Learn Hardcore Finnish: Tämä on todellinen mahdollisuus oppia suomea. - This is a real opportunity to learn Finnish.

tämä – “this (one here, near me/us)”
tuo – “that (one over there, visible or in the shared space, but not right here)”
se – “that/it” (often something already known from context, like English “it” or “that”)

In this sentence:

Tämä on todellinen mahdollisuus… = This (thing we’re talking about right now) is a real opportunity…

You could also use se in some contexts, especially if you’re continuing a known topic:

Se on todellinen mahdollisuus oppia suomea. – It / That is a real opportunity to learn Finnish.

Tämä points more clearly to something you’re presenting/introducing as “this thing here.”

Why is on used here? Is it just like English “is”?

Yes. On is the 3rd person singular form of the verb olla (“to be”):

minä olen – I am
sinä olet – you are
hän on – he/she is
tämä on – this is

In sentences of the form X on Y (“X is Y”), Finnish normally requires on; you can’t just put nouns together without it:

Correct: Tämä on todellinen mahdollisuus. – This is a real opportunity.
Incorrect: *Tämä todellinen mahdollisuus. (missing the verb)

So on works very much like “is” here.

Why are todellinen and mahdollisuus both in the same (nominative) form?

In Tämä on todellinen mahdollisuus, the structure is:

Tämä (subject, nominative)
on (verb)
todellinen mahdollisuus (predicative / complement)

In Finnish, the predicative noun phrase after olla typically agrees in case and number with the subject when you’re stating what something is (in a definite, whole sense):

Tämä mahdollisuus on todellinen. – This opportunity is real.
Tämä on todellinen mahdollisuus. – This is a real opportunity.

Both todellinen and mahdollisuus are nominative singular because they describe what tämä is, not some partial amount of it.

If you were talking about only part of something or a non‑complete quantity, you’d often see the partitive, but here the idea is a whole, specific “real opportunity”.

Why is it oppia suomea and not oppia suomi?

The key point is the partitive case.

suomi – Finnish (language), nominative singular
suomea – partitive singular of suomi

Verbs like oppia (to learn) and opiskella (to study) often take their object in the partitive when you’re talking about a language or an open‑ended learning process:

oppia suomea – learn (some / the skill of) Finnish
opiskelen suomea – I study Finnish
puhun suomea – I speak Finnish

Using suomea emphasizes learning the language generally (not a single, completed “unit” of Finnish). Oppia suomi would sound odd or overly concrete, as if Finnish were a countable item.

So does oppia always take the partitive?

No, oppia doesn’t always take the partitive; it depends on what you’re learning:

With languages or open‑ended skills → typically partitive:
- oppia suomea – to learn Finnish
- oppia englantia – to learn English
- oppia pianonsoittoa – to learn (the playing of) piano
With a specific, complete thing you’ve learned → often total object (non‑partitive):
- Opin läksyni. – I learned my lesson.
- Opin uuden sanan. – I learned a new word.

In Tämä on todellinen mahdollisuus oppia suomea, we’re talking about gaining the skill of Finnish in general, so suomea (partitive) is natural.

What’s the difference between oppia and opiskella here? Could I say mahdollisuus opiskella suomea?

You could say both, but there’s a nuance:

oppia suomea – to learn Finnish (focus on acquiring the skill / result)
opiskella suomea – to study Finnish (focus on the activity/process of studying)

So:

Todellinen mahdollisuus oppia suomea
– A real opportunity to actually learn Finnish (gain ability).
Todellinen mahdollisuus opiskella suomea
– A real opportunity to study Finnish (take classes, do coursework).

In everyday speech, oppia suomea can sound a bit more “outcome‑oriented”: you’ll really end up knowing Finnish.

Why is it suomea specifically? How is that form built from suomi?

Suomi (Finnish) is declined like this in the most common cases:

Nominative: suomi – Finnish
Genitive: suomen – of Finnish
Partitive: suomea – (some) Finnish

The partitive form suomea is formed by:

taking the stem suome- (you can see it also in suomen)
adding the partitive ending -a → suomea

So oppia suomea literally means to learn (some) Finnish, matching the typical use of the partitive for languages with verbs like puhua, opiskella, oppia.

Can I change the word order, like Tämä on mahdollisuus oppia suomea todellinen or Tämä on mahdollisuus suomea oppia?

Not freely. Finnish allows some word‑order flexibility, but it has limits and typical patterns.

Tämä on todellinen mahdollisuus oppia suomea. – natural and standard.

Changing it to:

Tämä on mahdollisuus oppia suomea todellinen. – ungrammatical. Adjectives normally come before the noun (todellinen mahdollisuus).
Tämä on mahdollisuus suomea oppia. – sounds quite unnatural; you’d need a special emphasis context for anything similar, and even then it’s odd.

You can move words for emphasis, but the neutral pattern here is:

[Tämä] [on] [todellinen mahdollisuus] [oppia suomea].

where todellinen mahdollisuus is one noun phrase, and oppia suomea is an infinitive phrase describing what the opportunity is for.

What’s the nuance of todellinen mahdollisuus? Could I use oikea or hyvä instead of todellinen?

Yes, but the meaning shifts slightly:

todellinen mahdollisuus – a real, genuine opportunity (not imaginary or half‑hearted)
oikea mahdollisuus – a real / proper / right opportunity (often: the right kind, a serious one)
hyvä mahdollisuus – a good opportunity (favorable, advantageous)

In this sentence, todellinen mahdollisuus suggests something like:

This is a *genuine chance, not just talk.*

You could say, for example:

Tämä on hyvä mahdollisuus oppia suomea. – This is a good opportunity to learn Finnish.
Tämä on oikea mahdollisuus oppia suomea. – This is a real/proper opportunity to learn Finnish.

All are grammatical; choice depends on what nuance you want.

How do you pronounce Tämä on todellinen mahdollisuus oppia suomea?

Basic pronunciation tips:

Stress is always on the first syllable of each word:
TÄ-mä on TO-del-li-nen MAH-dol-li-su-us OP-pi-a SUO-me-a
ä is like a in cat (front, open vowel).
ll in todellinen and mahdollisuus is a long consonant – hold it a bit longer than a single l.
uo in suomea is a diphthong, pronounced smoothly as one syllable, roughly like u-o blended.
The h in mahdollisuus is clearly pronounced; don’t drop it.

Spoken at normal speed, it flows smoothly with each word’s first syllable stressed.