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How to prepare for the citizenship test when your Finnish is still weak

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The test is taken in Finnish or Swedish, but you do not need perfect Finnish to understand the questions. Most questions become readable once you know the key words. Here is a four-week plan.

Why the questions feel hard

Many questions are short but use long official words, such as jokamiehenoikeus (everyman's right) or yhdenvertaisuus (equality). When you know these words, the rest of the sentence is usually simple. Our word list has the 64 words that come up most often in questions about Finnish society.

A four-week plan

  • Week 1: learn the key words. Ten minutes a day with the word list, saying each word aloud.
  • Week 2: practise by topic. Read the question in Finnish first and open the translation only when you are stuck.
  • Week 3: review your mistakes every day. Listen to the questions in Finnish if your phone has a Finnish voice.
  • Week 4: take two mock exams, 30 questions in 45 minutes, and practise your weakest topics again.

Tips that help most

  • Read the question twice before you look at the options.
  • Find the key word. It often decides the answer.
  • Use the translation less each week.
  • Ten minutes every day works better than two hours once a week.

The questions on Koevalmis are our own practice questions, written from public sources. They are not the official test questions. The official study material is expected from Migri around the turn of the year 2026–2027.

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