Finns do not value their language and culture – Opinion
Opinion|Reader’s opinion
Language learners who have moved to Finland from other countries are surprised by Finns’ disdain for their own language.
Finland the state has the right to a short history unlike our language. During the nationalism of the 180s, artists and writers worked to push a broad culture into the people, so that their own faith in the state, language and would lead to independence. In independent Finland, Finnish art flourished and a good language was appreciated. It was a matter of honor to read and write in Finnish, otherwise other languages were also studied.
In the Finland of the 2020s, a large part of shops and cafes are English-speaking, job titles are in English, and the language of workplaces buzzes with shame-inducing Anglicism. Some, advertisements, school corridors and public spaces this time in English. Even a far-right group has named itself English.
At the same time the reading skills of Finns are weakening, the knowledge of their own mother tongue is weakening. Language learners who have moved to Finland from other countries are surprised by Finns’ disdainful preference for their own language, because when Finns are spoken to in Finnish, they speak about requests without using English back. Finns tolerate imperfect language from others, but cannot say it well enough to improve things in their native language. Mainstream media publications show a lack of proofreading, even though there should be signs of good language. A lot of literature is found in English, but fewer and fewer people read it.
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Finnish is a very rich language.
There would be resources for good expression. Finnish is a very rich language, and you can always make more new words by combining and deriving. Finnish is not the most difficult or even difficult language in the world. As a member of the Uralic language group, it’s just a different ball to Indo-European languages. Finnish itself is a very logical language. We are still a vibrant language, but many Finnish family languages are endangered or already extinct.
Foreign languages studying has decreased; English alone does not make us free and multilingual. Those who speak Finnish as their mother tongue – perhaps without realizing it – destroy their own language reserve and culture, all English in places where the Finnish language becomes the most appropriate choice.
If our mind, the people coming to our country speak Finnish, we should give you the opportunity to use it in all stages of language proficiency. If we really think that the Finnish language is a vibrant language, we need to nurture it ourselves in our everyday language choices. If we want others to see how we appreciate our beautiful nature and our special language and culture, we have to appreciate ourselves first.
Paula Korkala
Finnish as a second language and literature teacher
Rauma
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