Is living in the centre of Helsinki really living in Finland?

I have been in Finland for over 25 years starting from living in the city housing to owning a country house in the middle of the Finnish countryside. And the one thing I have noticed is that foreigners living in major cities in Finland don't learn Finnish. Of course the main reason is in the case Helsinki that it is a very international city. Even in my local shop the staff speak a high standard of English which takes the need to learn even the simplest phase unnecessary. In fact, I would argue that the Helsinki microcosm does not encourage foreigners to speak Finnish at all.

Living in the Helsinki language bubble

I am generalising that all foreigners live in this English language bubble in Helsinki however I have met British, Americans, Canadians and Australians that have lived almost 30 years in Finland without bothering to learn Finnish. Some of us do make the effort and learn Finnish but the amount is only about 10-15%.

They have decided to live in the social bubble in some cases never really having a relationship with locals apart from in a transactional sense. This is normally done in English which means that they are entering into a transaction without truly understanding what they are getting themselves into.

The social bubble seems to extend into every part of their lives:

• Work life: English language teacher, working in a Irish pub or working for an international company
• Night life: Going to pubs in the centre of Helsinki where the staff speak English with their English speaking friends.
• Relationships: Only hang out with people that speak English.

Solution to living in the Helsinki microcosm

This is only from my personal experience after living here so long, so this may not work for everyone. However, taking a language course is a good start but frankly you will not learn Finnish doing a course. Like anything learning by doing is the key. Below are a list of things to do to help you learn Finnish faster:

• Work in a Finnish speaking environment, while Finn's are happy to speak English in a bar or socially they are less likely at work. It's amazing how quickly you will be using Finnish everyday using this approach.
• Start preparing for conversation's you will be having each day. For example, if you want to buy a coffee or a beer try asking in Finnish. If the server replies in English continue in Finnish.
• Watch simple Finnish news, it is on YLE everyday. I am not sure when it is on, so check the time yourself. It's only on for 5 minutes but it will give you the daily news in very understandable Finnish.

I know that for many people thinking about living in Finland that not needing to learn a language is great. Yes we all think that until we understand that it traps us in a situation where we do not have the freedom to choose. This may not be true for the highly educated or professionals, however for the rest of us our choices are get a education or learn Finnish and break out of the Helsinki bubble.