register newborn's language in Finland

[Kinku]

What language your kids have registered as their "mother tongue"? I already chose Finland as my kid home country. So the default mother tongue is Finnish. Now I got a choice that I can change it to be my language.

any pros and cons for kid in Finland has another language as mother tongue? I know there are mother language proficiency test. So if my kid's language is not Finnish or Swedish, then she should be able to skip these examinations. (what a discreet mom)!

[Rip]

As far as I have understood it only affects the official statistics. At personal level things, for example the optional native language classes at school, are based on the information given directly by parent and not on the information in the central population database.

I know there are mother language proficiency test. So if my kid's language is not Finnish or Swedish, then she should be able to skip these examinations.

I'm not sure what tests we are talking about. The requirements for Finnish and Swedish skills would still remain (if he goes to normal Finnish school, (s)he would be considered native in that anyway), while I don't think the child would be considered formally proficient in any other language purely on the basis of the official native language.

[vegemite]

There might be some effects later on, at school age, for instance.

I might be wrong but I undesrtood that if you are registered as mother tongue other than Swe/Finn, you might have the rights to have classes (1 hour or so)/week of your own language. In Helsinki and Espoo there are those classes.

This is because there is a law in Finland that guarantee the culture/languge of a immigrant. So the city is "obblied" to offer contact to the mother language. But that is just possible if there are a certain minimum number of kids officially registered in a certain "mother tongue".

Maybe it is needed to check at Opetusvirasto.

[oompah18]

I registered my kids´first langauge as English, like mine. Now that eldest is in 1st grade he received his school report in December. Under äidinkieli, ie Finnish, it just said toisena kielenä. This is the first time it has ever been brought up officially. The funny thing was, I went to chat with the teacher about my son´s progress midway through the Autumn term, and the teacher didn´t even know that he was a bilingual kid, she thought he was just Finnish speaking, and a very "puhelias" one at that . The Esikoulu teacher in the room next door, hadn´t even passed on the information to her!
(It was scary for me though, discussing in a language I can still barely speak, about my son, such an important thing, but luckily the teacher managed to understand me- just!) - oh, please excuse the bad grammar in my last sentence, too late too tired...
Anyway, I have never heard this thing you mentioned about being entitled to classes in your own language! Surely the child should learn from the mother. I am not sure what will happen when my eldest gets to 3rd grade & starts English lessons with his totally Finnish, of-course-non-English-speaking schoolmates though........

[EP]

I am not sure what will happen when my eldest gets to 3rd grade & starts English lessons with his totally Finnish, of-course-non-English-speaking schoolmates though

He will be bored, bored, bored, bored... And thanks to that, even more "puhelias". You should talk about that with the teacher. He does not need those classes.

[EP]

Allie, is there another language available for "the first foreign language"? Whatever there is, he should take that. Usually at least Swedish is available (even though that is not considered foreign), he should take that. Now is the time to take advantage of his bi-lingual upbringing. He can start learning his 3rd language at the same time others are starting their second.

[Tiwaz]

Or alternatively German. I would see it more useful investment of time. Then at some point kid would start learning "second native". Some Finnish speaking kids go down that road, but biggest hurdle for them is that they have to learn both English and Swedish at later stage.

But if kid is already very proficient in English it would not be an issue, reducing some of the workload.

[Kinku]

Thanks everyone!
It seems register baby to other language than mother tongue is not a bad idea. I heard about mother tongue proficiency test from university diploma requirements. Something like the last test a Finnish student need to take, either in Finnish or Swedish. I do not know if such test is required in each study steps. Of course, it is a bit too early to think about that. (well, you know, MOM!)

[DMC]

I am not sure what will happen when my eldest gets to 3rd grade & starts English lessons with his totally Finnish, of-course-non-English-speaking schoolmates though

He will be bored, bored, bored, bored... And thanks to that, even more "puhelias". You should talk about that with the teacher. He does not need those classes.

How is his written English? He may speak English like a native but living in Finland he may not write it very often. The lessons can emphasise written work more than spoken language, so he may not have the advantage one would expect.

[Rip]

I might be wrong but I undesrtood that if you are registered as mother tongue other than Swe/Finn, you might have the rights to have classes (1 hour or so)/week of your own language. In Helsinki and Espoo there are those classes.

I checked, at least in Helsinki the official mother tongue is not important:

kaikki oppilaat, joiden äidinkieli tai kotona puhuttu kieli on muu kuin suomi, voivat opiskella omaa äidinkieltään tai perheen toista kieltä koko kouluajan.

http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Opetusvira ... ien_opetus

- so the (presumably at some future date) bilingual kid can be registered as Finnish speaking and he can still have those optional language classes.

The mother registration can be changed at the later time, if for some reason that seems desirable (http://www.kunnat.net/k_perussivu.asp?p ... ;496;30278 ) Apparently sometimes Finnish speaking (or mixed couples) wish to do that (From Finnish to Swedish) in order to get their child to certain daycare or school.