I am at a gathering at the British Council in Helsinki hearing a talk in 2013 by Eva Biaudet, the Ombudsman for Minorities, on discrimination and prejudice in Finland. After the talk, one of the participants, a white Englishman, says: “You speak just like a [U.S.] American.” People who make such statements assume a lot…
Tag: Finnish
Finnish-language courses reveal part of the challenges that migrants face in Finland
Migrant Tales was happy to see one of our readers and contributors, Stephen Penny, on YLE Suora Linja Monday and Tuesday talking about the challenges some migrants face in learning the Finnish language. While Penny and Emma Kwegyir-Afful offer some good advice on how to improve Finnish-language training, the program raised two important issues that should…
What makes one language better than the other?
Roble Bashir Two official languages are spoken in Finland: Finnish and Swedish. This means, at least theoretically, that immigrants can choose between two languages and which is best-suited for them. An ever-growing number of immigrants want to study the Swedish language. One important reason is that Swedish is easier for some to learn than…
Most Finnish parties are giving the thumbs down to racism
Left Alliance presidential hopeful, Paavo Arhimäki, said Sunday that his party has taken the strongest stand against racism when compared with the Swedish People’s Party and Greens, reports Tampere-based daily Aaamulehti. It is a very positive sign that Finland’s political parties are now competing to be the most outspoken on racism.