Words failed me in Finnish, so I came out in English
For most of my childhood I had trouble learning things: I couldn’t read or write until the third grade, ride a bike until fourth grade, or swim until fifth grade. Winter sports, which are huge in Finland, where I’m from, remain hard for me. I can’t really cross-country ski, my hockey game is weak, and wearing ice skates hurts.
Then there was speaking. I couldn’t properly pronounce the letters K, L, R, S, T, or U in my native Finnish. That was unfortunate, as my name has two Ls and one K in it.
In first, second, and third grades, I saw a speech therapist every Tuesday morning. She held a wooden stick over my outstretched tongue while I tried, in vain, to pronounce my letters properly. “Vuoristorata. Rollercoaster,” she would say, placing great emphasis on the Rs. “Amerikka. America.”
R was the letter I struggled with the most. I just couldn’t say it. In Finnish you’re supposed to roll your Rs, somehow place the tip of your tongue at the ridge of your mouth and exhale while the tongue reverberates. I still don’t know how to do it.
