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The idea that Russian speakers don't want to learn Latvian or Estonian because it is of no value is ridiculous. Most of us live 99% of our lives in our local communities. There is no more useful language to learn if you intend to continue to live in a particular place than the language of that place if you don't already speak it. Are all of these people planning careers in international banking and therefore learning English instead?
What second language are most of these people learning if they are not learning Latvian or Estonian? Probably none.
People who lives in Swedish-speaking communities like Närpes and Korsnäs in Finland has no use whatsover of Finnish within their communities, where everyone speaks Swedish to eachothers. Yet they learn Finnish and can speak it, and they have no objection to that. Of course they also learn English.
Finnish is the majority language of the country and therefore good to know. Language is an important part of integration. Why can't the same apply to the Russian-speakers in Estonia??
People who lives in Swedish-speaking communities like Närpes and Korsnäs in Finland has no use whatsover of Finnish within their communities, where everyone speaks Swedish to eachothers. Yet they learn Finnish and can speak it, and they have no objection to that. Of course they also learn English.
Finnish is the majority language of the country and therefore good to know. Language is an important part of integration. Why can't the same apply to the Russian-speakers in Estonia??
I totally agree. In Estonia and Latvia time will resolve the issue. Finland has been independent for almost 100 years and so at this point everyone who alive there has been living under the Finnish state all their lives and there is no one left who was there when there was a form of Swedish domination.
Independence and national linguistic affirmation in Estonia and Latvia is more recent and plenty of people who were brought up under the old system are still alive. Eventually they will pass away and all of the Russian speakers in those countries will be bilingual as they will have been through the post-independence school system that teaches them the official language in addition to their own.
People who lives in Swedish-speaking communities like Närpes and Korsnäs in Finland has no use whatsover of Finnish within their communities, where everyone speaks Swedish to eachothers. Yet they learn Finnish and can speak it, and they have no objection to that. Of course they also learn English.
Finnish is the majority language of the country and therefore good to know. Language is an important part of integration. Why can't the same apply to the Russian-speakers in Estonia??
I'll repeat the question again - why there are two official languages in Finland?
Why not only one, Finnish?
Cause 300,000 of them speaks Swedish, a considerably large minority consisting of decandents of Swedish settlers who has lived there for hundreds of years, they even has certain towns and areas where Swedish is the major spoken language.
There is nothing bad with having a minority language as a second official language if the minority also forcibly learns to speak the language of the majority, so that the minority language does not become a threat against the majority language.
There is nothing bad with having a minority language as a second official language if the minority also forcibly learns to speak the language of the majority, so that the minority language does not become a threat against the majority language.
"Forcibly" as in what?
Are those Swedes "forcibly" learn Finnish?
I'd say the history of Estonia and Latvia with the Soviet Union and Russia was different than that of Finland with Sweden. It's also more recent.
Still, there is no threshold for making a minority language official. The U.S. has 15% or so of its people speaking Spanish but it's not official. Hungarians are a large minority in Romania and their language is not official.
"Forcibly" as in what?
Are those Swedes "forcibly" learn Finnish?
Yes, its mandatory for each and every person in Finland to learn Finnish, regardless whether they speak Finnish or Swedish as their native language.
Its also mandatory for all people in Finland to learn Swedish, allthough many forgets it after a while and can't master it very well cause they have almost no use of it as the Swedish-speaking Finns they talk to speaks Finnish very well. But still a considerable amount of Finnish-speaking Finns knows how to speak and understand Swedish somewhat, cause they've learnt it in school.
Finnish, Swedish and English are all 3 mandatory to learn in Finland, for everyone.
Yes, its mandatory for each and every person in Finland to learn Finnish, regardless whether they speak Finnish or Swedish as their native language.
Its also mandatory for all people in Finland to learn Swedish, allthough many forgets it after a while and can't master it very well cause they have almost no use of it as the Swedish-speaking Finns they talk to speaks Finnish very well. But still a considerable amount of Finnish-speaking Finns knows how to speak and understand Swedish somewhat, cause they've learnt it in school.
Finnish, Swedish and English are all 3 mandatory to learn in Finland, for everyone.
"Mandatory" as in what, Magnus?
Do they have to pass the test in order to confirm the citizenship?
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