In August 2025, I passed the intermediate YKI test on my first attempt after studying Finnish for 1.5 years. During this period, I took plenty of breaks between month-long intensive courses, so it’s certainly possible to reach B1 faster than I did. However, I found that periods of rest combined with passive exposure helped cement the concepts I learned in my classes. The important thing is to study at a pace that works for you as learning a new language is cognitively demanding.
Whether you’re just beginning your Finnish studies or have already registered for an upcoming YKI test, I hope reading about my experience will give you an idea of what the path to getting YKI test ready may look like and how to effectively study for it.
This post is divided into 3 parts:
1. YKI test structure
To study effectively for the YKI test, it’s crucial to understand how the test is structured, what types of tasks will be asked of you, and how the test is scored. Learning the structure of the test will help you manage your time, learn relevant vocabulary, and optimize your scores – even when you’re not sure what the correct answer is. This can make the difference between a pass and a fail, so it’s worth investing some time to familiarize yourself with the YKI test structure.
Before I took the YKI test, I spent many hours researching how the test is organized and what to expect. Although the YKI test is a test of a person’s language skills, I’m not sure if I would have passed all four subtests on my first attempt if I didn’t also take the time to understand how the YKI test is organized and scored.
Learn about the YKI test
You can learn about the YKI test structure and scoring from the resources below:
The information about the YKI test here comes from the Finnish National Agency for Education (Opetushallitus), the official organization that issues the YKI test certificates. This page includes information about the test topics, instructions for using the answer sheets, and test taking rules.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Passing the YKI Test (free ebook)
This is a free ebook written by YKI test takers, Lidiia Salo and Tareque Mahmud. It covers what to expect on each subtest along with their tips for success.
This YouTube playlist by Gimara contains videos explaining the different parts of the YKI test. The videos are available in both English and Finnish, but make sure you can understand the Finnish versions before taking the YKI test – it’s good listening practice as they use YKI test relevant vocabulary.
Gimara also published the highly praised YKI test preparation book: Ykäänkö vai ykiinkö – High way to hill. I didn’t use this book myself, but I’ve only heard good things.
This is a visual outline of how the YKI test is structured. It shows the number and types of tasks and amount of time you have for each subtest.
This page by Helsingin Aikuisopisto (one of the YKI test centers) answers common questions about the YKI test, including scoring.
2. Preparing for the subtests
The YKI test is divided into four subtests: speaking, writing, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension. If you want to take the YKI test for the sake of obtaining Finnish citizenship, it’s sufficient to pass just two of the subtests of the intermediate YKI test, in certain combinations. Passing a subtest in the intermediate YKI test means scoring either a 3 (B1) or a 4 (B2).
Personally, I found it easiest to focus my time developing my speaking and writing skills during the few weeks leading up to the test since there were more concrete YKI-focused exercises I could do in preparation. In my opinion, the speaking and writing subtests are the most predictable parts of the YKI test. The specific tasks that appeared in these sections on my test were quite similar to what other test takers have reported seeing in previous YKI tests. Even if the details aren’t exactly the same, you can easily reuse certain vocabulary and phrases across different scenarios.
Below, I go over how I prepared for each subtest.
Speaking
In the few months leading up to the YKI test, I tried to speak only Finnish at home and wherever I could. Although the total amount of time spent producing speech in natural conversations realistically only added up to a few minutes per day, even a small amount of consistent practice using Finnish can make a significant difference.
If you don’t have a conversational partner, you can still practise for the speaking test on your own. Afterall, you won’t be speaking to a real person during the speaking test, and at least half the speaking tasks are monologs rather than dialogs.
In addition to the natural conversations, I practised for the speaking test with the unofficial mock tests by yki-test.fi and YKI Pass. Even though I only spent a few days on these practice materials, they were incredibly helpful for preparing for the speaking test. I also recommend playing audio of loud chatter in the background when practising, since everyone will be speaking at the same time during the speaking test. This can be very disconcerting for test takers who didn’t prepare for such chaos.
Writing
Similar to speaking, I tried to use only Finnish when writing whenever the opportunity arose. Even when I didn’t know the relevant vocabulary in advance, I would look up the words I needed to be able to communicate with service providers, such as for banking matters, health services, and customer service inquiries. Needing to contact service providers wasn’t an everyday occurrence for me, but it was still good practice for learning how to make polite inquiries and sign off an email, for example.
I also practised writing opinion essays along with short messages by hand. I used the same list of speaking test topics on yki-test.fi and the examples in the book Kynä käteen! as inspiration for doing the writing practices. If I felt stumped on what to write for a given topic, I would ask Copilot for an example essay using simple Finnish and then rewrite my own version of it. I used Copilot as my personal tutor, having it review my writing for grammar mistakes and overall flow.
As another method for practising writing, I would copy entire existing passages from my textbooks or websites, handwriting them into my own notebook. Not because I had the intention to memorize those exact passages, but because reading out loud while copying passages simultaneously engages reading, speaking, writing, and listening skills. I found that having to slow down and transfer every word to my own notebook helped me to notice and absorb vocabulary, grammar structures, and how things are phrased.
Listening Comprehension
I practised my listening comprehension mostly passively. For months before the YKI test, I would listen to a Finnish podcast for around 45 minutes every day while cooking or going out for a walk. I would often cycle through the same podcast episodes, but it never felt boring since each round of listening solidified my understanding of the episode. For unfamiliar words, I would either pause the podcast to look up the definition or eventually figure it out from the context.
My favourite podcasts included Opi Suomea!, Finking Cap, and KAHELI. I also enjoyed watching children’s cartoons such as Tulipop and Arvaa kuinka paljon sinua rakastan on Yle Areena. All of these and more are listed on my collection of Finnish Comprehensible Input resource page.
Reading Comprehension
My reading comprehension practice was limited mostly to the texts in the Suomen Mestari series, though I did also occasionally read and translate Yle Selkouutiset articles. I had completed up to the first half of Suomen Mestari 4 when I took the YKI test, but I would have been much more prepared for the reading comprehension subtest if I had completed the final half of the book. I still passed the reading comprehension subtest with a level 3, but it was quite the struggle for me. Now, four months after the YKI test, my reading comprehension has significantly improved upon studying the final half of Suomen Mestari 4.
Practice materials
A few weeks before the YKI test, I used Yle’s YKI test practice for practising my reading and listening comprehension, though I found the actual test to be harder with longer texts and audio clips. There is also this official YKI test sample, but I found the sample audio clips to be discouragingly difficult – the real test clips were easier in my opinion.
So that you can quickly reference the YKI test practice materials and other resources I mention throughout this article, I made a separate page for YKI test resources.
Courses I took
Starting from April 2024 up to my YKI test held in August 2025, I took nine Finnish language courses held by Helsingin aikuisopisto and Helsingin seudun kesäyliopisto. They certainly weren’t the cheapest courses, but they were high quality and I liked the teachers. I only took one short YKI test focused course, which you can read more about at the end of this section.
Helsingin aikuisopisto
Courses I took through Helsingin aikuisopisto:
- Suomen alkeet iloisesti 3 (A1.2-A1.3)
- Suomen alkeet iloisesti 4 (A1.3-A2.1)
- Suomen alkeet iloisesti 5 (A2.1-A2.1+)
Each course in the above “Happy Finnish Elementary” series was held in person at Helsingin aikuisopisto and lasted approximately one month. Although I started with the A1.2 level course, I was probably more realistically at A1.1 when the course began and initially felt like I was behind the rest of the class. Nonetheless, I continued with the course series and stayed on top of the homework.
The teacher a lot of fun, using drama and visuals to teach, and we used her own materials rather than a textbook. Although I didn’t feel I was truly at level A2.1 by the last course, I would still recommend this course series for people wanting more joy and interactivity in their studies – this series lives up to its name!
Helsingin seudun kesäyliopisto
After I finished the “Happy Finnish Elementary” series at Helsingin aikuisopisto, I decided to study the Suomen Mestari 1 textbook on my own for about a month. Once I got the basics down, I started over at another level A1.2 course held by Helsingin seudun kesäyliopisto. From then on, I started making steady progress, passing each end-of-course exam with near perfect scores.
Courses I took through Helsingin seudun kesäyliopisto:
- Suomea intensiivisesti 3 (A1.2-A1.3)
- Suomea intensiivisesti 4 (A1.3-A2.1)
- Suomea intensiivisesti 5 (A2.1-A2.2)
- Suomea intensiivisesti 6 (A2.2-B1.1)
- Suomea intensiivisesti 7 (B1.2-B1.2)
- Tukea YKI-testiin – Getting ready for YKI test
Each course I took from the Suomea intensiivisesti series was held online via Zoom and lasted about a month long. I had three different teachers throughout the series, and each one was excellent at teaching. The Suomea intensiivisesti series from beginning to end covers Suomen Mestari 1–4 with each course covering about four chapters or half a book.
These courses put a heavy emphasis on grammar and book studies, and there is not a lot of speaking or writing practice, but I personally found this grammar focused approach to be helpful for understanding Finnish. Each time I learned a new grammar rule, it felt like I gained another piece of the puzzle for understanding the Finnish language. I enjoyed collecting the puzzle pieces.
I recommend taking the final course in this series, Suomea intensiivisesti 8 (B1.2-B2), which covers the final half of Suomen Mestari 4, if you want a greater peace of mind during the YKI test. I took this course only after already completing the YKI test, and I noticed my reading comprehension skills had significantly improved by the end of the course.
Tukea YKI-testiin – Getting ready for YKI test: This was a short online course consisting of four lessons offered by Helsingin seudun kesäyliopisto. Personally, I didn’t find this course very helpful since most of the time was spent being lectured on the YKI test structure rather than doing actual practice exercises. However, this course would probably still be helpful for people who don’t have the time or willingness to do their own research on what the YKI test is like. Since you’ve made it this far into this article, then I would say it’s not worth it to pay for an expensive YKI-information course – such information is already available freely online, as you’ve seen here on this blog.
Completing the YKI test was a challenging but incredibly rewarding milestone in my Finnish learning journey. When I was preparing for the YKI test, I found comfort in reading about how other Finnish learners prepared for and succeeded on the exam. I hope this post gave you a better idea of how to prepare for the YKI test and the inspiration to keep going. You can find my all YKI-related posts and resources on my YKI test resources page.
Good luck in your Finnish language journey – you got this!
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