End Of Year Review 2011

And so 2011 comes to an end. Time to reflect on a whole year of blogging about Finnishy things.

Firstly, I have to say I have surprised myself by finding the time, the energy and the inspiration to write over 65 posts.  Well done me!

An even bigger surprise to me has been that quite so many people would actually want to read my ramblings, on what is after all a fairly esoteric and narrow subject. This blog was originally conceived for me, my family and a few friends, but it seems it has developed a following much further afield. So big thanks to all the regular, irregular and passing readers!

The main purpose of the blog is to "chart my (slow) progress in the language" and to help me "to keep focused on task at hand". Has it worked? Have I made much progress in Finnish in the past year? Mmmm... I have to admit: not a lot. I am still at a very, very basic level in the language. Must try harder in 2012.

As for the blogs-posts themselves, here are the top 3 most read ones:

1. Ten Short Finnish Jokes – everybody likes jokes, so no surprise there.
2. Your Name Means Nothing To Me – this one completely baffles me. I mean, it's a great post (of course), but what makes it so popular?
3. Review: How to Marry a Finnish Girl – a fairly recent post (October), but which gets many hits daily. It seem a lot of people out there either would like to know how to marry a Finnish woman ("Finnish girls" is one of the top searches leading to my blog) or have heard of the book (and I wonder how many I have put off reading it!)

My own favourites blog-posts are probably (in chronological order):

• Turning Japanese – I can still recall when I was first told that real-life annecdote by my friends
• Giantwordformations – Because let's face it, the size of Finnish words is a daily wonder
• How's Your Butter? – A good illustration of my daily struggles with Finnish
• Top of the Finn-Pops – Because I love music and it took quite a bit of research to put this together (and it's got videos - woohoo!)
• Matti Nykänen Quotes – No explanation needed!

Will I manage to keep this blog going in 2012? Stay tuned!

PS: Please do share if you have a favourite post!