About Taskusanakirja
Table of Contents
My name is Andrew Quinn. I’m a software developer and Finnish language learner living in Tampere, Finland. I do software consulting under Siilikuin.
Our Origin Story
I created the first version of Taskusanakirja out of personal desire. I grew frustrated with constantly switching to a web browser every time I needed to look up a Finnish word (and I was looking up a lot of words in the first few years). I wanted a dictionary that could search as fast as I could type. I also wanted it totally portable - a single file that would work on any system I found myself dancing on.
Ironically, a full-screen command prompt (terminal) interface turned out to be the perfect solution. Windows, Mac and Linux all have their own crazy ways of making desktop GUIs, but it turns out a terminal program works great on all of them! The result is what you see today.
Our Philosophy: Fast, Specific, and Supportive
Taskusanakirja embodies a belief that software should be fast, specific, and supportive.
Taskusanakirja is fast. So fast it can search as fast as you or me or anyone can type. And fast seems trivial until you do the math: Compared to looking things up online, each lookup saves a minimum of 3-5 seconds, and usually closer to 30. Look up 20 words while reading a newspaper article? That’s anywhere between 1 and 10 minutes saved. Over months of language learning, I’ve reclaimed dozens of hours that would have been lost to loading web browsers - all time that gets funneled back into actually engaging with Finnish.
Taskusanakirja is specific. Platforms like Duolingo try to be all things to all people. We don’t. We aim squarely at serious language learners who want to climb the mountain. Focusing on Finnish instead of making a dictionary that can do all languages is how we keep the focus that lets us code things like the “go deeper” search feature, which embeds related words in a way that saves you a second lookup 90% of the time.
Taskusanakirja is supportive. We do our job and get out of your way. Believe it or not, one major reason this tool has been sharpened to an obsidian edge is to support reading physical media - it is much, much more pleasant to read a challenging book or copy of Helsingin Sanomat when you know you can find any word you need as fast as you can hammer it out on a keyboard.
Speed changes how you interact with a tool. A truly instant-feeling tool enhances the state of flow. The instantaneous response makes Taskusanakirja practical for looking up words while reading not just on a screen, but even a physical book or newspaper with your laptop open on the side. No more losing your pace while a webpage loads. No more breaking your concentration. Type, learn, and return.
Built on a Foundation of Openness
This tool stands on the shoulders of giants. Its linguistic data is sourced entirely from open, collaborative projects like Wiktionary and Tatoeba. We are deeply committed to this ecosystem and encourage our users to contribute back to these invaluable resources. You can read more about our data and licensing on the Data Sources page.
Supporting the Mission
The core pocket dictionary of Taskusanakirja is free and will always remain so. Development, data science, and hosting are supported by sales of the Taskusanakirja Pro license, which unlocks advanced features like the complete inflection database. (This is a big deal if you don’t always know what e.g. “paisutuksinensa” comes from.)
We deliberately chose a one-time payment model to fight against subscription fatigue. Taskusanakirja Pro has no monthly fees, no recurring charges, and no dark patterns. Pro licenses are designed with long stretches of offline, deep study in mind, up to 30 days at a time. Taskusanakirja performs minimal network calls necessary to prevent piracy of the paid part of the software.
If you find value in this tool, please consider purchasing a Pro license to support its continued development.