It is funny in some way as after 15 years here, these things are so normal that I feel almost local. I say almost because I am never really going to be a part of the culture completely as I am just too different. I am not just talking about the looks, I am more talking about the 'how I do' things. I just don't do them right in many people's opinion. :)
If your native tongue is English or if your English is otherwise really good, it can get in the way of learning the local language in a country like Finland where it can be possible to actually live and work if you only use English. I'm beginning to think we're doing these people a disservice by not requiring them to speak the local language (Finnish or Swedish depending on the locality). I can imagine how that will make them feel like outsiders forever.
I just wrote a post about this a little and I agree. most of it isn't the 'requiring' (at least in the legal sense) because socially, I have found people don't have the patience to support the early learning when there is already a common tongue for communication. I think all people who come in and are considering being here long term should have access to Finnish lessons. When I arrived, I had no access (for free) as I already had a job and it was only for unemployed. it is as if they expect that jobs will always last.
You mean they should be free? How expensive were they? I have paid for Russian lessons at community college despite not really needing Russian very often. You are right about one thing and that is we shouldn't resort to English every time a non-Finnish speaker cannot immediately get their message across in Finnish.
When i came in I had no idea this was possible and even after they (kela) told me i didn't qualify for these free lessons, they didn't tell me their were alternatives other than getting private lessons. I went a year or two doing my best. I got some classes later but they weren't great and I am mentally challenged with languages it seems... I get by but it isn't pretty.
They did a bad job, then. Did you move here for work originally? My to-be wife moved to Finland when she was 18. She was an exchange student and she too Finnish courses in the beginning (for a year or so). The she continued her engineering studies (Civil Engineering) in Finnish. That and working at VTT helped a lot. When I met her, she'd lived here for eight years and was slightly worse than now but she says she's learned a lot of vocabulary from me.
I moved here to get out of Australia for a bit and had a job before I arrived. It would help me a lot to have Finnish now in my work but, I don't think I will ever be proficient enough to use it as a business language unless I spend a great deal of time studying which, I don't have.
I understand. The main thing is that you can get by.