Laitan villatakin päälle ennen kuin menen parvekkeelle.

In Finnish, the subject pronoun is often left out when it is clear from the verb ending.

• laitan = I put / I’ll put
• the ending -n already shows 1st person singular

So minä laitan is possible, but laitan is more natural unless you want extra emphasis on I.

Here villatakin is the object of the verb laittaa päälle.

In this sentence, the speaker is putting on the whole cardigan, so Finnish uses the total object form. In the singular, that usually looks like the genitive:

• villatakki = a cardigan
• villatakin = the cardigan / a cardigan as a complete object

So:

• Laitan villatakin päälle = I put the cardigan on

You may also notice consonant gradation:

• villatakki
• villatakin

The kk becomes k in this form.

päälle literally means something like onto / on top / on, but with clothes it is very commonly used in the expression laittaa päälle, which means to put on.

So:

• laittaa = to put
• päälle = on / onto
• laittaa päälle = to put on

In this sentence, villatakin päälle goes together with laitan:

• Laitan villatakin päälle = I put on a cardigan

Yes, very much so. It is one of the normal ways to say to put on clothes in Finnish.

For example:

• Laitan takin päälle. = I put on a coat.
• Laitan kengät jalkaan. = I put on shoes.
• Laitan hatun päähän. = I put on a hat.

So with clothes, Finnish often uses expressions built around body/location words like:

• päälle = onto the body / on
• jalkaan = onto the feet/legs
• päähän = onto the head

Yes. pukea is another common verb for to put on (clothes).

So both of these are natural:

• Laitan villatakin päälle.
• Puen villatakin.

A rough difference:

• laittaa päälle is very common and conversational
• pukea is also common, but slightly more directly to dress oneself in something

In many situations, either works.

ennen kuin is the normal conjunction meaning before when it introduces a whole clause.

So:

• ennen = before
• ennen kuin = before

Here it introduces the clause:

• ennen kuin menen parvekkeelle = before I go onto the balcony

You should learn ennen kuin as a set phrase when it is followed by a verb clause.

Compare:

• ennen ruokaa = before food / before the meal
• ennen kuin syön = before I eat

Finnish usually does not have a separate future tense. The present tense is often used for future meaning when the context makes it clear.

So:

• menen can mean I go or I will go
• laitan can mean I put or I’ll put

In this sentence, the meaning is clearly about what the speaker will do, so present-tense forms are completely normal.

parvekkeelle is the allative form, which often means onto / to a surface or an outside-type place.

• parveke = balcony
• parvekkeelle = onto the balcony / to the balcony

With mennä, Finnish often uses location cases depending on the kind of place and how it is conceptualized.

Here:

• mennä parvekkeelle = to go out onto the balcony

Compare:

• parvekkeella = on the balcony
• Menen parvekkeelle. = I go onto the balcony.
• Olen parvekkeella. = I am on the balcony.

For the same reason as in the first clause: the subject pronoun is usually omitted.

• menen already means I go / I will go

So Finnish does not need minä unless you want emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• Laitan villatakin päälle ennen kuin menen parvekkeelle. = neutral
• Laitan villatakin päälle ennen kuin minä menen parvekkeelle. = more emphatic, maybe contrasting with someone else

Yes. Finnish word order is fairly flexible, although some orders sound more neutral than others.

The given sentence is natural:

• Laitan villatakin päälle ennen kuin menen parvekkeelle.

You could also say:

• Ennen kuin menen parvekkeelle, laitan villatakin päälle.

That puts more focus on the before I go onto the balcony part.

The original version is a very normal everyday order: main action first, then the time clause.

In this sentence, villatakin päälle is the most natural order, because laittaa päälle behaves like a verb phrase and the object commonly comes before päälle.

So:

• Laitan villatakin päälle = very natural

Other word orders may be possible in special contexts, but for a learner, the safest pattern is:

• laittaa + clothing item + päälle

For example:

• Laitan paidan päälle.
• Laitan takin päälle.

Yes, villatakki is one compound word, which is very normal in Finnish.

It is made from:

• villa = wool
• takki = coat / jacket

So villatakki literally means wool jacket, but in actual usage it often means cardigan or a woolen jacket/sweater-type garment depending on context.

Finnish uses compound words much more than English, so learners often need to get used to seeing meanings packed into one word.