Post by Richard » Sun Jul 24, am. Post by beluga » Sun Jul 24, pm. Post by EP » Sun Jul 24, pm. Post by kalmisto » Sun Jul 24, pm. Post by Emi » Sun Jul 24, pm. Post by Clive » Sun Jul 24, pm. Post by Richard » Sun Jul 24, pm. Post by Hank W. Privacy Terms. Finland Forum Find information about moving to, living in and life in Finland. Quick links. Swedish or Finnish?
Learn and discuss the Finnish language with Finn's and foreigners alike. Post by interleukin » Wed Aug 11, am. Post by sammy » Wed Aug 11, am. Post by Pursuivant » Wed Aug 11, am. Post by tuulen » Thu Aug 12, am. Post by kalmisto » Thu Aug 12, pm. Post by Pursuivant » Thu Aug 12, pm. Post by opinto » Wed Sep 22, pm. Post by kalmisto » Wed Sep 22, pm.
Privacy Terms. Finland Forum Find information about moving to, living in and life in Finland. Quick links. Learn and discuss the Finnish language with Finn's and foreigners alike. A lot of the things that are done with prepositions in English are done with case endings in Finnish. For example:. When there's not a case ending to express a particular positional relationship, Finnish will usually use not a preposition, but a postposition:.
I chose Swedish now in Duolingo because I had to learn it as a child and I used to know it quite well. I wanted to relearn it in a fast and fun way. Swedish is also quite useful in Finland and there's a ton of resources. So for me it made the most sense to start with it even though I find Icelandic and Norwegian more interesting. I like Swedish. I'm not saying the others are bad, but if you knew everything about me, you'd see it was a no brainier picking Swedish.
But at the end of it, just pick the one you like the most. I fail to see how being in the EU is any meaningful criterion when picking a language to learn. I like Swedish too, but Norway's oil reserves make it rather more economically significant than either Denmark or Sweden. As EoghanBostock wrote, it's relevant to an EU citizen because they automatically have the right to live and work in any other EU country.
Since OP lives in Spain, this is quite relevant to the question. Even for a non-EU citizen it can be relevant: many people are keen to acquire EU citizenship, so it's useful to know which languages can help you reach that goal. If you learn Swedish and find a job in Sweden, you can, after a few years, gain Swedish and therefore EU citizenship. In Norway you can eventually gain Norwegian citizenship, but of course this doesn't get you into the EU.
Norway's oil reserves make it rather more economically significant than either Denmark or Sweden. I'm not sure what you're using as a criterion for economic significance, but Swedish GDP, annual exports, and annual imports all exceed those of Norway.
I personally don't consider economic significance as a factor when learning languages, but if you do then you should probably take note of this. Just to add that you can move from one Nordic country to another without much hassle once you're a permanent resident in one well, moving is of course always a hassle. The Nordic countries cooperate closely with each other even though some belong to the EU and others don't.
I forgot to mention. I'm already an eu citizen so I wouldn't have to worry about visas if I wanted to live there. And sadly, the Norwegian oil industry is not at its peak exactly. If you want to learn it here on duolingo, I recommend Norwegian. The tree is so much fun to work with!
For the scandi I think you should start with Norwegian. I say start because, you will probably end up looking at all three - as a foreigner the temptation is too great not too, there is too much film tv and music coming from those countries to box yourself in to learning just one.
Norwegian happens to be roghly in the middle of the continuum, and probably the easiest to pronounce and hear for outsiders in my opinion. After getting used to it, you'll find it yourself already understanding a lot of the other two without trying.
I agree, Swedish is a bit sharp in pronunciation and if you cant 'break' your tongue then its not gonna be super easy. Danish is very smooth, its almost like speaking with an apple in your throat, and Norwegian is probably the easiest for more people to learn. It is not my business to tell what languages Swedish speaking children should learn but in a country that de facto operates solely in Finnish it is wise to study it.
They all speak excellent English. Swedishness has most likely been a part of the identities of all Finns. The two can not be parted, as they are so deeply intertwined. Claiming anything else is just falsifying history. But this is all irrelevant, as it just flow towards the same grim ethnonationalism that has been so prevalent in many comments here. How exactly does monolinguality help multilinguality? Read a bit about Finnish history, there are a lot of Finnish speakers among them.
History is taught in the history classes anyway, languages are studied for the future. Why are not Swedes and even Germans studying Finnish? They did during the Middle Age. According to whom? As far as I know none of them have spoken Swedish, ever. Some of them lived in Karelia and Russian culture and language are much closer to my identity but I am not demanding that everyone studies Russian. That would be arrogant.
What is that? What that has to do with anything? I think you are mistaken. They were Swedish speaking people who claimed only years ago that Finnish speaking Finns were racially inferior.
Russian yes, English yes…. There is nothing arrogant in acknowledging the truth: Swedish-speaking Finns have played a crucial role in the nation-building of Finland. Denying that is crazy.
If history is the only reason to learn Swedish, the same applies doubly for Finnish. The Finnish language has no future Grammar pun high five! Your limited knowledge about your ancestry is completely off topic.
Rest assured, that the Swedish language is an integral part of the Finnish society. But I guess that too is off topic. What was the topic again? Racism was the top of the pops back then. That is ancient history. Bitter much? As for current affairs: for your brand of ethnonationalistic Finnish extremism we need look no further than ten years, as then the Finnish Alliance proposed that all true Finns should liberate themselves from the Swedish-speakers by way of axe-murder, re:Lalli and Bishop Henrik.
Sticking to bilingualism is not a way to multilingualism, but it is better than prejudiced monolingualism. In large parts of the country Finnish is not important. So what? Kings took our men to fight wars for them. I can trace my ancestors till 17th century. I know were they lived, and it was not inside Swedish borders at the time. But it is not. The party was based on the idea that Finns are of an inferior race.
And your arguments supports the idea that some people still believe so. Besides, you are the one arguing about the history. Can you give me an example? I supposed not because you are already attacking against me,. I have no interest in your family, your thoughts or your feelings, as they are not relevant arguments. How do you think that is relevant?
Do you think that makes you a superior citizen compared to other Finns? Please explain. How does learning hurt your identity? What is that identity based on? This is way off topic, but please do explain.
You still keep playing the victim card and seem to be very bitter about ancient history. How is that relevant to modern language policy? I totally support learning Russian, German and other languages. I have never suggested the opposite. You just created a false dichotomy. I think that people should be allowed to use their native language with the state. If you would know more than 2 foreigners, you would now that the entire coastline and the three largest cities have active non-Finnish-speaking communities.
It is possible to live a full life without speaking Finnish. There is no reason to force Finnish on people. The language has no inherent value. Society should become multilingual, not monolingual. Also, argumenting from oneself is not valid argumentation. You have no interest but still keep claiming you know my identity better than myself? Claiming that we have is racist. Well not really but you keep using that word. They are the ones segregating people. Your claim that Swedish speaking people were better than Finnish speaking and Finnish speaking people did not have any input in forming this country is racist.
Many did. Only that people like you keep claiming we study Swedish because of that, ancient history. It has nothing to do with common sense or the linguistic abilities of the Finnish people. After the latest decision, actually learning and teaching Swedish becomes even more difficult. Actually mandatory Swedish has made the situation worse. Maybe because they keep in their own circles.
Those who do not, speak excellent Finnish, or at least English. What have you against Finnish anyway? Most of the cases are tried in Finnish but…. That right to make decisions has been taken away from me. No one is taking THEM their right to make decisions. This means that by the time they reach the 7th grade age 13 and the compulsory Swedish lessons start, they are studying a minimum of 2, but up to 3 foreign languages.
As much as I am in favor of keeping Swedish I do understand that the students closer to the border with Russia would rather study Russian, which they would have a lot more immediate use for than Swedish. Students may also begin an optional second foreign language in Grade 5 at eleven years of age. Do most of the children in Finnland learn 2 foreign languages at least? When do they start learning English? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
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