Onko erolla kesken mitän ja kuinka?

http://randomfinnishlesson.blogspot.com/2012/11/kuinka-miten.html

They say there is none. Would you say so?

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There are two primary question words in Finnish, mi- and ku-/ken- (these are the roots).

[Ku- and ken- were originally two separate question words but in practice they form one mixed paradigm in the modern language].

Mi- refers generally to inanimates (objects) and Ku-/ken- to animates (people).

Now, in certain forms this distinction is missing as the concept itself has nothing to do with animacy - such as in the case of "how". In this sort of cases, you can choose to use either of the roots and end up with two words with overlapping meanings. Historically, miten is <em>the causative singular</em> of mi-, and kuinka is <em>the instructive plural</em> of ku-.

The blog entry is both right and wrong. Right in that there is no difference in meaning - but wrong in that there's <em>is</em> a difference in usage. Kuinka is usually restricted to formal and literary Finnish (although you will occasionally hear people using it in speech), whereas miten is the common form in standard language. Kuinka has a slightly polite nuance in formal contexts.

In conclusion: As long as you are not writing novels or formal speeches in Finnish - stick to miten and just remember that kuinka means the same when you encounter it.