It is well-known that with learning any new language, there comes a learning curve. Basically, when you start learning a new language, you will rapidly pick up on the essentials of the language. However, once you have mastered the basics, the rate at which you learn begins to slow down significantly. This is often referred to as a "plateau" in language learning. This stage in learning can be frustrating, because it can feel like you aren't progressing at all despite your hard efforts.
However, in my experience of learning Finnish, in a way, the learning curve occurred in the opposite direction. In other words, diving into the language head-first was considerably more difficult than usual, but at a certain point, things just seemed to "click" and it felt like suddenly everything started to make sense. Part of this is undoubtedly because Finnish is initially quite alien to a native English speaker. Unlike in learning many other European languages, even the most basic words and phrases may not look familiar at all, and even intimidating. There are few obvious cognates to take comfort in, and the beginner will notice immediately that the sound system and basic grammar of Finnish is dissimilar to most European languages, including its geographical neighbors Swedish and Russian. Forming even the most basic sentences requires knowledge of difficult concepts such as consonant gradation and the partitive case, which is nothing like the "Romance partitive." It takes a while to get acclimated to Finnish in general, and the grammatical rules are not easy.
When I began Finnish, I focused on grammatical rules first, quite simply because the grammar was what had drawn me to the language in the first place. However, because I studied mainly grammar at first, Finnish remained a blur for a while. I could only form basic sentences, and listening comprehension wasn't even on my radar yet. However, after I had grasped most grammar concepts and finally started to learn the language itself, everything seemed to fall into place, and Finnish was no longer intimidating. Because I had gotten the mechanics out of the way, it was easy to see the concepts applied. Another reason why Finnish became much easier was because when I started crossing over into colloquial Finnish, it became clear that its grammar was not as complex as formal written Finnish. That isn't to say that you shouldn't worry about the precise grammar rules. In my opinion, having a firm foundation of the "grammatically correct" forms and then learning the simplified colloquial forms later on is much more efficient than going the other way around. Part of this is because colloquial forms vary based on factors like the formality of a situation, and the dialect and age of the speaker. If you overlook the standard forms, you simply won't have any reference or context for why a suffix may have many seemingly irregular variants.
I'm not necessarily advising anyone to study grammar rules in-depth first. People with different learning styles may find this method to be uncomfortable. But, I think in my case it was worth it in the long run.
I found it interesting that for Finnish, the typical learning curve was, in a way, reversed. I am curious if any other language learners have had a similar experience with Finnish or other languages.
