Material for New Degree Students: Social Services, full-time studies

NEW STUDENTS IN AUGUST 2023

Degree Programme in Social Services, group SXG23S1
Congratulations and welcome to Metropolia University of Applied Sciences!

The semester will start in August 2023 at Myllypuro campus (Myllypurontie 1, 00920 Helsinki), next to Myllypuro metro station.

We encourage you to carefully read in advance the following instructions provided for students:

Particularly important familiarizing with the instructions is, if you currently live elsewhere and move to Finland in order to start your studies here. It’s good to apply for a visa as soon as possible, should you need one. It’s also useful to know that if you are not a citizen of EU or ETA countries, you will have to take the initiative to pay tuition fee before starting in advance (please note, an early bird fee applies to fast payments).

If you don’t know Finnish yet, a special emphasis is laid on learning Finnish skills during your studies. The aim is that everyone graduating from the degree programme have at least an intermediate level of Finnish, because this enables you to register as a Bachelor of Social Services and work in this field in Finland.

Complete the Finnish language online course Superalkeet. You can take the course at any time before August. The course will give you a taste of Finnish language. You are going to need good Finnish skills, because all internships are conducted in Finnish working environments.

Classes in the Finnish language are included into your curricula, but grammar studies are demanding and it is recommended to invest in them also extracurricular.

A Taste of Finnish online course (provided by University of Helsinki) gives you a good picture of the Finnish language, a toolbox handy in simple everyday situations with the Finns. After you've explored the site and taken a look at the grammar topics, you can continue practicing spoken Finnish with, for example, these sites: Suomen kielen alkeet that provides you with useful video tutorials on the Finnish alphabet, numbers and phrases. Here you can listen, practice and learn the correct pronunciation. You can also see the Superalkeet course material.

Start using what you have learned as soon as you arrive in Finland, you will need these basic Finnish phrases already in the beginning of your stay in Finland.

Here you can find some useful phrases. Please start using them! Do not hesitate to try, it is good to learn to listen and to speak Finnish from the first day on. It will get easier every day!

From mid-May onwards, you can check the schedule of the autumn semester in Metropolia’s Schedule Machine (Lukkarikone): https://lukkarit.metropolia.fi. Your group ID is SXG23S1. Please note that some of the times are subject to change.

Teacher tutors for your group are Senior Lecturers Leigh Anne Rauhala and Mai Salmenkangas. Your first course will be Orientation to Studies.

When you enter the campus for the first time, please bring along a card, such as a library card or gym card, which you can activate to serve as your access pass. All students need an access pass in order to move around on the campus. Due to information security reasons, please do not use a card with a chip (e.g. a bank or credit card).

On the first day, our tutor students will be welcoming you in the campus lobby to escort you to the right classroom. We look forward to seeing you in August!

Warmly welcome!

Paula Lindqvist
Head of the Degree Programme, Guidance counsellor
paula.lindqvist @ metropolia.fi

Leigh Anne Rauhala
Senior Lecturer
leighanne.rauhala @ metropolia.fi

Mai Salmenkangas
Senior Lecturer
mai.salmenkangas @ metropolia.fi