Natasha uses an online translator

Before she opens the task brief, Mark asks Natasha if she can speak Finnish, and she replies with “Apua, mä tarvin vessan” (‘Help, I need the toilet’). She definitely knows what this means, and is not just parroting a phrase she has heard, as when she repeats the phrase in the studio, she then tells Puk (who had spent much of her conversation with Kustaa talking about excrement) that it would be a helpful phrase for her to learn.

Natasha enters the lab with a piece of paper on which she has written a few Finnish phrases, and she has her phone at the ready.

She introduces herself to Kustaa, and says that it is nice to meet him. She then pulls her phone out of her pocket, and uses an online translator to not only translate whatever she wants to say to Kustaa, but to say the words for her, using text-to-speech.

She also offers Kustaa a snack, in the form of Mexican candies.

For the rest of their conversation, Natasha goes back and forth between her pre-written questions and the online translator. She asks Kustaa what his favourite movie is (The Notebook), and is delighted that she shares the same favourite movie. She then asks Kustaa if he ever cries and, when he admits that he does, Natasha tells him that she once cried so much that her fake eyelashes fell off.

Natasha then moves on to asking Kustaa if he likes cheese. It turns out that they both love cheese (and he shares that his favourite is Harvati), but Natasha then admits that she is lactose-intolerant. Kustaa muses that he would probably still eat cheese if he was lactose-intolerant.

Natasha runs out of time, but she seems to feel the need to prove to Kustaa that she can speak some Finnish unassisted, as she once again breaks out her handy “Apua, mä tarvin vessan” phrase. In response, Kustaa tells her to leave the room and turn left.

In the studio, Lasse asks why Natasha knows that particular sentence in Finnish. She admits that she doesn’t know, but says that it’s been helpful so far.

Lasse awards Natasha first place.

(Written by Jenny R and proofread by Karl Craven)

(Illustrations collected by Jenny R and adjusted by David Fuller)