Swedish language skills – a disappearing asset for Finns?

Have you heard the Finnish rap duo JVG’s song “Lite bättre”? In the song, VilleGalle raps about his struggles to pass a Swedish test – a situation that many Finns can surely relate to.

In Finland, second language learning is a demanding and frustrating experience for many Swedish learners.

Mandatory or voluntary Swedish?

The Swedish language is regularly the subject of intense public debate in Finland, both in newspapers and on social media.

One key topic has been, for example, how a good grade in high school mathematics opens doors to different university courses. Maths skills give you a better score than language skills for further study of a particular language at university. Fortunately, this is about to change with the university entrance exam and student admissions reform. There has also been discussion about reintroducing Swedish as a mandatory language for matriculation. The mandatory second language test was waived in the matriculation examination in 2005. The aim of the optionality of Swedish was to reduce the language bias of the matriculation examination. Of course, Swedish is still a mandatory subject. The second national language is studied from the sixth grade to upper secondary school for a total of up to seven years.

Despite the fact that all Finns learn Swedish, many hesitate or are reluctant to speak it. In an attempt to remedy this, the Finnish writer and politician Rosa Meriläinen has coined the concept of “pokkaruotsi”, a term that encourages people to speak Swedish fearlessly and confidently, even if they don’t speak Swedish fluently.

Why are we so afraid of speaking Swedish, when we should be able to speak it reasonably well after our school years?

Swedish language learning is a nuisance for many

Many Swedish language teachers have expressed their concerns about their students’ Swedish skills. The question is, do young people see Swedish as a necessary language for their future at all, when English predominates globally?

Do young people understand the importance of versatile language skills for their future careers?

In an opinion piece featured in Satakunnan Kansa, a regional newspaper published in the coastal Satakunta region, Arttu Lindqvist wrote that “mandatory Swedish puts even more strain on upper secondary school students and can lead to anxiety, depression and, in the worst case, social exclusion”.

Swedish language learning is already perceived as a burden and a nuisance, and making it mandatory doesn’t help. But could it be ultimately about the old-fashioned approach to language teaching and learning? If the teacher feels that their own oral skills are not strong enough, it’s easy to focus on grammar alone. And it certainly doesn’t make us any braver as language users.

Today’s world is full of opportunities to speak in a foreign language, pick up an app, or immerse yourself in a language by watching YouTube and Tik Tok videos. Learning a language depends to a large extent on your own motivation and effort. A language learner cannot put the responsibility on the teacher alone.

A multilingual world

At Lingo, our daily work constantly reminds us of how multilingual Finland is. Our clients export and import goods and services to various countries around the world, including Sweden, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. Finland is also a popular tourist destination that attracts people from different cultures. Our working environment is becoming more international. People find spouses in other countries, adopt children, and seek education and work outside their home country.

Language skills are essential in building trust between sellers and buyers, companies and customers, employers and employees, and people as individuals.

It is such a pleasure to watch our government representatives, for example President Alexander Stubb’s fluent presentation and excellent command of languages – Finnish, Swedish, German, French and English. Performing and interacting is easy when you have confidence in your language skills and your ability to communicate effectively in different situations.

Maybe we all could start to use the language skills we think we have – make small efforts, “lite bättre”, as the Swedish people seem to have done all these years, from our Finnish perspective.

The Swedish language and Sweden itself provides great opportunities for us Finns!

Lingo offers translation services in over 20 languages, including Swedish.

Read more about our services or ask for more information at lingo@lingo.fi!

Sources:

https://open.spotify.com/track/2MdOhvV5n3iVhrakmQAiKc

https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000006128285.html

https://www.hs.fi/politiikka/art-2000006157704.html

https://yle.fi/a/74-20084819