Tag: Finnish language
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Two MPs from the center would ban English-only cafes in Finland
Aittakumpu also proposed that it should be possible to complete degrees in Finnish at all levels of education. “In many fields, it is no longer possible to continue in the mother tongue after the bachelor's degree, and students have to switch to English for master's studies. This is not true. The funding of universities should…
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Finnish universities attract versatile applicants to healthcare and business life programs in 2024
The applicants were mainly from Finland, Nigeria and Nepal. Diak offered 80 places for these programs at its Helsinki campus, and the courses will start in the fall of 2024. In particular, 996 applicants and 1,057 applicants for the Bachelor of Social Sciences program arrived. A significant feature of Diak's application process is the use…
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Research: The increasing use of English does not threaten the Finnish language
Limiting the use of the English language makes it difficult for international experts, workers and students to integrate into Finnish life, the researchers said.
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Finland continues the preparatory year for foreign children to improve their Finnish skills
Currently, immigrant children with little or no Finnish language skills usually spend one school year in preparatory classes before they move on to general education.
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The project strengthens immigrant women’s language and digital skills to improve employment opportunities
It focused especially on strengthening their Finnish language skills and digital skills. “I learned on the stairs with Digi” led Miia Heininenproject manager from Diaconia University of Applied Sciences and Johanna Tepsaproject coordinator from Diaconia University of Applied Sciences. According to the self-assessments of the women who participated in the project’s training, their skills improved…
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Foreigners appreciate the Finnish work culture, but many struggle at the beginning of their careers
The research included 25 qualitative interviews in five languages with foreigners working in craft and service professions in the service sector, social and health care, construction and agriculture. The material gives an idea of people’s experiences of Finland. The project was part of Building the future of Finland – Inclusion and cooperation in working life.…
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Sanna Marini’s divorce, NATO exercises and Cha Cha Cha: Finland in the world press
Some international media like BBC, CNN and Caretakeramong other things, covered the story with neutral headlines and the articles told about the prime minister’s tenure. Media such as New York Post, Daily mail and Fox news have prominently featured in their headlines the controversy surrounding Sanna Marin’s partying with friends and celebrities in August 2022.…
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How I learned that family separation isn’t just US immigration policy
Unfortunately, Brad had to get a tourist visa because the father of my children (separated for over 2 years and I’m waiting for his signature to finalize the divorce) applied and got a partner visa because he didn’t understand how to apply as a family. for our children, when the children were not yet in…
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The language election machine opens to voters: Concern about the status of national languages
The platform also shows the differences between candidate and user responses. Users can also browse the candidates’ answers and their language policy promises without even answering the questions. The platform can be used in Finnish and Swedish at kielivaalikone.fi and valkompassomsprak.fi, respectively. The Kielivaalikone project is run by the non-partisan language advocacy group Oma kieli…
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The Finnish Environmental Center is renewing its organization: a vision of change in sustainable development, life within the limits of the planet
The Finnish Environmental Center (Syke) has changed its vision in the direction of sustainable development. The change in sustainable development guides our society to quickly operate within the carrying capacity of our planet. Syke has reformed its organization and focused its expertise on finding solutions to key sustainable development challenges. At the same time, its…
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The Minister of Culture is concerned about the academic status of the Finnish language
While almost 70 percent of bachelor’s theses are written in Finnish or Swedish, about 80 percent of master’s theses are written in English.
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The way Finnish is taught in schools fuels educational inequality, the teacher says
“If we teach for years in too simple a language and only stick to the content, the students will fall behind,” Finnish language teacher Annukka Kinnunen tells Yle.
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Friday’s papers: Party Prime Minister Sanna Marin, gang violence and wind in a heat wave
prime minister Sanna MarinThe party video continues to attract worldwide attention Helsingin sanomat newspaper to ask whether a drunken political leader is a threat to national security. "It is not a positive thing from a security point of view," Professor of cyber security at Aalto University Jarno Limnéll told Helsingin Sanomat. "Finland and its high-level…
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Expat Finns: Military service offers greater connection to Finland
Every year, dozens of dual Finnish nationals living abroad complete military service in Finland. "Yes, I do definitely feel a stronger connection to Finland and more responsibility as well. That if anything was to happen over there, I would feel compelled to help in whatever capacity I could," Oliver Boosey, a dual Finnish-British national told…
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Few recently arrived Ukrainians find work through the public employment service
According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment’s estimate, most of the Ukrainians who arrived in Finland after February find work without registering as a job seeker. After Russia attacked Ukraine earlier this year, more than 34,000 Ukrainians have fled to Finland. A little over 60 percent of all arrivals are of working age. In…
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Finland’s last statue of Lenin is a heated debate
A larger-than-life bust of Lenin stands in a hidden park in the southeastern city of Kotka – but after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the monument is suddenly at the center of a national debate. The sculpture was given as a gift in 1979 from the Estonian twin city of Kotka in Tallinn, which was…
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Finnish Somalis are wary of NATO membership, Russia’s reaction
I sit in the living room of an apartment in Helsinki in front of a temporary “green screen”, Hassan Kaafi Halane adjusts its microphone in preparation for the start of a NATO-themed webcast. He has invited guests online to discuss Finland’s possible application to join the military alliance, which has come to the attention of…
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Thursday’s newspapers: Road to NATO, Russia blocks Finnish tabloid, Ukraine House
Helsingin sanomat newspaper ends up the main points of the first official day of NATO debate in Parliament, which began on Wednesday and ends with a very clear conclusion. "The process called for by the Parliamentary Republic is currently under way, but it does not change the overall picture: Finland will apply for NATO as…
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Ukrainians can apply for jobs in Finland, but can they find them?
After Russia’s deadly invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of Ukrainians are expected to seek refuge in Finland, most of them seeking work. Julia Shevchenko is one of them. He arrived in Helsinki with his five-year-old son a month ago, while his ex-wife, mother-in-law and grandfather remained in their home country of Kiev to help…
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Friday’s newspapers: International workers ‘struggles, tire price hike and ban on overtime by nurses’ unions
The integration of foreigners into the Finnish workforce has been an embarrassing problem for years. Unnecessary language requirements are often a problem, and some job seekers say they have been discriminated against. On Friday Helsingin Sanomat tells about this On the efforts of the municipality of Espoo to map and process the access of people…
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Most of Finland’s highly educated people abroad have experienced discrimination in their job search and work
says Mika Sallinen, Country Director of Universum Finland, an organization focusing on employer image research and development. A joint study by Universum and the City of Espoo also revealed that the biggest challenges in job search are related to employers’ requirements for proficiency in the mother tongue of Finnish. “The survey was answered by almost…
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More than 10,000 Ukrainians are seeking asylum in Finland
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, about 10,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Finland almost a month ago, according to the Finnish Immigration Service. On Monday, about 1,000 Ukrainians applied for temporary protection from Finland. Migri said it is believed that the number of new real arrivals from Ukraine is much higher because many have not…
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Ukrainian children start school in Tampere
A group of Ukrainian schoolchildren have started classes in Tampere. A total of 39 Ukrainian children have arrived in Tampere since the outbreak of the war in their home country. Lessons at Pellervo School in the city’s Kaleva district began Monday morning as the week was intense with their arrival last week. Director of Basic…
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The speed of articulation tells you how fluently you speak a foreign language
In 2017, the Executive Committee established by the Ministry of Education and Culture made a proposal to add an oral section to the language tests for the Finnish matriculation examination. “Speech is the most common form of communication between people, but both language teaching and testing focus on writing, also in Finland,” says Heini Kallio.…
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Researchers teach artificial intelligence to master Finnish dialects fluently
Recently, there has been gathering information in the news so that artificial intelligence can understand the dialect of Finnish and Swedish. Computers usually understand Finnish only as a normative standard known as literary language and they need examples of spoken language to improve their algorithms. Because it is impossible to speak a language without speaking…
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The Minister of Labor is calling for a change in attitudes towards hiring foreign, older workers
According to the Minister of Labor, Finnish employers must change their attitudes when recruiting new staff. Tuula Haatainen (SDP). According to many employers, the Minister’s speech was related to the wider discussion about labor shortages in Finland. Haatainen said that employers need to look in the mirror in order to tackle the problem. "Changes need…
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Monday’s newspapers: Covid passports banned at work, language barriers, lost in the woods
The citizens’ initiative, which opposes the introduction of Covid passports in the workplace, has collected the necessary 50,000 signatures in Parliament. According to a BTI report published by Iltalehti Evening News, the initiative calls for a law in Finland that would prevent the introduction of a corona passport in the workplace. The initiative states that…
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Can Sote’s reform improve the experience of foreigners in the Finnish social and health care system?
From next year, Finnish health and social care providers will be under the control of the new county governments. Voters will go to the polls at the end of January to vote for the new institutions. We asked our audience what they thought would be high on the agenda of the politicians elected to the…
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“The community is so welcome”: meets foreign-born Finns who chose the Swedish route
Instead, those looking for an alternative path to citizenship and integration into Finnish society more generally can study Swedish, Finland’s second official language, with 288,000 registered as their mother tongue, even if many more Finns speak it. For this and many other reasons, some immigrants choose the language of the “Swedish path” and immerse themselves…
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YLE: Finnish companies are wary of hiring foreigners for their own language skills
“About half of Finnish companies have already used international labor, but about 40 percent of companies have poor capacity to receive [international labour]. The biggest challenge is the language skills of the employers themselves, Elina Koskela, Barona’s director of global recruitment, told YLE. His assessment is based on the results survey on attitudes towards the…
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Research: Reluctance to hire foreigners is often due to employers ’lack of English
Finnish companies suffer from a shortage of skilled labor. Despite this, many companies say they do not take the risk of hiring workers from abroad. The problem in these cases is not bureaucracy or strict immigration law, but the poor English language skills of the companies themselves. "About half of Finnish companies already have foreign…
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The children were deported from Helsinki kindergartens due to staff shortages
The lack of staff and resources in kindergartens in the metropolitan area has led to some parents being called and asked to take their children home. One year old daughter Natalia Salmela started the kindergarten in early September and the shortage of staff at the center immediately became apparent. "The staff changes all the time.…
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Union report: Immigrants in Finland suffer from lower pay, prejudice and discrimination
The report, published on Thursday, says that foreigners face prejudice, unnecessary language requirements, discrimination, lack of recognition of qualifications and lower pay than their Finnish counterparts in the Finnish labor market. The technical trade union TEK commissioned a report which found several defects in the employers. "Many of the disadvantages they face are directly due…