After English spelling, Finnish is a holiday. Learn three rules and you can read any word aloud:

1. One letter, one sound. Every letter is always pronounced, and always the same way. No silent letters, no surprises.
2. Stress is always on the first syllable: HEL-sin-ki, KII-tos, MA-ri-na.
3. Length matters. A double letter is held about twice as long — and it makes a different word.

A few letters to watch:

Letter	Sounds like	Example
ä	a in cat	äiti (mother)
ö	u in fur, with rounded lips	yö (night)
y	say ee with lips rounded for oo	hyvä (good)
j	English y	ja (and) — “ya”
r	rolled, as in Spanish or Scottish English	Marina, tori

Ä, ö and y are separate letters, not decorated a, o, u. Swap them and you change the word.