Saami Language

Saami language
Saami as a Foreign Language
Interpreting Saami
Inari Saami

Saami Language

The purpose of the subject is to educate versatile and skilled language professionals for the needs of the Saami community. Graduates of Saami Language are employed for instance in teaching and research positions, in Saami media, as experts in translation and language planning, administratorial positions and in the field of language technology. Studying Saami, conducting research of one’s own and getting to know the working life improve the students’ possibilities to be employed in a position of their liking after graduation. The studens familiarize themselves with the working life already during their studies, and a training period is included in the Bachelor’s Degree.

Saami Language is primarily meant for native speakers of Saami and those who have a native speaker’s command of the Saami language. Students who do not speak Saami as their native language and who do not have a native speaker's command of the language improve their language competence by completing basic and subject studies in Saami as a foreign language (as applicable) when completing their major subject studies in Saami (as a native language).

The study of the Saami language is a field of Humanities that teaches and conducts research in the structure and use of the language, spoken and written language, theoretical and practical language planning, and language variation and development. The teaching is offered entirely in North Saami, but studies in other forms of Saami, for example Inari Saami and Skolt Saami, is included in the studies as well. At the University of Oulu, focal areas are language structure and use.

Saami language 2009-2011: General Information and Course Descriptions (PDF)

 

Saami as a Foreign Language

Saami as a foreign language may be pursued as a basic studies package 25 ECTS credits and subject studies 35 ECTS credits. The purpose of the studies is to give the student good with good spoken and written skills in Northern Saami. No previous studies in Saami are required.

Saami as a Foreign Language basic and subject studies package is open to all students of the University of Oulu. It is a suitable minor subject for e.g. students of Finnish, foreign languages, history and Information Science, as well as students of the Faculty of Education studying to be a primary teacher. In addition to this, those students who have already completed the Basic and Intermediary courses in Saami can expand their Saami studies into a minor subject.

Saami as a Foreign Language basic studies package (25 ECTS credits) is a mandatory minor subject for those students who are studying Saami culture as their major subject and have a foreign language level proficiency in Saami.

Saami as a Foreign Language 2009-2011: General Information and Course Descriptions (PDF)

Interpreting Saami

Interpreting Saami may be pursued as a basic studies package (25 sp). The package may form an entirely independent minor subject or a minor subject that is combined with, for example, studies in Saami Language or Saami Culture. The subject provides students with skills and facilities that interpreters of the Saami language need in their daily work.

Applicants who wish to study Interpreting Saami must be native speakers of Northern Saami or have language skills that are comparable to those of a native. Successful applicants must show in the entrance examination that they have fluent spoken skills in Northern Saami and Finnish.

No previous studies in the Saami language are required. Teaching is organized into study periods in Inari and lasts throughout an autumn and a spring term. Teaching is carried out jointly by the Giellagas Institute and the Educational Center of Sami Area.

Interpreting Saami 2009-2011: General Infomation and Course Descriptions (PDF)

Inari Saami

IInari Saami may be taken as a minor subject that comprises basic studies (25 ECTS) and intermediate studies (35 ECTS). The aim of the subject is to provide students with a basic knowledge of the structure of Inari Saami, its background and its position in the society as well as to familiarize students with the Saami languages and Saami culture from the viewpoint of Inari Saami.

Before commencing basic studies in Inari Saami, students must have acquired adequate spoken and written skills in the language. Students are required to have taken a matriculation examination in Inari Saami (either as their mother tongue or as a foreign language) or, alternatively, to have passed a basic and an advanced course in Inari Saami or to have otherwise acquired adequate knowledge of the language. Students may be requested to take a separate language test to prove their skills.

Inari Saami 2009-2011: General Information and Course Descriptions (PDF)