Hi,
To be honest it's quite embarrassing to talk about this for me, but I wanted to know who had any difficulty with the Finnish language?
How long have you been here? What is your language "level"?
Been here 4 years for my part, and still can't speak. I rely too much on English, that's for sure, but since greater than half the population understands it, I'm maybe being a tad lazy.
I understand Finnish well tho, since it's around me for so long. Not everything, but a great deal.
So, in my shame (our families kind of blame me and say I should make more effort, and annoy me with this matter since I arrived, I think that's what kind of blocked me), I'd like to know who is in the same situation than me and lives it well?
Thank you.
Language
Re: Language
Same situation here,
On my defence I have to say that my husband is not a Finn not the same nationality as I am, so we use English together at home and of course English at work.. I understand a bit of Finnish, probably not as much as you.. I was more active learning the language when I came to Finland but nowadays I think that I have better things to do on my free time.
On a positive note, I practice Finnish at the muskari lessons with my son on a weekly basis
On my defence I have to say that my husband is not a Finn not the same nationality as I am, so we use English together at home and of course English at work.. I understand a bit of Finnish, probably not as much as you.. I was more active learning the language when I came to Finland but nowadays I think that I have better things to do on my free time.
On a positive note, I practice Finnish at the muskari lessons with my son on a weekly basis
Re: Language
Good to know I'm not alone!
How long have you been here? Is it handicapping not to know Finnish for you?
I guess I have no excuse since my husband is a Finn, but we talk in English at home and he barely talks Finnish to our baby even if I insist really much that he does, he continues in English, scared that I wouldn't understand (Well I don't understand everything but if I manage to catch half of the words in the sentence, I can make my own)
Sometimes, people in general do react good or "normal" when you talk to them in English (Especially docs XD) , but I feel like most of the time, like at the shop or so, you kind of feel like you're an alien :S that's how little by little, I end up not talking at all anymore, because I have that feeling that I scare people O_O
I guess I have that feeling mostly because my family in law acts weird around me (They tend to ignore me when there's a family meeting) because I don't know Finnish. It happens with some of my husband's friends too.
Are foreigners that scary? /bites.
How long have you been here? Is it handicapping not to know Finnish for you?
I guess I have no excuse since my husband is a Finn, but we talk in English at home and he barely talks Finnish to our baby even if I insist really much that he does, he continues in English, scared that I wouldn't understand (Well I don't understand everything but if I manage to catch half of the words in the sentence, I can make my own)
Sometimes, people in general do react good or "normal" when you talk to them in English (Especially docs XD) , but I feel like most of the time, like at the shop or so, you kind of feel like you're an alien :S that's how little by little, I end up not talking at all anymore, because I have that feeling that I scare people O_O
I guess I have that feeling mostly because my family in law acts weird around me (They tend to ignore me when there's a family meeting) because I don't know Finnish. It happens with some of my husband's friends too.
Are foreigners that scary?
/bites.Re: Language
It is not handicapping but rather shamefully as I have been here already for 7 years!
I do not have Finnish relatives but plenty of friends who do not mind using English with me. I also get along very well with my co workers in English, same at stores and public institutions. You can even complete Tax forms in English from the Vero website, and I get fairly good service from the health care clinics (pregnancy appointments and child check-ups) and I do not frequent the KELA that often, (When I did I prefered to contact them by e-mail or phone, and they have always somebody who takes calls in English), neither the inmigration office nowadays that I have a permanent residence permit. I have to acknowledge that in two occasions, one with a Russian doctor and another with a native Finn doctor in the public service (lasten klinikka day service) they were not able to speak in English to us, but in both occasions we sort of manage in Finnish with my husband.
It is however desirable for me to learn Finnish so I would not have to make people talk to me in English when they can use their native language.
As to my non-Finnish friends that happen to be married to a Finn, most of them speak Finnish very well already, I do not think they have problems with their inlaws related to the language, if they did, the issue was something else. My overall evaluation of them is that the ones that are fully employed are the ones doing much better. So good employment rather than language is on my experience a more important factor to integration.
I wonder if the situation will be different if I did not happen to live in Helsinki city center.
I do not have Finnish relatives but plenty of friends who do not mind using English with me. I also get along very well with my co workers in English, same at stores and public institutions. You can even complete Tax forms in English from the Vero website, and I get fairly good service from the health care clinics (pregnancy appointments and child check-ups) and I do not frequent the KELA that often, (When I did I prefered to contact them by e-mail or phone, and they have always somebody who takes calls in English), neither the inmigration office nowadays that I have a permanent residence permit. I have to acknowledge that in two occasions, one with a Russian doctor and another with a native Finn doctor in the public service (lasten klinikka day service) they were not able to speak in English to us, but in both occasions we sort of manage in Finnish with my husband.
It is however desirable for me to learn Finnish so I would not have to make people talk to me in English when they can use their native language.
As to my non-Finnish friends that happen to be married to a Finn, most of them speak Finnish very well already, I do not think they have problems with their inlaws related to the language, if they did, the issue was something else. My overall evaluation of them is that the ones that are fully employed are the ones doing much better. So good employment rather than language is on my experience a more important factor to integration.
I wonder if the situation will be different if I did not happen to live in Helsinki city center.