If you’re interested in learning the beautiful Sami language, you might be wondering where to begin, what the alphabet looks like, or how the grammar works.

I’ve designed this guide specifically for beginners. We’re going to take it step-by-step so you can start understanding and speaking North Sami right away.

The Sami languages and regional variations

Before you start studying, it’s very important to know that “Sami” isn’t just one single language.

The Sami languages are actually a group of related languages spoken across Sápmi, which is the traditional territory of the Sami people. This area stretches across the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia.

There are nine living Sami languages today. Here are the main regional variations:

• North Sami: The biggest and most widely spoken. About 75% of all Sami speakers use North Sami. It’s spoken in Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
• Lule Sami: The second largest, spoken mostly in parts of Norway and Sweden.
• South Sami: Spoken further south in Norway and Sweden.
• Inari Sami and Skolt Sami: Spoken mainly in northern Finland.

Because North Sami has the most speakers, the most books, and the most TV and radio programs, it’s the best one for beginners to choose. For the rest of this guide, we’ll focus entirely on North Sami.

The North Sami alphabet

North Sami uses the Latin alphabet (the same one we use in English), which makes reading it much easier than languages with entirely different writing systems.

However, it has 7 special letters with unique marks on them. You need to learn these to pronounce words correctly.

Here’s a simple table showing the special letters and how to say them:

Basic greetings to get you started

The best way to start learning a language is to speak it! In language acquisition, we call this building your “communicative confidence.”

Here are some very common North Sami greetings. I’ve included a rough English pronunciation guide (transliteration) to help you say them out loud.

Notice that there are two ways to say goodbye! In North Sami, the word you use depends on whether you’re the person leaving, or the person staying behind.

Simple grammar rules you should know

You don’t need to study complex grammar rules to start speaking. In fact, studying too much grammar early on can actually slow you down! But it does help to know a few basic rules about how North Sami works.

No gender pronouns

If you’ve studied Spanish or French, you know that words have masculine and feminine genders. North Sami doesn’t have this!

In fact, the word for “he” and “she” is exactly the same: son.

Cases instead of prepositions

In English, we use small words like “in,” “on,” “to,” or “from” (called prepositions).

North Sami is a Finno-Ugric language, which means it mostly uses “cases.” A case is when you change the ending of a noun to show its role in the sentence. North Sami has 7 different cases.

For example:

• Gávpi means “shop”
• Gávppis means “in the shop” or “from the shop”
• Gávpái means “to the shop”

You just add letters to the end of the word!

Best tips and resources for beginners

Now that you know the basics, how do you actually get fluent? Here’s my top advice for beginners.

• Listen to the language every day. To learn North Sami, your brain needs “input.” You can listen to Sami radio or watch Sami TV. I highly recommend NRK Sápmi (Norwegian broadcasting) or Yle Sápmi (Finnish broadcasting). They have great programs that you can often watch online.
• Learn vocabulary in chunks. Don’t just memorize single words. Memorize full phrases like Mot manná? (How are you?). It makes speaking much faster.
• Use spaced repetition. Make flashcards using an app like Anki to practice your vocabulary. Review them a little bit every day.
• Don’t stress over mistakes. Making mistakes is proof that you’re learning. Speak as early as possible, even if your grammar is totally wrong!

Learning North Sami is an amazing way to connect with a rich, beautiful culture.

Bures boahtin! (Welcome!)