The budget of Finland’s national public service broadcaster Yle is again under pressure.  Because of an unexpectedly low increase in the television licence fee (which all households owning a TV must pay in Finland), Yle is facing a budget shortfall of around 31 million euros.  In order to save money, the idea of closing down one or two of the company’s four television channels has been floated. The Finnish-language cultural and educational TV channel Yle Teema and, more notably, the Swedish-language channel FST5 are under threat.

Speaking today, Yle’s managing director Mikael Jungner said he could not guarantee that FST5 would continue as a channel in its own right but did say that Swedish-language programmes would continue to exist in prime time in the future. This seems to point the way backwards to the period pre-2007, when Swedish-language programmes from FST (Finlands Svenska Television) were broadcast in blocks on the two main (Finnish language) Yle channels, TV1 and TV2.

A step backwards hardly seems the right way to go. Finland has only one Swedish language channel, FST5. To lose it thus would be highly disproportionate compared to the loss of one Finnish language TV channel. There is no opportunity for commercial actors to succeed in providing Swedish television programmes produced in Finland.  It’s also important to note that FST5 is, in many ways, more equalitarian in its outreach across the language barrier than other channels. FST5 subtitles all of its programmes in Finnish (with the exception of news bulletins), so they are accessible to the non-Swedish speaking Finnish language speakers. Few to no programmes are subtitled in Swedish on Yle’s Finnish-language channels. Indeed, FST’s flagship programmes such as the lifestyle show Strömsö and the talk show Bettina S clearly attract a large Finnish-speaking audience, as shown in ratings and in comments to their websites. One must also wonder how likely it really is that the Finnish-speaking Yle viewer would once again accept huge interruptions into the hours of Finnish-language content for FST to be given time to broadcast – especially now that he or she is now used to uninterrupted Finnish programming on Yle’s flagship channels.

For many Swedish-speaking Finns, especially those with poor or no command of Finnish, FST5 is the only television channel that presents the world from their point of view. If it closes, Sweden’s television channels will only grow in popularity (at least amongst those who can afford to subscribe to them – which brings up another issue, why in the EU free market does one have to pay to see a neighbour country’s “free” TV) and that will mean a large number of Swedish-speaking Finns will be come disconnected with their homeland. FST is particularly important for young children, for it is only on FST that they can watch children’s TV programmes presented in Finland-Swedish, where they will see children’s TV directed at them. Sweden is, after all, a foreign country. I can’t imagine that British parents would be happy if the only children’s TV on offer to their offspring was American.

Yle clearly must save money. It is being forced to by economics. But, the government could and should step in. We have a quite crazy situation in which the TV distribution technology (transmitters etc) was sold off to foreign ownership in the form of Digita. This company now makes a huge profit in effectively overcharging Yle and others for the distribution of their channels. If the distribution function had remained in public hands, it’s likely Yle would not be facing the difficult decision to have to cut costs from its core activity – the programme budget.

Picture: FST5’s news studio, home of the main TV-nytt news bulletins.

Today, 6 November, is Svenska dagen or ‘Swedish day’, an official flag-day in Finland. The day is to celebrate Finland’s Swedish-speaking culture. Last year was its 100th anniversary.

This year the main Swedish Day celebration is in Jakobstad, but events are occurring around the country in the form of parties which usually feature Swedish language music artists, theatre performances etc. In recent years, a whole Swedish Week has been organised in some cities with an aim of reaching out also to Finnish speakers who are interested in experiencing Swedish language cultural events or just in brushing up their Swedish language skills.

On the occasion of Swedish Day, I thought it would be interesting to tell you about the ‘Song of the Mother tongue’, Modersmålets sång. This is sung as Swedish-speaking events such as school graduation ceremonies and is a kind of unofficial anthem for Swedish-speaking Finns. It was performed for the first time in 1898 and has lyrics that praise the beauty of the ‘mother tongue’ (i.e. the Swedish language) and how it is our greatest inheritance and treasure. The chorus demands that it be heard loudly and freely from shore to shore in the land of the thousand lakes. You can hear it sung by a choir from Åboland via this link on the servers of Åbo Akademi University.

Sweden’s largest selling daily newspaper, Stockholm’s Dagens Nyheter, has published a debate article by Gunnar Wetterberg in which he argues for the five Nordic countries uniting to form a federal state.

Wetterberg argues that together Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland would have a combined population of over 25 million and a GNP that would make the new nation the world’s tenth biggest economy, coming before both Brazil and Russia. With such might, a new ‘Kalmar Union’ could find itself included in the top tier of international decision making.

At the start, decisions would be made in a European Council style manner, i.e. unanimity  or at least no objections between the national governments would be required. However, eventually there would be a bicameral parliament with a lower house elected proportionally (from pan-Nordic party lists) and a senate in which a constituent country’s size would not be as determining for the distribution of seats (i.e. in the style of the USA’s Senate where each state, regardless of population, has 2 members).

Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II would be the Queen of the federal state, the obvious choice for symbolic reasons according to Wetterberg. (Margrethe I reigned over the Kalmar Union and thus ensures that the contemporary Danish queen really would be the second Margrethe in all of the new state). Wetterberg suggests if this is too problematic, the head of state could rotate between the five lands in the style Malaysia’s seven sultans. I wonder what we Finns and the Icelanders would think to the reinstitution of a monarchy? Hardly democratic.

Wetterberg envisages that cooperation and common laws would be increased over time, but each state would continue to have considerable autonomy, along the model of the present Nordic autonomous territories (such as Åland and Greenland).

On the linguistic front, all school children would learn another language of the federal state from the first year of school. Official documents would all be published in two languages: Finnish and one of the Scandinavian languages. Wetterberg states that the Scandinavian languages would include Icelandic as an option, even if this would be difficult to understand for many from the beginning. This seems, at best, optimistic if not down right insane. As a Swedish-speaker, I certainly can not read Icelandic.

It is perhaps fair to comment that only a Swede could write such an article. Sweden has not had its existence called into question for centuries. The Swedes have not fought a war in 200 years (since they lost what is now Finland to Russia). They can therefore perhaps not understand that the Norwegians, the Icelanders and the Finns value our nationhood as something more special. It is something new. Something that has within living memory not been an automatic right. Finland fought for her survival in 1918 and the 1940s and spent most of the second half of the twentieth century under the constant shadow of the Soviet Union. One might say that Finland only achieved real and full freedom with the fall of the USSR, for only then could Finland truly control its entire destiny itself. To suggest that the Finns, Norwegians and Icelanders would give this up so soon is something I doubt would be sellable to the populations. Although, at least in a Nordic superstate, the Finnish-speaking Finns might see the value of the Swedish language and Swedish-speaking Finns might have it easier to maintain their rights.

Reactions to Sunday’s Helsingin Sanomat editorial

The Social Democrat parliament member Jacob Söderman has said that yesterday’s Helsingin Sanomat (HS) editorial is a warning that things are going very wrong for Swedish-speakers’ rights.

HS wrote yesterday that Swedish-speaking Finns’ concerns over their diminishing rights were justified. See previous blog entry for more details.

Söderman named the Centre party as the biggest villain behind recent decisions that have effectively reduced the ability to receive services in Swedish. Municipalities / Local Government Minister Mari Kiviniemi (Centre) received particular criticism for her attempt to ignore the concerns of both Parliament’s Consitutional Committee and the Chancellor of Justice with regard to assigning bilingual Karleby (Kokkola) to the unilingual Oulu state administrative district instead of the strongly bilingual Vasa. Both the Constitutional Committee and Chancellor of Justice has ordered that Kiviniemi arrange a report that compares the two options with regard to the linguistic consequences of such a move. Kiviniemi has tried to instead order a report that would only investigate the linguistic provisions that Oulu would be capable of providing.

The Swedish People’s Party (SFP) parliament member Ulla-Maj Wideroos has claimed in the light of HS’ editorial that “it is obvious that there is a hidden agenda concerning the Swedish language. The Centre party’s next step will be to adjust the parliamentary electoral districts to ensure that the influence of Swedish-speaking Finns is reduced.”

Wideroos also claims that the National Coaltion party (Kokoomus) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) bear some of the responsibility for the current language climate, “Centre receives the power that the other two main parties give them”.

Söderman (SDP) states that in his judgement the Centre party has closed its ears to the requirements of Swedish-speakers.

The chair of of the Swedish assembly of Finland, Folktinget, Anna-Maja Henriksson (SFP) also points to Centre, but also others, “Centre has displayed a spectacularly nonchalant attitude for Swedish in the matter of Karleby, but Kokoomus have also helped them. With regard to the police district reform, the minister responsible was from Kokoomus.”

Wideroos (SFP) regrets the fact that there are today so few, if any, strong advocates of bilingualism amongst Finnish-speaking politician. She mentions former prime minister Esko Aho (Centre), former prime minister and parliament speaker Paavo Lipponen (SDP), former president and Nobel peace prize winner Martti Ahtisaari (SDP) and former minister Olli-Pekka Heinonen (Kokoomus) as politicians previously active who understood the importance of bilingualism and acted to further it.

Wideroos welcomed the fact that HS has now acted in defence of bilingualism. “This is exactly what we need. Finally, the country’s largest newspaper  has said precisely what we have thought for a long time. This is of great importance, this will certainly be read by prime minister Vanhanen (Centre), opposition leader Urpilainen (SDP) and finance minister and party leader Katainen (Kokoomus).

UPDATE 27/10

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) has denied that there is any reason for concern over Swedish-speakers’ rights. He told reporters from the Finnish News Agency FNB/STT that he had not had time to acquaint himself with the Helsingin Sanomat’s editorial but  that “we are one people with two languages and both languages ought to be equal.”

“Ought” to be, Matti? Actually, I think you will find it is “must be”. Time to take out the law books and read the constitution.

For more on our prime minister’s difficulties in understanding reality, read this entry on the Jees Helsinki Jees blog: Vanhanen to Swedish-speaking minority: “Your grievance against the Finnish mainstream isn’t justified” « Jees Helsinki Jees

The municipalities of Pernå, Strömfors (Ruotsinpyhtää) and Lijendal will merge with the town of Lovisa from 1 January 2010. The new enlarged Lovisa will have a population of ca 15 700 and a Swedish-speaking population of 44% (39% in the current Lovisa town). The merger means the loss of the last Swedish-speaking majority municipalities east of Helsinki (or east of Ingå to be more precise, which is now Finland’s most “eastern” Swedish-speaking majority municipality) and the last Swedish-speaking majority municipalities in Östra Nyland (Itä-Uusimaa); both Pernå and Lijendal have a majority of Swedish-speakers.

Voters in the new Lovisa voted already on Sunday for their new municipal council which will replace the four existing separate bodies. The new council will assemble for the first time in November. Svenska folkpartiet, the Swedish People’s Party (SFP), won the most votes and seats. SFP won 40,6% of the vote and will thus get 25 places. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) won 22,8% of the vote and 14 seats. The National Coalition Party Kokoomus/Samlingspartiet got a vote share of 14,1% equating to 8 places.

The populist right-wing True Finns, the Greens and the Centre Party will each have 3 seats in the new council receiving 5,8%, 5,3% and 5,1% of the vote respectively. The Left Alliance becomes a new face in the politics of the municipalities winning its first seat with 2,3% of votes. The ‘Non-Alligned in the New Lovisa’ and the Christian Democrats also both pick up one seat each with 2,1% and 1,6% respectively.

The municipal election in the new Lovisa marked the first electoral outing for the Finnish Pirate Party (see previous entry on the PP). They failed to find any sympathy amongst voters getting just 17 votes (0,2%) and no seats – the only party that stood not to win a place.

The main story of the night was the extremely slow processing and announcing of the results, despite a turnout of only 62,3%. The final preliminary result was not announced until gone half past eleven, over three and half hours after voting booths closed.  Borgåbladet reports that several voices at the National Coalition party’s election night called the organisation of the vote count “a scandal” and that action must follow as a result of its poor handling. The Lovisa-based newspaper Östra Nyland reports that the vote reporting was so scandalously slow because the Central Elections Committee in Lovisa had only arranged for one computer and one person to manage the reporting of the votes.

Although SFP won the most votes and seats, it does not have an overall majority. Some voices in the local Social Democratic group have said that they would like to see all the other parties form a coalition to keep SFP out from power in the new Lovisa. However, the SDP is split on this matter and the Kokoomus’ local leader has already announced his preferred alliance would be with SFP and the Greens. It also seems highly unlikely that non-SFP parties, which cover a large spectrum of political views, could come to an agreement to keep SFP out. So, SFP is likely to have the strongest hand in the coming negotiations over how to structure the running of the new Lovisa.

The election results can be seen as a disappointment for the SDP and Kokoomus in comparison with their expectations. It has been a marginal success for the True Finns who received more votes than Centre. SFP’s share of the vote is roughly as expected, if not a very slight disappointment. SFP may have lost some votes in Liljendal and Pernå to parties that have not previously contested municipal elections in those municipalities. In other words, some voters had more choice than in the past.

Pictured: Town Hall on Lovisa’s main square, built in 1862.

Finland’s highest circulation newspaper, the Finnish-language Helsingin Sanomat (HS), has published an editorial in which it states that the concerns of Swedish-speaking Finns over their rights are justified.

HS states in its leader that the last few years have seen an increasingly tougher climate for Swedish in Finland, primarily as a result of three reasons; an increase in hateful views on Swedish-speakers and Swedish in Finland on a number of internet-based discussion sites, a new generation of politicians who often no longer speak Swedish fluently and a view amongst many politicians that larger institutional units are as effective as small ones. The paper names Helsinki’s recent forced annexation of a significant part of western Sibbo (Sipoo), the decision to close down the maternity ward at Ekenäs hospital, the reform of court districts, the reform of the police’s administrative districts, the attempt to get bilingual Karleby (Kokkola) to join the unilingual Oulu state administrative district against its city council’s will, and the recent proposal for bilingual schools in Esbo (Espoo) as examples of recent policy decisions that cause harm to Swedish-speakers’ rights. The newspaper states that these decisions show that the right to receive services in one’s mother tongue has been relegated to secondary issue when decisions are made.

HS’ editorial states that Swedish-speaking Finns can be a part of the reason behind the change in attitude towards Swedish in FInland. The leader column states that “Swedish-speaking Finns have had a defensive attitude towards their linguistic rights. This has strengthened an understanding amongst Finnish-speakers that Swedish-speakers want to isolate themselves and are inflexible.”

However, HS goes on to state that is is hard for persons belonging to a linguistic majority (i.e. Finnish-speakers) to understand how things seem for a minority group that are constantly concerned about their cultural identity and rights.

Helsingin Sanomat states that is is time for decision-makers to take the rights of Swedish-speaking Finns seriously. The paper underlines that Swedish-speaking Finns are as Finnish as Finnish-speaking Finns and notes that the cultural roots of Swedish-speakers in Finland go back as far as the start of Finnish history.

Helsingin Sanomat’s leader is a welcome contribution and hopefully will provide a welcome call to Finnish-speaking decision makers and civil society who may not even have noticed how recent actions have effected the Swedish-speaking population. For Finland’s bilingualism to work, it needs champions in Finnish-speaking society and amongst Finnish-speaking politicians. We Swedish-speakers can not make it work on our own.

At the same time, the fact that the issue has become so clearly visible even on the radar of the leader pages of Finland’s most influential newspaper reveals just how serious the language climate is right now. We must hope that there are Finnish-speaking politicians, including those in the government, who have read this article today and have realised that constitutional rights must be upheld in order to ensure our law-based society continues to develop hand in hand with the values of fairness.

An opinion survey ordered by the Swedish-speaking think tank ‘Magma’ has concluded that Swedish-speaking Finns are significantly more positive in their attitudes towards immigration than the Finnish-speaking population.

In January 2009, around 40% of Finnish-speakers questioned in an opinion poll answered that they had the same or partly the same opinion on the statement “an increase in the number of foreigners brings with it useful international influences”. When Magma’s survey asked Swedish-speakers the same question in September this year, 75% of respondents gave this answer.

It is interesting to speculate why Swedish-speakers are, on average, more positive towards immigrant groups. One theory is that Swedish-speakers, as a minority group, find it easier to empathise with other people who find themselves in a similar minority situation. After all, many Swedish-speakers have to make compromises when it comes to their language and habits in order to live their life in an increasingly Finnish-language dominated environment. This experience may cause Swedish-speakers to be more sympathetic towards the demands that ‘trying to fit in’ brings for immigrants. Some people also argue that the average Swedish-speaker is, on average, more international in his or her outlook than the the average Finnish-speaker. Swedish-speakers have often nurtured contacts with the outside world, especially the other Nordic countries, with a greater vivacity. Another argument is that there is a greater degree of community involvement amongst Swedish-speakers who have a more developed “association culture”. This may foster a greater degree of what is known in Swedish as medmänsklighet, roughly “solidarity with your fellow man” or “brotherliness”, amongst those living in Svenskfinland. Of course, all such theories come with their controversies, the stark difference in attitudes is, whatever the reason for them, highly interesting.

The youth organisation of the right-wing nationalist True Finns party held its autumn conference in Vasa over this weekend. One of the resolutions that conference delegates agreed upon was a demand that Swedish be abandoned as an official language of the country. According to the True Finns’ youth wing, a disproportionately high amount of taxation revenue is used to offer services in Swedish in comparison with how small an area Swedish is spoken in.

This intolerant attitude is perhaps to be expected from the True Finns and thus comes as no great surprise. It would be too much to expect them to ask, if Swedish is so awful, why so many Finnish-speaking Finns have moved to Swedish-speaking areas in the last half a century? However, the True Finn’s historical revisionist attitude (Swedish has been an established language in the parts of Finland that it is found for at least as long, and sometimes longer, than Finnish) prompts an interesting point – what would Finland be like if there had never been any Swedish-speaking Finns?

Well, Finland’s cultural scene would look very different. Some of the most famous and internationally renowned artists would never have existed. There would be no Moomintrolls, no Topelius and no Sibelius – and so, ironically, no Finlandia – which some anti-Swedish language activists periodically demand to be instated as the national anthem in place of the Runeberg’s Vårt land/Maamme Suomi. Indeed, the national poet Runeberg, who wrote in Swedish, would never have written his epic poem, Fänrik Ståls sänger, which has been heavily used to rouse national sentiment on many an occasion, for instance during the Winter War (it is from this work that the lyrics for  the national anthem were taken).

Would Finland still be Finland now? Or would it have become Russified after a massive defeat in a Winter War without the leadership of Mannerheim? Indeed, would we have even gone so long as that before becoming a part of the Soviet Union. Who knows, without Mannerheim commanding the whites, maybe the reds already succeeded in fostering a socialist revolution as they won the civil war in 1918?

The Finnish economy would certainly look very different if Finland had never had any Swedish-speaking Finns. They’d likely be no Fazer, no Stockmann, no Ahlström, no Fiskars, no Abloy (today Assa Abloy), no Viking Line, no Kone. You’d probably not be able to get hold of a Nokia mobile phone, Nokia’s electronics department was set up by a Swedish-speaking Finn, Björn Westerlund.

Of course, if I wanted to really court controversy, I could argue that there would be no written Finnish language. The first work in written Finnish was Mikael Agricola’s translation of the Bible. Agricola was a Swedish-speaking priest from Pernå. Agricola is often hailed as the father of the Finnish language.  Its mainstream breakthrough as a language of culture came at the hands of the (Swedish-speaking) romantic nationalist Elias Lönnrot. It was Lönnrot who compiled the Kalevala, the Finnish language’s national epic, a work quite fundamental in shaping many of the beliefs of what it means to be Finnish and that spurred the national awakening. Would no Lönnrot have meant no independence from Russia?

In short, without the Swedish-speaking Finns, Finland would not be the Finland we know it today.

And in post script, I should make it clear that without the Finnish-speaking Finns it would likewise not be the country it is today. Both language groups have helped build this country into what it is. Both fought for this country as Finnish patriots. Finland is the native home of all Finnish people, regardless of whether they speak Swedish or Finnish as their mother tongue. We should not forget our common past nor abandon our common destiny.

Former Social Democrat, President and 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari has encouraged all Swedish-speaking Finns to use Swedish as much as possible in their contact with Finnish speakers, reports the (Finnish) Swedish Press Service news agency in Borgåbladet.

Ahtisaari’s comments come a day after he wrote a debate article in the capital’s main Finnish- and Swedish-language newspapers, Helsingin Sanomat and Hufvudstadsbladet, calling for the strength of Swedish to be strengthened. Ahtisaari was critical to recent developments which have weakened the status of Swedish in Finland and towards the decrease in functional bilingualism amongst Finnish-speaking Finns. Ahtisaari underlined the importance of knowledge of Swedish as an anchor for Finland’s Nordic identity. The former president proposed that Finnish-speaking students should start Swedish classes earlier in their school career, saying that starting during puberty in their seventh year of school as they do today was not a good thing for their attitude towards the language. Ahtisaari believes Swedish lessons should start at the primary level of education.

It is notable that Social Democrats can be perhaps be said to be amongst the most prepared to stand up for Swedish amongst Finnish-speaking politicians. Current President of the Republic Tarja Halonen has also spoken out in favour of Swedish. Former Prime Minister and Parliament speaker Paavo Lipponen also has actively promoted Swedish teaching through his involvement in the organisation Svenska Nu. Perhaps Finland’s Swedish-speakers would be better off with a government involving the SDP rather than Matti Vanhanen’s Centre party, who seem intent in breaking down Swedish structures wherever they can.

In response to a comment from Duluth in the USA, I am answering the following questions as this blog entry. I should state, that the responses are personal. In other words, they reflect my views. Another Swedish-speaking Finn might well give you a different reply.

What do Finland-Swedes think of Sweden?

It is hard to generalise and therefore the answer will depend partly upon who you ask. Perhaps, more especially it will depend on where you ask it. Here in southern Finland, Nyland, Sweden is most certainly more foreign than for those Swedish-speaking Finns living in Österbotten. For most of us, Sweden is a foreign country but perhaps the “least foreign” of foreign countries. We generally have a good idea of what is going on in Sweden as many of us watch Sweden’s television channels as well as those from Finland. In especially Österbotten, many people watch only Sweden’s television and barely, if ever, watch Finnish TV. This reflects the fact that the Finnish language has a much weaker presence in many areas of Österbotten, whereas in the south, almost all Swedish-speaking Finns live in areas that are at the very least bilingual if not very much dominated by Finnish. Of course, we all read books in Swedish, many of which are written in Sweden. The same is also true of magazines, many of us subscribe to Swedish magazines as the Swedish-language publishing market is naturally very limited in Finland due to the size of the market. Recently, of course, the internet brings a new dimension and perhaps for many has actually increased daily contact with Sweden as, of course, most Swedish language websites are from Sweden.

When it comes to sport or other competitive activities, we are like any other Finnish person. We prefer to see Finland winning.
What do Finland-Swedes think of the Finnish-speaking Finns?

Again, this will vary from person to person and possibly also from region to region. I can only really give you an answer from my personal viewpoint; they are just Finnish people who speak primarily a different language. They are perhaps also a little more quiet, but that is probably largely based upon stereotype. If you are interested to know whether they accept the Swedish language in Finland, then I would say that I notice a clear difference – at least in my home town, which is bilingual but has during the last few decades seen heavy inward Finnish-speaking migration. I would say that those Finnish speakers who have their roots in this area are generally very accepting of the fact that there are two languages. Those who do not like to think of Finland as a country with two languages and who hold more negative opinions of Swedish seem to be found disproportionately amongst those people who have more recently moved to the region. It is worth remembering that there are many relationships across the language barrier; not just the obvious, i.e. marriages, but work colleagues, friends etc also. It’s worth noting that just as there are Finnish-speakers who are intolerant of Swedish-speakers, there are some Swedish-speaking Finns who hold discriminative views of the Finnish language and Finnish-speaking Finns.
What do Finland-Swedes living in the mainland think of the Åland islands special status?

Interesting question. I suppose that some may be a little jealous that Åland is monolingual, simply because it would naturally be easier for anyone who has Swedish as their mother tongue to live their life entirely in Swedish. Others may think it is a little unfair that the people of Åland don’t have to do military service (an opinion probably shared by many Finnish speakers). Some may think it is unfair that Åland people do not need to learn Finnish etc. I think, however, that most people understand why Åland has a special status, due to history. Personally, I am glad that Åland is a legally monolingual part of Finland. It gives another reason to exert pressure upon the central government to supply resources and services in the Swedish language. Åland is probably also slightly disproportionately more popular as a tourist resort amongst Swedish-speaking Finns than Finnish-speaking Finns; it is however popular amongst all Finns.

How easy is it to get through a day using only Swedish and no Finnish?

This heavily depends on where you live – and also what you do. In many areas of Österbotten, it would be harder to get through your day using only Finnish than only Swedish. Whereas, if you were to find yourself in Helsingfors/Helsinki, the situation would be very much reversed. These days, it is often quite hard to find someone who will happily serve you in Swedish in the capital (aside from a few very “Swedish” companies). In my home town, it would be entirely possible. Most shop assistants are happy to speak at least some Swedish. Sometimes it goes quite well to speak Swedish to a Finnish-speaking assistant whilst they reply in Finnish.  In the workplace, it really does depend where and what you do. For almost all jobs, you will require Finnish to some degree. But obviously, you might work in a Swedish-speaking school or all your colleagues might happen to be Swedish-speakers, in which case… you have it easy.

Do you learn Finnish at school?

Yes! In Finland, it is compulsory to learn what is called the “Other domestic language”, i.e. Finnish for children in Swedish language schools and Swedish in schools for Finnish language children. However, what is little known (at least to the Finnish speakers), is that Swedish schools devote many, many more hours to the Finnish language than Finnish schools devote to Finnish.

What do you think of the Finnish language?

I personally do not dislike the Finnish language. As with most languages, it can sound beautiful or absolutely disgusting depending on the speaker.  It’s always of benefit to learn languages – the more, the better. It is important that Finland values its bilingual character. All of Finland’s languages are important.

Do Finland-Swedes ever face discrimination because they are from a minority group?

Not so much. But that is not to say that it does not happen. Most discrimination is of the infuriating or insulting nature rather than of the type that would actually hold you back from advancing in society. For instance, it’s extremely annoying if someone in state agency (lets say the tax office for an example) refuses to speak Swedish with you. It’s disgusting and offensive if someone tells you “In Finland, we speak Finnish” etc. But, such things very seldom cause you serious, real difficulties. However, that such discrimination does exist is sad and reflects only ill on those that harbour such attitudes.