Attracted by the Finnish teaching methods

Damien Lefevre, 24, came to Finland from France three years ago and has since excelled in his studies. Finnish education system has suited him perfectly and his latest achievement is the Forum Nokia Championship Award.

Damien came to Finland three years ago. His first exchange period was in Oulu for four months. After the exchange period he went back to France but his stay in Finland had left a mark with him. He decided to pack his bags and travel back to Finland for good. He came to Raahe, which is a small town about 70 km from Oulu. He started study for a bachelor's degree in information technology at the Raahe School of Engineering and Business.

When Damien first arrived to Finland, he didn't speak a word of English nor Finnish. He soon passed this obstacle and now speaks fluent English and gets by with Finnish.

It takes a lot of courage to leave for a foreign country and a new culture. Usually coming to western countries is easy because there are many people who speak English. Unfortunately for Damien, he didn't speak a word of English when he first came to Finland. Learning the local language was a challenge when you had to learn two languages instead of one.

- It was problematic since the Finnish course was in English. Still I passed the Finnish lesson, but when you don't practice, you forget quite much. I know quite many words, I think, but I'm not able to make sentences really, Damien tells when asked how much Finnish has he picked up during his stay.

Different teaching methods

Damien wasn't enjoying studying in France. After coming to Finland, he has found the right place for him. According to Damien his first exchange program helped a lot because he saw different kinds of teaching methods which were more suitable for his personality.

- That's how I realised that my difficulties in France were mostly results of teaching methods not adapted for me. Since I've been in here, I've been learning a lot and it didn't seem impossible to achieve new things like it used to be back at home.

In the French system students study different courses for one semester and at the end of the semester you have one or two weeks when all the exams are taken in a row.

- Courses are grouped into modules, and if you fail one module, you'll have to retake the entire year. It puts a lot of pressure when reading and while taking the exam too, Damien says.

The Finnish systems advantage is that if you miss an exam you still have the possibility to retake it.

- It gives more time for reading and induces less stress. I think this way you remember more of your lessons after the exam as you have more time to concentrate on it, Damien ponders.

Damien feels at home in Finland and his future plans include finding a job.

Awarded for open-source development

Damien was the first student of the Oulu University of Applied Sciences who has won the Forum Nokia Championship. The championship is a recognition and reward program for mobile developers from around the world. The winners are selected on the basis of their skills and devotion to the Forum Nokia community. The programming language and the platform Damien has been working on are open source. This means that others can freely read how the person wrote the software and learn from it.

Damien has been participating in the community by giving support to other users on the discussion board and also by e-mail. In exchange he has received support from other developers.

- That's how I gained my knowledge. I've also shared a part of my work with the community. They are all shared for free on my web page, Damien tells.

In the near future he wants to finish the few lessons he has left and graduate in May. The next thing will be to search for a job in Finland.

- I just hope I could be working in a company where they change your project area every 2 or 3 years to push your learning to something new all the time. That is the best way to become an expert, Damien says.