Short Message With Finns

After I saw the video with the title "Why Finnish schools outperform most other schools around the world" , I sent a message to Mrs. Oona, a math teacher in Finland. I had a short chat with him. I even asked about a basic math problem, the question I got for the first time in an algebra course. Here's a short message with the Finns.   

Rina           :"hi I am Rina. I am interested in education in Finland. I saw Mrs. Oona Arnez on ABC YouTube.where is your college teacher?"

Mrs. Oona   :"Hi Rina. Yes, I'm Oona and I teach in the city called Espoo in south Finland. An Australian TV crew came end of last year to make a short story about the Finnish education and visited our school as well."

Rina            :"I want to be math teacher, you can five languages. It's so difficult for me."

Rina            :"how can you learn math and 5 language all at once ms oona?"

Mrs. Oona  :"Nice to hear that you want to be a math teacher. Well, I guess I also was lucky. Finnish is my mother tongue, and I learned English and Swedish at school. But I also lived years abroad where I could learn German and Spanish. But I guess it's all school that matters. You start to learn all these things, like math, languages, sciences and so on at school."

Rina            :"What is the program you learn in the university?"

Mrs. Oona  :"Well I learned mathematics and have a master in science."

Rina            :"I'm try to buy a book to learn. why I'm from outside of Finland can not buy the textbooks used in schools in Finland?"

Mrs. Oona  :"You mean the math books used in schools in Finland? Yeah, you probably won't find them anywhere else than in the country. There are severals because the teachers can decide which ones they want to use, and some decide not to use any. It's up to them. Maybe you could read some books or websites where they give you tips about the Finnish school system."

After two months later.. we chat again.

Rina            :"Hi Mrs. Oona. I want to ask you. What personality should a teacher have?"

Mrs. Oona  :"Hi Rina! Wow, difficult question. Well I'm not an expert but my opinion is to have a lot of patience and humor. The pupils also always remember if the teachers were fair."

Rina            :"Oh yeah, do you have a about Finnish math teacher guide?"

Mrs. Oona  :"I'm sorry, I don't understand your question. A guide how to be a math teacher, you mean?"

Rina            :"Yes" (I don't know how to say it in English😙)

On my birthday I got a math problem. I don't understand the reason for my answer. then I asked Mrs. Oona.

Rina            :"Ms Oona, I want to ask : which is true A or B and what is the reason?

Mrs. Oona  :"A is right. 4^2=16, if you have a negative basis in the parenthesis, it's (-4)^2=16 "

Mrs. Oona  :"Without the parenthesis the minus is before the calculation, so - 4^2= - 16 "

Mrs. Oona  :"So: (-4)^2=(-4)x(-4)=16 -4^2= - 4x4 = -16 "

Rina            :"Thank you Ms Oona " 

Five days later, I asked Mrs. Oona again

Rina            :"Do you have digital book "introduction to statistics by Ronald E Walpole 3rd edition", Ms Oona?" (Again and again I misspelled the word 'Mrs Oona')

Mrs. Oona  :"Hi Rina, No I don't. Why?"

Rina            :"I need that digital book for study"

Mrs. Oona  :"Ok, I'm sorry can't help you."

Rina            :"can I ask for help with math?"

Mrs. Oona  :"Yes, of course!"

Rina            :"May I ask a your digital book or lecture material bachelor's degree mathematics, Ms oona?"

Rina            :"May I ask a your digital book or lecture material bachelor's degree mathematics via email  , Ms oona?"

Mrs. Oona  :"Hi Arina, I'm not sure what you mean. I don't have a book and my old materials from my studies I have long ago thrown away. What donyou mean by my digital book?"

Mrs. Oona  :"Have you maybe understood wrongly? I'm a math teacher in junior high and high school. Not lecturing anything..."

Rina            :"what I mean is the old material from your studies. if you have discarded it, may I ask for junior high school and high school math materials that you have in the form of digital books or files or pdf?"

Rina            :"May I ask that math materials, Ms Oona?"

Mrs. Oona  :"Hi Arina,"

Mrs. Oona  :"We use normal books and online materials that we have licenses to. These are in Finnish. If you are interested to look at those you better contact the book publisher Otava and Sanoma Pro. These two are the ones that most teachers use. We can of course use what ever materials we want but Otava and Sanoma Pro provide at least nowadays in my opinion the best school books and online books for the Finnish schools."

Mrs. Oona  :"Sanoma Pro you find at: https://www.sanomapro.fi/ , the English version has a contact address https://www.sanomapro.fi/tietoa-meista/briefly-in-english/ "

Mrs. Oona  :"And Otava is: https://oppimisenpalvelut.otava.fi/ or in smaller English version        https://oppimisenpalvelut.otava.fi/tuotteet/educational-material/ "

Mrs. Oona  :"So I recommend to contact those publishers directly, t write them why you are interested  of the math materials and at least ask for a testing period that wouldn´t cost anything."

Rina            :"thank you very much, Ms. Oona. I will try to contact the publisher. once again thank you"

Rina            :"i just opened the sanoma pro and otava web. Is it true that all math materials are Finnish?"

Mrs. Oona  :"Yes, the kids mother tongue is Finnish."

Rina            :"Well, okay

In December last year, I asked again

Rina            :"Good afternoon. Mrs Oona. I want to ask, why books or lessons at school are prohibited  from being shared with students outside the school? In Finland and USA"

Mrs. Oona  :"No, they are not. At least in Finland."

Rina            :"I can't for a testing free period at sanoma and otava web. I found difficult problem math, May I ask your advice?"

Mrs. Oona  :"Did you send them an email?"

Rina            :"I'm not send email. Because I'm don't speak Finnish yet"

Mrs. Oona  :"Well you can send them an email in English."

Mrs. Oona  :"All the Finns can speak it"

Rina            :"What testing free period is use Finnish language?"

Mrs. Oona  :"For example ilmainen kokeilu"

Rina            :"Thanks for your advice Mrs. Oona"

Mrs. Oona  :"You're welcome Rina! Glad I can help you"

The conversation ended without my question😊