If your goal is to pass the YKI test for Finnish citizenship, you’ve probably already figured out the basics: what the test is, which skills it measures, and that you need B1 level to pass.
So now, the only thing left to master is… How to actually pass it? How DO you prepare for this ambitious quest?
In this article, I’ll show you exactly how to train for the YKI test – step by step – based on how language skills are actually built and how the test really works. Before moving onto the concrete tips, let me tell you what not to do – based on my own experience.
I obviously have not passed the Finnish YKI test (because I’m Finnish 🙌), but I did do a very similar test in English, the TOEFL, when I was applying for a university exchange program in Melbourne.
I had a pretty good level already – all my university textbooks were in English, I had lived in Paris where I had English speaking friends, I watched all series & movies in English – and I felt very comfortable in any situation in English.
And I went to the exam without practising AT ALL 😬 What an epic failure…
There I was, sitting amongst 20 other examinees with my headphones on, listening to the instructions for the speaking part, hearing the dreadful “start speaking” and seeing the seconds in the timer counting downwards.
And my mind went completely blank.
I suddenly seemed to have forgotten how to construct sentences correctly, how to pronounce in English and more or less half of the vocabulary I was supposed to know.
I probably talked about my dog, when they asked me to describe my illness at the doctor 😅
My mistake was that I only did half of the job. But to pass a test like this, you have to take a 2-step approach:
First, you study Finnish to get to the level you need to pass
Then, you practise the exact types of exercises you’ll encounter in the exam
Now, let’s look at how to apply these 2 steps in the different test categories.
This doesn’t come as a surprise, but my best tip for getting from zero to B1 (and beyond) in reading and listening comprehension, is to join Finnish Me: Understand, my online course that is designed to unlock your understanding in the shortest time possible.
Once you’ve gone through the course material, I recommend consuming any Finnish media, movies, magazines or podcasts you’re interested in, perhaps starting with YLE Selkouutiset articles and videos.
YLE has a bunch of example exercises for reading and listening comprehension, so you can easily practise those here and here.
The topics included in YKI focus on your background, home and living, shops and services, culture, travelling, health and wellbeing, work, environment and society – so I would recommend consuming material around these topics to assimilate the required vocabulary.
One thing to note is that the recordings will be a mix of formal and colloquial Finnish – kirjakieli and puhekieli – so make sure to practise both!
Once you’re at A2-B1 level in reading and listening comprehension, you can start to activate your production side: writing and speaking.
I normally wait until I’m at B1 or higher, but I’ve had students who start earlier because saying things out loud helps them absorb them better.
However, I would not recommend starting to speak or write before you understand at least slowly spoken Finnish, maybe with transcriptions – otherwise you just don’t know enough vocabulary and how to put them together.
My best tip for activating your speaking is to enrol in my advanced level course, Finnish Me: Speak, which is an AI-powered online course that gives you the exact roadmap, speaking practice and confidence you need to go from freezing to fluent in 6 months.
To further practise your speaking, you could also attend language cafés. They are great because there you can speak with other learners, which means that they are patient enough to listen to you – even if you’re struggling to explain your point.
Speaking with your friends can work, but I’ve found that if you’re not yet fluent enough to have a nice conversation, it can create frustration in your friendship, and then you resume to your common language.
Another obvious tip for speaking is: speak whenever you can! At the supermarket, pharmacy, post office… This way you also practise situations that you might be asked to deal with during the speaking section.
For writing, I recommend texting in Finnish with your friends, writing emails to your colleagues in Finnish, and if that’s your thing, keeping a journal in Finnish. Even short daily practise helps! You can also practise your writing in Finnish Me: Speak by choosing the typing option.
The best tip I found for preparing for the writing and speaking tests is to prepare example sentences you can use in the different text and speaking categories.
By writing and memorising 3 example texts – formal, informal and an opinion piece – you have templates you can adapt and use with any topic you get.
📺 On this YouTube channel you can find a few example answers for the writing part (and for the other parts as well) that you can use to build your own templates.
🤖 With this AI coach, you can practise the speaking exercises and get instant feedback.
As I know that the speaking part is often the stumbling stone for many learners, here are 3 top tips I found from people who have passed it:
🚀 Practise speaking with a timer because the speaking part has a time limit.
🚀 Practise speaking with the TV on, because it’s very loud during the speaking test and you might get distracted.
🚀 What you say doesn’t have to be true – just come up with something!
Finally, a couple of further resources to help you prepare:
The University of Jyväskylä has a lot of material for practising all categories at the different levels, so make sure to check it out.
The ebook Step-by-Step Guide to Passing the YKI Test tells you everything you need to know about the YKI test and how to prepare for it.
Preparing for the YKI test isn’t just about studying Finnish – it’s about training the right skills, in the right order.
💡 First, build real understanding of the language through listening and reading.
💡 Then, start activating your speaking and writing so that you can handle real-life situations – even under pressure.
That’s exactly what I help learners do through my courses:
Finnish Me: Understand takes you from confusion to comprehension, so you finally understand spoken Finnish – including the fast, messy kind that shows up in the YKI test.
Finnish Me: Speak is the next step – helping you go from passive knowledge to confident communication through guided AI-powered practice.
Not sure where to start? Check out my free video lesson: Mastering Everyday Finnish.
Whether you’re preparing for the YKI or just want to understand and speak Finnish more easily, you’ll walk away knowing exactly what to change in your Finnish learning – and how to finally make it work.
Tsemppiä YKI-testiin!
Published on 18 December 2025.