The Swedish language is Finland’s asset too

Today is the perfect day to highlight a few stumbling blocks our society often runs into when it comes to its Swedish-speaking members, thinks our board member Elsa Lindeberg.

Today, on 6 November 2024, we celebrate the Finnish Swedish Heritage Day. The day was originally intended to increase a sense of togetherness among Swedish-speaking people living in Finland. Today, however, the day is primarily an important tribute to one of Finland’s two national languages and to Finland-Swedish cultural heritage.

Just over a year ago, HYY made the headlines in Huvudstadsbladet with its message ‘Det nya studenthuset har en vesikku vesikamku på morgonen den 7.10…’. Attention focused especially on one part of the message: ‘du är lite av en skit’, which translates into ‘you are a little piece of shit’. The message was about water damage on the 6th floor of the New Student House, with a large amount of water having leaked into organisational premises.

The level of Swedish in the communication and operation of HYY, companies, organisations and various other parties varies a lot at times. The familiar saying ‘och samma på svenska’ (‘and the same in Swedish’) sums up the status of the Swedish language quite aptly: why would you repeat the same thing in Swedish when it was already said in Finnish and English, and everyone understood it anyway.

This situation is unfortunate especially for Swedish-speaking people who are not fluent in Finnish. According to Statistics Finland, around one in two Finland-Swedish people are raised in an entirely Swedish-speaking family. Even though many speak Finnish as a second language, there are also many who find it very difficult to do business in Finnish or understand the language. Even though it might often feel natural to change to English in customer service situations (because the assumption rarely is that the person you are talking to also speaks Swedish), it feels somewhat demeaning to have to use English instead of your native language in all day-to-day situations. Thankfully, everyone knows enough English to understand one another – or do they?

As both Finnish and Swedish are Finland’s national languages, it is appropriate to ensure that people can use both languages in their everyday life. This is largely the case in public life, both at state level and at the University. The situation is not as good in companies’ customer service and communication, with third-sector parties or in daily interactions with other people. Everything is fine using Finnish, maybe somewhat cautious using English, but Swedish? Sorry, my Swedish is not so good…

As a gesture of good will, I will state that even small accomplishments can feel fairly important in the context of the Swedish language. The National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL) only published a Swedish translation of its rules in summer 2024.

Why has Swedish language become the bogeyman that is avoided unless Finland’s legislation requires a specific task to be carried out in Swedish, too?

There are 288,000 people who speak Swedish as their native language living in Finland. This makes them the largest linguistic minority in Finland, while Finland-Swedes are historically also a major part of Finland’s history and culture. Moomins, the Maamme anthem and famed people ranging from Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim and Johan Ludwig Runeberg to Tove Jansson and Zacharias Topelius all have a strong link specifically to Finland-Swedish cultural heritage, which is considered an integral part of Finnish culture and history.

Instead of hiding behind ‘sorry, my Swedish is not so good’ and ‘samma på svenska’, we could try to cherish both our national languages. Poor Swedish skills will not get any better by staying silent – you need to gather your courage and practise your Swedish. At the same time, Swedish needs to be given more space to be seen and heard as well as to develop. This would also make it less likely that HYY will accidentally call anyone a little piece of shit again.

Having two national languages is, above all, a treasure that we must consciously cherish.

Elsa Lindeberg
Chair of the Financial Committee, Member of the Board (organisations, bilingualism)