Kalevala Language Academy
Kalevala Language Academy (Finland, Helsinki)
OUR VISION
To be a trusted and innovative leader in foreign language education, where real-life, meaningful, and effective communication is at the heart of every lesson, guided by the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). With the CLT approach, you'll feel at home in a foreign country.
OUR MISSION
In an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, our fundamental commitment is to design enduring and meaningful language learning processes that adapt to evolving needs by emphasizing practical language proficiency over theoretical knowledge. Through student-centered instruction grounded in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), we empower learners to communicate confidently and effectively in authentic real-world contexts. We tailor our approach to meet individual goals and circumstances, enabling learners to feel at home in any foreign environment.
MEET THE INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Özge Bauer
Dr. Özge Bauer, who has studied at Arizona State University, Tallinn University, the University of Eastern Finland, and Marmara University, has dedicated her entire academic career from undergraduate to doctoral studies to language and literature education, foreign language teaching, and second language acquisition. Her teacher training emphasized observation and practical application, particularly from the perspectives of educational philosophy and psychology.
Dr. Bauer has vast experience as a multilingual and intercultural educator, as well as international translator. She has translated literary works for global publishing houses, and official documents for various organizations and embassies.
She has taught Finnish and Turkish to adult learners from a wide range of fields, including doctors, diplomats, business professionals, artists, and educators. Each lesson is carefully tailored to the learner’s individual needs, native language background, and professional context.
What Our Students Are Saying...
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Pia Ingström, Helsinki, Literary Critic and Author
🗨️ "Özge’s teaching style was truly encouraging and very flexible... I was very satisfied with the results; the lessons gave me exactly the refreshing boost I needed."
Five years ago, I started taking private Turkish lessons from Özge Bauer (most of the lessons were held remotely due to the pandemic).
My interest in Turkish goes back to the 1980s, but Özge’s lessons were specially designed to help me refresh my prior knowledge. I needed a new hobby, and at the same time, I wanted to follow current events in Turkey and be able to understand newspaper articles and other content. I’m still engaged in various literary projects, and I also aim to update my knowledge of Turkish culture.
In our lessons, we focused particularly on my reading and listening skills, as per my request. Özge’s teaching style was truly encouraging and very flexible. She used a variety of thoughtfully selected materials, such as newspaper articles and YouTube videos—each rich and interesting in content—and our conversations were always enjoyable! I was very satisfied with the results; the lessons gave me exactly the refreshing boost I needed, and I also received excellent reading suggestions related to translation literature. Learning a foreign language is not only useful but also a well-rounded hobby that greatly benefits mental health, brain function, and memory. That’s why I wholeheartedly recommend Özge’s courses! Although Turkish is unfamiliar to Finns in terms of vocabulary, it is quite intuitive and easily understandable in terms of grammar. Moreover, Turkish offers a politically and culturally exciting and important perspective. Overall, I was very pleased with the course. -
Nilufer Alapinar, Senior Advisor - Assistant Trade Commissioner at Business Finland
🗨️"I also enjoyed how Özge shared Finnish culture in the lessons, which made learning a new language even more meaningful. I’m grateful for her guidance and would happily recommend her to anyone who wants to learn Finnish."
Learning Finnish with Özge Bauer has been a great journey. She teaches Finnish with fun games which makes learning such a difficult language like Finnish so much easier and joyful. She was always patient and explained everything in a clear and supportive way. I also enjoyed how she shared Finnish culture in the lessons, which made learning a new language even more meaningful. I’m grateful for her guidance and would happily recommend her to anyone who wants to learn Finnish.
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Mikko Lavanti, Senior Vice President, Mobile Networks Market for Middle East and Africa at Nokia
While living in Istanbul for work, I took Turkish lessons from Özge as part of a more comprehensive and intensive course. Learning Turkish was easy with Özge’s guidance because she was very skilled at explaining Turkish grammar by comparing and relating it to Finnish grammar. I wholeheartedly recommend Özge.
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Janina Jansson, Helsinki, Dramaturge
🗨️ "Thanks to this course, I can now take part in conversations and express myself comfortably in everyday life."
I participated in an online Turkish course taught by Özge Bauer for two years. The participants were living both in Finland and Turkey, and over the course of these two years, we progressed from a beginner to quite an advanced level in Turkish. As a teacher, Özge Bauer has a systematic and effective approach; at the same time, she has the ability to make her lessons lively and enjoyable, and to actively involve her students in conversations. From the very beginning, despite our limited language skills, we had conversations on various topics, and over time, these discussions became increasingly engaging. In addition to language skills, we learned a great deal about Turkish culture, different cities, traditions, and customs; we listened to music and had the opportunity to share our own experiences related to life in Turkey, both verbally and in writing. The course was held three times a week, and each lesson included homework assignments. I was extremely satisfied with the education provided by Özge Bauer, and thanks to this course, I can now take part in conversations and express myself comfortably in everyday life when I’m in Turkey.
