Finnish, the Most Difficult Language to Learn? Four German-Speaking Migrants’ Ways of Getting Access to the Finnish Language in the North of Finland

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter explores the experiences and views on getting access to the Finnish language of four German-speaking migrants living in northern Finland, two of them in internationally orientated university towns and two in small villages. All informants consider learning Finnish as difficult but important because it offers access to the labour market and a sense of belonging. Age, time of migration, occupation, and place of residence have a strong impact in this process, for example, on the availability of formal language training and the status of English. While English still plays a minor role among elderly people in rural areas, it is the main means of communication for the younger migrants in the university towns. However, attitudes towards the dominance of English are ambivalent. English is empowering by giving one easier access to initial life in Finland, but at the same time it prevents one from gaining faster access to the Finnish language.