Swedish

[yoshimi]

Whilst I'm here posting on the jobs board I thought I'd throw this one to the floor.

What's everyone's opinion on the extent to which it's reasonable to expect to be able to survive in Finland with only Swedish? Obviously when I say Finland here I mean, for the main part, Helsinki, Turku, and the Österbotten region?

For example, as far as I know, Vasa has a 50% Swedish-speaking population. Does anyone have any experience of living in Finland with good Swedish but no Finnish?

[blaugrau]

Regarding Turku (about 5% Swedish speakers here):
Depends where you work I guess. If you're looking for academic posts, in Turku there's a Swedish speaking university (Åbo Akademi), which, if you manage to get a job there, would provide you with a Swedish speaking work environment (in addition to English). I think in this case you could survive nicely without Finnish. Outside this sheltered bubble, however, I think it might be difficult. I know a swedish-speaking Finn in Turku who could survive with Swedish only for years, studying at Åbo Akademi, but now she gets nervous as her Finnish is not fluent and she reckons it will be difficult for her to find jobs without fluent Finnish. That's why she is now on the same Finnish course as me...

[Alicia]

For example, as far as I know, Vasa has a 50% Swedish-speaking population. Does anyone have any experience of living in Finland with good Swedish but no Finnish?

More like 26 % in Vaasa. It is totally livable here with only Swedish. I know people that cope. I use Swedish as my main language out and about. I've never run into problems (though I use Finnish when needed).

I write that, but at a job interview once, it was suggested that I would have trouble working there as the "coffee conversation" was in Finnish.

[sinikala]

What's everyone's opinion on the extent to which it's reasonable to expect to be able to survive in Finland with only Swedish?

Presumably you are talking about speaking only Swedish (and English)?

Obviously, Swedish will be fine when speaking with people who are native Swedish speakers, but many younger Finns are much more comfortable with English as their second language and have Swedish only as a third language.

You'll find that a quite a high proportion of Finns speak English with Swedes.

[Megstertex]

I would say the social benefits of knowing Swedish override your need for Finnish in many areas. Throughout Scandinavia, more people understand and speak Swedish, if you end up working for a Scandinavian firm. Swedish is also easier to learn for an Anglophone or someone with a Germanic language background.

Here in Finland, the Finland-Svensk community sticks together, and is very tight knit, with good reason. Many high-school graduates have good jobs before they even plan on looking for one. The networking and community/"family" aspect that goes with the language can take you far, so long as you are willing to work for "getting in" with the right people. This isn't as challenging as you would think, they tend to be more open and social, and once you are friends with one, you are then a special acquaintance with their family, and their friends as well. This can be a double edged sword though, don't burn your bridges!

[Hank W.]

good Swedish

Yes, but then you have a funny dialect which the locals can't understand :lol:

[Megstertex]

And don't forget in that area that every noun has a sex still as well. So, for example is a band-aid/plaster a she or a he?

[raamv]

And don't forget in that area that every noun has a sex still as well. So, for example is a band-aid/plaster a she or a he?

and so do the people!!

[Hank W.]

every noun has a sex still as well

Darn, I knew something was wrong when I became an adverb...

[allan]

I live in Porvoo and there was two Aland guys and two Norwegians and they said they could get by in Porvoo using only swedish. However they were on a language course which might say something about the need to learn Finnish