyllä, huomioi yksi mahdollinen haitta ja ehdota ratkaisua.
Should there be less car traffic in the city centre? Write an opinion for a local newspaper’s website. Give your view and two reasons, consider one drawback and suggest a solution.
Mielestäni keskustan autoliikennettä pitäisi vähentää, mutta kaikkia autoja ei tarvitse kieltää.
Ensinnäkin liikenteen melu häiritsee sekä asukkaita että kävelijöitä. Rauhallisemmassa keskustassa olisi mukavampi viettää aikaa. Toiseksi lasten ja pyöräilijöiden olisi turvallisempi liikkua, jos autoja olisi vähemmän.
Muutos voisi kuitenkin vaikeuttaa niiden ihmisten arkea, jotka eivät pysty kävelemään pitkiä matkoja. Siksi taksien ja tarvittavan huoltoliikenteen pitäisi edelleen päästä keskustaan. Myös bussiyhteyksiä pitäisi parantaa ennen rajoitusten aloittamista.
Hyvä ratkaisu olisi rauhoittaa ensin yksi katu autoliikenteeltä kokeilun ajaksi. Sen jälkeen asukkailta ja yrittäjiltä voitaisiin kysyä, miten kokeilu vaikutti heidän arkeensa.
In my opinion, car traffic in the city centre should be reduced, but there is no need to ban all cars.
First, traffic noise disturbs both residents and pedestrians. A quieter centre would be a more pleasant place to spend time. Second, it would be safer for children and cyclists to get around if there were fewer cars.
However, the change could make daily life harder for people who cannot walk long distances. Taxis and necessary service vehicles should therefore still be able to enter the centre. Bus connections should also be improved before restrictions begin.
A good solution would be to start by restricting car traffic on one street for a trial period. Afterwards, residents and business owners could be asked how the trial affected their daily lives.
The opening states a qualified opinion. Ensinnäkin and toiseksi separate the two reasons. Kuitenkin introduces a drawback, while siksi connects it to a solution. The final paragraph proposes a specific trial instead of repeating the opening sentence.
Original speaking set
3 tasks · Suggested practice: 10 minutes
Respond aloud to each task before reading the examples. Use your phone to record yourself if you wish. For the conversation, answer one cue at a time. The time suggestions include preparation and trying your answer again.
Everyday response · 2 minutes suggested
Naapurisi soittaa kovaa musiikkia myöhään illalla. Sinun täytyy herätä aikaisin. Puhu naapurillesi: kerro tilanteesta, pyydä häntä hiljentämään musiikkia ja kiitä avusta.
Your neighbour is playing loud music late in the evening. You need to get up early. Explain the situation, ask them to turn the music down and thank them.
Hei! Anteeksi, että häiritsen. Musiikki kuuluu aika kovaa minun asuntooni, ja minun täytyy herätä huomenna aikaisin töihin. Voisitko laittaa sitä vähän hiljemmalle? Kiitos paljon, se auttaisi minua saamaan unta.
Hi! Sorry to bother you. The music is quite loud in my flat, and I have to get up early for work tomorrow. Could you turn it down a little? Thank you very much, that would help me get to sleep.
The speaker explains the effect of the noise and makes a specific request. Voisitko…? is polite without making the response overly formal. A brief, relevant answer works better here than a long speech about noise in general.
Three conversation turns · 4 minutes suggested
Haluat osallistua kirjaston suomen kielen keskusteluryhmään. Vastaa työntekijän jokaiseen kysymykseen omin sanoin. Valitse sinulle sopiva aika ja kysy lopuksi lisätietoja.
You want to join a library’s Finnish conversation group. Answer each staff member’s question in your own words, choose a suitable time and ask for more information at the end. Read the staff member’s lines yourself or practise with a partner; this exercise has no audio track.
Millaiselle kurssille haluaisit osallistua?
What kind of course would you like to join?
Ryhmiä on tiistaisin kello 17 ja torstaisin kello 18. Kumpi aika sopii sinulle?
There are groups on Tuesdays at 5 pm and Thursdays at 6 pm. Which time suits you?
Torstain ryhmässä on tilaa. Tarvitsemme nimesi ja sähköpostiosoitteesi. Haluatko kysyä vielä jotakin?
There is space in the Thursday group. We need your name and email address. Would you like to ask anything else?
Turn 1: Haluaisin harjoitella puhumista. Ymmärrän melko hyvin suomea, mutta sanojen löytäminen on joskus vaikeaa.
Turn 2: Torstai sopii minulle paremmin, koska olen silloin vapaalla. Tiistaisin olen töissä iltakuuteen asti.
Turn 3: Kiitos, nimeni on Alex. Voin kirjoittaa sähköpostiosoitteeni tähän. Kuinka kauan yksi tapaaminen kestää, ja tarvitseeko minun ostaa oppikirja?
Turn 1: I would like to practise speaking. I understand Finnish fairly well, but finding the words is sometimes difficult.
Turn 2: Thursday suits me better because I am off work then. On Tuesdays, I work until six in the evening.
Turn 3: Thank you, my name is Alex. I can write my email address here. How long does one meeting last, and do I need to buy a textbook?
Each response answers the latest question and moves the conversation forward. Torstai sopii minulle paremmin gives a choice, followed by a reason. The final turn offers the requested details and asks practical questions. Practise responding to one cue at a time rather than memorising all three answers together.
Extended opinion · 4 minutes suggested
Onko kotona työskentely parempi vaihtoehto kuin työpaikalla työskentely? Kerro mielipiteesi, perustele se esimerkillä ja mainitse myös toisen vaihtoehdon hyvä puoli.
Is working from home better than working at the workplace? Explain your opinion with an example and mention an advantage of the other option.
Minusta paras vaihtoehto on yhdistää etätyötä ja työpaikalla työskentelyä. Kotona pystyn keskittymään hyvin tehtäviin, jotka vaativat rauhaa. Esimerkiksi pitkän tekstin kirjoittaminen onnistuu minulta paremmin ilman keskeytyksiä.
Toisaalta työpaikalla on helpompi kysyä neuvoa ja tutustua työkavereihin. Jos työskentelisin aina yksin kotona, kaipaisin seuraa. Siksi haluaisin tehdä etätöitä pari päivää viikossa ja tavata tiimini muina päivinä. Kaikissa ammateissa etätyö ei tietenkään ole mahdollista.
I think the best option is to combine remote work with working at the workplace. At home, I can concentrate well on tasks that need peace and quiet. For example, writing a long text is easier for me without interruptions.
On the other hand, it is easier to ask for advice and get to know colleagues at the workplace. If I always worked alone at home, I would miss having company. I would therefore like to work remotely a couple of days a week and meet my team on the other days. Of course, remote work is not possible in every profession.
The response gives a clear preference, illustrates it with writing work and recognises the benefit of meeting colleagues. Toisaalta introduces the other side. Siksi connects the comparison to a practical conclusion. You can use an imagined example when you have no personal experience of the situation.
Our practice workshop
This exercise and response were written for YKI Test Prep. They are not a recalled exam question, an official answer key or an assessed level example.
The heating in your flat is not working properly. Write to the property manager. Explain the problem, say how it affects you and ask for a repair appointment.
You can reuse this structure for a delayed delivery or a booking problem. Change the details and the request to fit the situation.
Example message in Finnish
Hei,
Asun osoitteessa Koivukatu 8 A 12. Asuntoni patterit ovat olleet kylmiä maanantaista lähtien, vaikka olen säätänyt ne lämpimämmälle. Sisällä on erityisen kylmä aamuisin.
Voisitteko lähettää huoltajan tarkistamaan lämmityksen? Olen kotona torstaina klo 14 jälkeen. Jos aika ei sovi, voitte ehdottaa toista aikaa sähköpostitse.
Kiitos avustanne!
Ystävällisin terveisin,
Alex
Maanantaista lähtien means “since Monday.” The time detail helps the reader understand how long the problem has lasted. Choose a detail that serves the message.
Voisitteko lähettää huoltajan…? is a polite request to send a maintenance worker. It tells the reader what help you need.
Suggesting a time and offering an alternative makes the message useful. Check that you have answered every part of the task before correcting individual endings.
Write a new message about a broken fridge without looking at the example. Then explain the same problem aloud to a maintenance worker. Add one question about when the repair can happen.
A remembered subject is a starting point. These activities help you use it in different ways instead of trying to predict the next exam.
Reading
When you read a notice, identify who it is for and what the reader needs to do. For an opinion text, separate the writer’s main point from the example used to support it.
Read a short Finnish notice. Write down the action, deadline and any exception. Underline the words that support each answer.
Did you choose the answer because the meaning fits, or only because the same word appears?
Open reading practice →Writing
A message to a friend can be informal. A request to a service provider needs enough detail for that person to act. Decide who is reading before choosing your opening and closing.
Choose one archive topic. Write a request about it, then an opinion paragraph with a reason and a concrete example.
Have you covered every instruction, explained your point and made the purpose clear?
Open writing practice →Listening
A familiar topic helps with context, but the answer still depends on what the speaker says. Listen for changes to a plan, reasons for a decision and the action someone is being asked to take.
Use a short Finnish audio clip. First summarise its purpose. On a second listen, note times, places and changes. Check against a transcript if one is available.
Can you distinguish the original plan from the final arrangement?
Open listening practice →Speaking
Practise making a request, responding to a suggestion and explaining an opinion. A clear reason and a relevant example give you something useful to say when the exact prompt is unfamiliar.
Record an answer about a library topic. State your view, explain why and give an example. Listen back, then try again using different words.
Could another person follow your answer? Did you respond to the situation rather than recite a prepared speech?
Open speaking practice →Start with the task formats published by the people who run YKI.
Explore basic, intermediate and advanced examples. Select Finnish, your level and the skill you want to practise on the demonstration site.
Open YKI demonstrations ↗Check the official themes, question formats and preparation links before planning your practice.
Read official guidance ↗OPH lists the same topic areas across all three levels; the difficulty changes. The activities and useful phrases below are our own practice suggestions, not reported exam questions. Prepare broadly rather than expecting a particular topic.
Minä ja taustani
Introduce yourself to a new study group. Explain why you are learning Finnish and describe one goal for the coming month.
Koti ja asuminen
Compare two homes. Explain which one suits your daily life and describe one problem you would ask the landlord to fix.
Kauppa ja palvelut
Ask a shop about an incorrect order. Describe what you ordered, what arrived and what solution you would prefer.
Kulttuuri
Invite a friend to a local event. Explain what interests you, suggest a meeting place and offer another plan if they cannot come.
Matkustaminen
Explain a travel delay to someone waiting for you. Give your new arrival time and suggest where you could meet instead.
Terveys ja hyvinvointi
Practise requesting an appointment. Describe how you feel, how long it has lasted and when you are available.
Työ
Ask a colleague to change a meeting time. Give a reason, suggest an alternative and explain what you can prepare beforehand.
Ympäristö
Suggest a way to reduce waste in your building. Explain the benefit and one practical difficulty residents might face.
Yhteiskunta
Give your opinion about a local service, such as public transport. Describe who uses it and one improvement you would suggest.
Theme names: Finnish National Agency for Education ↗. Grouping topics into themes is our editorial classification.
These summaries help you choose what to practise. Learner recollections may be incomplete, and our own exercises are labelled separately from reported topics.
No. The archive contains short topic summaries from selected learner accounts and community collections. It does not include every sitting, the full instructions, audio recordings, marking criteria or official answer keys. Use the official demonstrations for examples of task formats.
Coverage reflects the reports we could find and inspect. Writing and speaking topics are often easier for learners to describe afterwards. A missing skill means we have not included a sourced topic for it, not that the skill was absent from the exam.
A learner report describes someone’s own experience. A community compilation collects topics from other accounts. Both are unverified. An official sample comes from the YKI demonstration material and is labelled separately.
We use a sitting date only when the report states it. When only the year is clear, we keep the exact date unconfirmed. We group summaries into themes to help you browse; that grouping is our own interpretation.
Use them to notice gaps in your vocabulary and practise everyday communication. This collection cannot tell you which questions will appear next. Build several ways to explain a problem, support an opinion and respond to another person.
Contact us with the source link, the reported sitting date and the detail that needs correcting. Please leave out other people’s names, scores and private messages. A source helps us distinguish a correction from another unverified recollection.
Use the themes above to guide your study, then work on the skills in our practice bank. Our exercises are independently created.
Sources checked . Coverage is selective. Missing skills or years mean no sourced entries are included yet.