Swedish in Finland

[@hannastenros6009]

Finns and Swedishspeakers go to different schools too so we get almost segregated from the start. We should have more contact with each other outside the walls of schools from childhood between neighbours, but it is not always so easy since swedish and finnish are wastly different languages. So we do not always understand each other.

[@misterx1342]

Hanna Stenros wow that’s just like the English and Afrikaans in my country of South Africa

[@Aivottaja]

Swedish-speakers are free to have contact with Finnish-speakers any time they want. You're bilingual and you know the language of this country.

[@leopoldstotch7076]

@Finnic Patriot that's a common myth. It is some times the case for studying law at the university of Helsinki for example, but that has to do with the fact that the small number of students admitted on the Swedish speaking side is so small in comparison to the Finnish side (20 v around 200), which results in greater variation from year to year. In my year, there are in fact a couple of students who took the Finnish exams and got in, after which they switched to studying in their native language - some times it swings in the other direction. Also, if you include the student quotas at the other universities where you can only study in Finnish (Turku, UEF etc.) , it is much easier to get admitted to study law in Finnish than in Swedish.

[@SocialistFinn1]

Swedish speakers don't want to integrate, because that would mean their special status going away and they would have to be in the same schools with the Finnish speaking peasants

[@hannastenros6009]

Well, I simply tried to point out that adults usually make decicions for their kids that might not be entirely beneficial in the long run or for a lifetime. Some simply blame it on the stubborn blonde/redhaired genes but I think the reality is that it is hard for people with mostly swedishspeaking friends and relatives to learn proper finnish at all. Besides many hobbies are in swedish and I do get the fact that some finns hate the swedish language, I was not fond of learning finnish grammar either because it was difficult but I am very pleases If any Finn has the patience to talk finnish with me. I am very grateful that we have services in swedish too but I recognize the languagedifficulties as something that could be dealt with differently If one starts at a Young age. Still, although we had two hours of learning finnish per week in a School where all goes in swedish it is not enough for most kids and teens in order to become fluent or even to understand most discussions in finnish. Besides we often get so much homework that we have little to no time to spend our lives speaking finnish until we Try to get work and realise we should have gone to some finnish school. It is not enough to have had hobbies on saturday where all speak finnish but it helps. Watching news in finnish or movies also helps with the language. Unfortunatedly I have felt more at home with my surroundings in many other countries in Europe, but to this day I still feel like a malplaced combo with roots from somewhere between Sweden/Norway but I prefer speaking finnish If I talk to a Finn rather than stubbornly sticking to swedish If the level is somewhat understandable. No in hospitals, at carrepair I do not make myself clear If I Try to speak finnish. I just happen to live in one of the most swedish countryside in Finland. I mean our streetname and adress has no finnish name either. Sure I could drive 35 km to get to nearest town where one could end up speaking finnish but last time I was there was over three months ago and it is impractical to drive so far too often. I grew up with mostly swedishspeaking kids although I jumped rope and learned Yy, kaa, koo, ( slang for one two three ) I got to unlearn most finnish I ever learned irl in finnish Class.

[@Aurinkohelmi]

Well only about 200 years since separation from Sweden in 1809, but this is really nice look on history and official languages.

[@suissais4732]

200 years is a long time ago

[@northstar2621]

@@suissais4732 Not when we still haven't reached 100% equality

[@jepjep8926]

@@northstar2621 how so?

[@Quzinqa1122]

​@@suissais4732200 years is not a long time, compared to the almost 1000 years when Finland and Sweden were parts of the same country.

[@crusmonster1397]

My great-great-grandparents immigrated from the Munsala/Loilax/Monäs areas in the early 1890s & came to Maryland, where we still live. Unfortunately none of their Finnish heritage (to my knowledge) has tricked down to me, so finding things out about the areas they were from has been very insightful. I’ve recently been able to message a distant relative that still lives in Finland & they’ve been so helpful! They speak Swedish & confirmed that our family were & are Swedish-speaking Finns. It’s been interesting, & I hope to visit the area at some point in the future. I definitely would like to learn both Swedish & Finnish as well. All in good time. 😁

[@holoholopainen1627]

350.000 still speak Swedish - Every Day !

[@Quzinqa1122]

Sorry that your family lost your Finnish heritage for a while. But I’m happy that you are getting it back now! 🥳👍

[@tomroseman2240]

Very brautiful and interesting video. Thank you for this, Kiitos and Tack!! :)

[@oscarlindqvist2017]

I am swedish speaking finn who lives in and you are in my home town Ekenäs its lol weird to see this little town get rhis hype

[@Javlafan]

Sadly, here in Estonia we lost our Swedish minority thanks to the Soviets. It’s like 500 Estonian Swedes left. Oh, and we lost our German minority as well, thanks to both Hitler and the Soviets. Although we gained more Russians instead. There were about 5% of them during the First Republic. Now it’s like 25%...

[@popcorn5866]

Kahjuks

[@niceguy1891]

That's the worst minority aswell, and Germans and Swedes are the best haha You want people who work hard and knows how to do it instead of drinking their lives away

[@paranceanic]

@@niceguy1891 uhmmmm

[@holoholopainen1627]

Have You seen The GAMMALSVENSKBY - KZbin Video ? IT IS about The Estonian Swedes that moved to Ukraina !

[@johannesisaksson7842]

@@niceguy1891 Interesting name for a dickhead.

[@chadbailey7038]

Great to know. Thank you! I just learned there’s such a thing as ‘Finland-Swedish’ today!

[@k.s783]

I’m a Swedish Finn or Finlandssvensk but I haven’t lived in Finland since I was 12 years old. I live in the US now and this was fun to see. Americans are always confused when I tell them I was born in Finland but my native tongue is Swedish. I don’t blame them for not knowing of course as it’s not a well known fact. Many Americans think of Northern Europe as one country called Scandinavia and Finland is often considered a part of Scandinavia by proxy (in American minds). It’s rare to have anyone recognize my heritage so thank you for making this video. Please make more! Hope you are happy living in Ekenäs.😊

[@tommi7554]

My wife was canadian, and she didn't learn swedish easy, she still doesn't understand it and tried to learn it 5yr now. Finnish was easier to her and she speaks pretty well finnish now. She thought it was a big help that finnish speak and write exactly same way. She didn't need to learn several ways to pronounce one letter like in english they do. In swedish and english if you never heard a word before, you can't be absolutely sure how you suppose to pronounce it, you can guess but you cant bet your nuts for it.

[@GreedPainLove]

In swedish less so than english but true, there are a few suprises here and there. Like G's becoming j's, k becoming ch and ä pronounced as e and vice versa.

[@thefanaticalhobbit]

HOMETOWN!!!!

[@chingizzhylkybayev3476]

This is kind of relatable for me as a Russian-speaking Kazakh. But it's also a bit weird, like taking a peak into a parallel universe. Makes me realize how my grandchildren will likely be a peculiar and probably ridiculed minority.

[@kirilll7806]

Вы с северного Казахстана?

[@TheFreezerGeezer]

My great grandfather was a Finland Swede from Ostrobothnia, yet my mother told me he was Swedish. Even though his ancestors lived in Finland for centuries previously, it seems they couldn't lose their connection to the old country.

[@paanikki]

There are actually many Swedish speaking Finns who have no ethnic connection whatsoever to Sweden. Swedish was the language of higher education and administration for 800 years or so, so many Finnish speaking finns had to learn Swedish to be able to work as a public servant. They often spoke Swedish also at home, so their childen learnt Swedish as their first language. The same happened also the other way. In 1800's, when there was a strong "Russification" campaign by the Russian rulers, many Swedish speaking Finns became strong advocates of Finnish language. Some of them learnt Finnish and even changed their names from a Swedish one to a Finnish one. For example, the National writer of Finland, author Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) was born Alexis Stenvall. And the 7th president of Finland (1946-1956), Juho Kusti Paasikivi was born Johan Gustaf Hellsten.

[@TheSlyngel]

Finland was not a Swedish territory back then, it was part of the Swedish core lands. Finland is very much a continuation of eastern Sweden by the majority Finnish speaking population. Traditionally you would have heard Finnish and Swedish being spoken in every Swedish city of note. I have read estimations that some 20% of the population of Stockholm spoke Finnish in the 1700s. Don't let language differences fool you, Sweden and Finland are very much alike in fundamental ways.

[@niceguy1891]

Well that's not true

[@Jonsson474]

That is completely true. Finland never belonged to Sweden and it was never conquered. When Sweden was formed as a nation, during the 12-13th centuries, what is now Finland was an equal part of the country. The new nation of Sweden had two languages, one law and people from eastern Sweden (todays Finland) elected the king and represented the government. The view that Finland was somehow occupied and a victim of Swedish conquest is a myth created during the nationalist movements of the late 19th century and early 20th century. When Swedish speaking people begun to settle in what is now Finland to greater extent, around 1000 years ago, there were no Sweden and no Finland. In the are of what is now Finland lived only around 40.000 people and most of them inland, probably since living along the coastline was dangerous due to raids from the sea. Also, the inland of todays Finland was full of lakes so transportation was easy and there was no need to live along the coast as in most other places. The Swedish speaking people started settling along the unpopulated coastline and fortresses were built to protect from influence and attacks from Novgorod (Russia). At the time of the migration from what is now Sweden, more than third of the population was native Swedish speaking and during the 17th century, 70% of people living in the Eastland (todays Finland) could speak Swedish. What is now called Finland was called Österland(Eastland) and was one of several equal region of sweden. Other regions were Norrland(Northland), Svealand, Götaland etc. In the war of 1809, the eastern half of Sweden was lost to Russia and the Grand Duchy of Finland was created, as a part of the Russia. In 1917, during the turmoil of the Russian revolution, Finland declared themselves independent and Finland was created. During the nationalist movements in the late 1800s and early 1900s, people all over the world started twisting history in order to form a national identity based on language, ethnicity and race. This is also when conflicts between language groups first emerged. Before that language was only a way of communicating. This alternation of history was especially strong in countries where there was a need for nationalism in order to unite people. This modified and nationalistic history description unfortunately lives on in Finland until today. If what is now Finland wasn’t influenced by people from the west, the influence would have come from the east and Finland would have become Russian.

[@Quzinqa1122]

​@@Jonsson474Well and truly said! We were, and still are, all brothers and sisters even if we live on different sides of the Baltic sea. 🇫🇮🤗🇸🇪🤗🇫🇮🤗🇸🇪

[@Jonsson474]

@@Quzinqa1122 I love my Finnish brothers and sisters. We are two people with a long common history, separated by an invading Russian force and we should always support each other.

[@IceDaemon]

It was very interesting video.

[@kasperdalkarl]

Thank you for making this video, it's really nice to see someone doing a relaxed video about the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. :) I'm a bit saddened to see how much anger this video has attracted in the comments regarding Swedish in Finland, but as usual it's just a loud minority. One would think that language diversity would be a positive thing, especially since you can communicate with Norwegians, Danes and Swedes without English if you learn Swedish.

[@Aivottaja]

Ah, and you do your best to incite that "loud minority"'s voice. So keep talking and keep feigning surprise at the reaction to your arrogant post-colonial racist attitude.

[@SocialistFinn1]

language diversity is nice when it's not forced.

[@Aivottaja]

@@Vs-py2ey Who didn't know what?

[@Aivottaja]

@@Vs-py2ey As I have lived my whole life in my own country, I have probably forgotten more about the areas of Finland than you'll even learn. Is there some point you are trying to make with your backfiring arrogance?

[@Aivottaja]

@@Vs-py2ey Please start making some sense. I'm not going to decipher you or guess what you're talking about.

[@herrakaarme]

Back during the long centuries when Finland was the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden, many mainland Swedes ended up moving here for business, governance, and other reasons, such as to make the Swedish rule more solid simply by having around citizens with a more Swedish identity (technically colonising, I guess). The kings also were simply worried because the population in Finland was so sparse. Otherwise the Swedish language wouldn't have such a solid role today. It's a nice, enduring historical bridge between Finland and Sweden.

[@Aivottaja]

What exactly about it is supposed to be "nice" about it?

[@leopoldstotch7076]

@Finnic Patriot it wasn’t colonialism, that’s why. Feudalism wasn’t great for a large majority of people. I speak Swedish and my family was a part of the aristocracy. We are Fenno Ugric, but you wouldn’t know it from our name. We switched languages a very long time ago. The aristocracy in Finland was made up of families with Swedish, French, German and Finnish heritage, among others. Yes, proportion of aristocratic families with Fenno Ugric ancestry did not reflect the population at large, but I can assure you the same went for most of the “länder” in Sweden. Characterising our time as a part of the Swedish Empire as colonialism is a intentional misinterpretation of history. We have to this day been a part of Sweden for longer than Skåne.

[@SocialistFinn1]

We're still deluding ourselves, calling our history of being colonialized and our language suppressed, "nice". I can't believe it.

[@SocialistFinn1]

@@leopoldstotch7076 then why dont you start speaking Finnish like many families who had switched to Swedish sometime earlier, did in the late 1800s as a part of the Fennoman movement? If you really love your Finno-Ugric heritage and identity then you shouldn't keep speaking and teaching your children to speak Swedish...

[@Aivottaja]

@@SocialistFinn1 It's the legacy of almost 800 years of colonialism. We were starved, taxed, culture and language undermined and sent off to die in moronic wars that had nothing to do with us. That sort of thing leaves a mark in the gene pool. It makes some Finns natural born slaves - priding themselves in being subservient to their colonial masters. They consider it a measuring stick of sophistication. It's like Stockholm Syndrome on a national level. Really sad.

[@rebeccamalmberg2200]

I live in tammisaari

[@valmet9014]

Me too, fin plats att bo på speciellt under sommaren :)

[@emilwahlroos5570]

@@valmet9014 sant som sakt

[@Kissamiess]

Finland was part of Sweden from 14th century, maybe even from earlier unofficially, and was lost to Russia in 1809 after the Finnish war, which was on of the Napoleonic wars.

[@karitoivonen93]

Finland was part of Sweden from c. 1150.

[@TurisasFTW]

But before that, most of the Sweden was part of Kvenland. Just google the map. But for some strange reason, this is not part of the official history. Especially in Sweden. There is only little, but still enough documentary about it.

[@SocialistFinn1]

ok? Thanks for telling us what we already know...

[@adorabasilwinterpock6035]

DramatisPersona Kvenland wasnt a country, more like tribes. And only in the far north of Sweden not most of the country.

[@niceguy1891]

@Finnic Patriot bruh, it was just the unpopulated northern part of modern day Sweden. Finland became Swedish before that part did

[@briangross]

You should look up when Finnish was actually written down and standardized and usable as an official language - only about 200 years ago. So before the 1800s it was just considered to be the dialects of aboriginal “tribes”.

[@gabethedog7688]

False. The pillars of the Finnish language was created when the Bible was translated to Finnish and that was much longer ago.

[@mendamend]

Could you provide a source for this Brian? What about the Agricola Finnish Bible written several centuries ago?

[@Jonsson474]

The first Swedish bible came out in 1526 (NT) and and the complete bible in 1541 (OT+NT) and is called the Wasa bible after King Wasa. It was translated to Finnish in 1548 by Mikael Agricola so that the entire nation of Sweden could read the bible. This bible translation was in fact very important for the development of the Finnish language since many new words had to be created and Agricola did that.

[@oqqaynewaddingxtwjy7072]

A.I.T.arkoittaako se, että voit puhua ruotsia Karjalassa tai missä tahansa Swomekssa?Betyr det at du kan snak skvensk i Karelen eller hvor som helst i Finlandskvensk sveriksrootsi karjal

[@wardeni9603]

Finland was part of Sweden as recently as 1809. Finland was part of the kingdom for ~600-650+ years depending on the region and where you start to consider it as an integrated territory. Most ethnic Finns are actually largely Swedish in terms of genetics as well, with western Finns being often more Scandinavian than Finnic. in 1809 Finland was cut off from the rest of Sweden by the Russian Empire. The Russians disliked the idea of "governing Sweden", so they decided to make Finland an autonomous Grand Duchy instead, which of course was later granted total independence in 1917.

[@SocialistFinn1]

And most Northern Swedes are actually more Finnish in terms of genetics as well. And no, most Ethnic Finns are not even "largely" Swedish in genetics, only some groups on the Western coast.

[@andro7862]

@Finnic Patriot Svecomans are notorious for trying to suedicize Finland.

[@cxarhomell5867]

@Finnic Patriot How is he stealing your history?

[@cxarhomell5867]

@Finnic Patriot Well, they weren't. However, they are pretty similar to swedes and they were even ruled by them. Dunno how that's "stealing"..

[@cxarhomell5867]

@Finnic Patriot Well, you guys have similar languages and culture, ever since the swedes dominated the Finnish regions. For example, some syllables in Finnish are somewhat similar to Swedish language, hence the fact that one of the main languages are Swedish. Calm yourself down lol

[@abrahamedelstein4806]

And since it's majority Swedish, it's Ekenäs in English as well.

[@thelonewolf9866]

It feels kinda strange to say I am a finn but I can not speak (fluently) with 95 % of the finnish population 😂

[@DZRESPECT]

@Finnic Patriot well finns are from oural with asian eyes.not from actual finland

[@oscar-qw9dp]

@Finnic Patriot boomer

[@oscar-qw9dp]

@Finnic Patriot doomer

[@kasperdalkarl]

@Finnic Patriot What has genetics to do with anything? Are you really promoting racial politics? I am a Swedish-Speaking Finn who grew up in Helsinki, and I would not identify myself as a Swede in any way. I identify me as a Finn, with Swedish as my mother-tongue. I can also speak Finnish. And suddenly I am a colonizer? Because my ancestors moved to Ostrobothnia as farmers over 500 years ago? Self-identification is of highest relevancy, and genetics really nothing. What defines a person is where they grew up, in which culture. Some genes doesn't make them think or behave in any particular way. I can't believe people as deluded as you exist in 2019. What's your point with your "patriotic" ramblings here? What are you trying to achieve? A sense of pride? A sense of alienation for everyone that's not in your eyes "true finns"?

[@basedgodkyon]

@Finnic Patriot Good riddance.

[@Jonsson474]

Finland never belonged to Sweden and it was never conquered. When Sweden was formed as a nation, during the 12-13th centuries, what is now Finland was an equal part of the country. The new nation of Sweden had two languages, one law and people from eastern Sweden (todays Finland) elected the king and represented the government. The view that Finland was somehow occupied and a victim of Swedish conquest is a myth created during the nationalist movements of the late 19th century and early 20th century. When Swedish speaking people begun to settle in what is now Finland to greater extent, around 1000 years ago, there were no Sweden and no Finland. In the are of what is now Finland lived only around 40.000 people and most of them inland, probably since living along the coastline was dangerous due to raids from the sea. Also, the inland of todays Finland was full of lakes so transportation was easy and there was no need to live along the coast as in most other places. The Swedish speaking people started settling along the unpopulated coastline and fortresses were built to protect from influence and attacks from Novgorod (Russia). At the time of the migration from what is now Sweden, more than third of the population was native Swedish speaking and during the 17th century, 70% of people living in the Eastland (todays Finland) could speak Swedish. What is now called Finland was called Österland(Eastland) and was one of several equal region of sweden. Other regions were Norrland(Northland), Svealand, Götaland etc. In the war of 1809, the eastern half of Sweden was lost to Russia and the Grand Duchy of Finland was created, as a part of the Russia. In 1917, during the turmoil of the Russian revolution, Finland declared themselves independent and Finland was created. During the nationalist movements in the late 1800s and early 1900s, people all over the world started twisting history in order to form a national identity based on language, ethnicity and race. This is also when conflicts between language groups first emerged. Before that language was only a way of communicating. This alternation of history was especially strong in countries where there was a need for nationalism in order to unite people. This modified and nationalistic history description unfortunately lives on in Finland until today. If what is now Finland wasn’t influenced by people from the west, the influence would have come from the east and Finland would have become Russian.

[@newergamer7974]

Will the average person in Finland understand me and talk with me if I talk with them in Swedish?

[@suuli777]

No they wont.

[@newergamer7974]

@@suuli777 thanks for telling me

[@Scandinavian92]

He/she is wrong. Some Finns understand Swedish whereas some dont

[@Thai_countryball]

@@Scandinavian92if you’re in west Finland yes Everywhere else Just speak English save them some slack

[@pexster1988]

You're so cool guy that it would be ok "I haven't jacket on. Let me get jacket from my cars back pocket. Oh I didn't mention that I drive *some supercar* nowadays. :D

[@jerrydidrik]

Ayy ekenäs for life boii.

[@andro7862]

Do Swedes living in Finland identify with Sweden as their homeland or Finland? I mean these cultures and languages are pretty different from each other. Also are there Swedes in Finland that don't know Finnish or even refuse to learn it?

[@andro7862]

@Finnic Patriot I can't imagine refusing to learn the language of 95% of the country I live in.

[@valmet9014]

@Finnic Patriot I don't know anyone speaking swedish who identifies themselves as actual swedes. Unless they are modern Swedes temporarily visiting. We live in this country by the same standards, laws and rules just like anyone else. We're not better or worse than anyone at this point. That's something conjured in the minds of the haters. But yes, there are especially older generations of us who don't know finnish and refuse to speak it. Which i partially understand if they might have never left their hometown, and if it's a swedish town. But that doesn't mean i fully approve it either. We should all be able to speak the official languages to some point. At least to the point where one can ask for directions when lost or something. Doesn't have to be rocket science.

[@robinviden9148]

Finland Swedes identify exclusively with Finland. I've never ever heard of a Finland Swede identifying with Sweden unless they're immigrants to Sweden and thus consider it as a second home (in the same way as do ethnically Finnish immigrants to Sweden). And why would they? Identifying with a language isn't the same as identifying with a country where that language is a majority language. It's not like a French-speaking Swiss identify with France instead of with Switzerland. Swedish and Finnish are very different languages, the former being Indo-European and the latter being Uralic, but Finland-Swedish culture and ethnic Finnish culture, in general, aren't really that (or any) different. There are Finland Swedes who have very low proficiency in Finnish, and if they're from the Åland Islands (an autonomous region that is monolingually Swedish-speaking) there's a high chance of them not knowing any Finnish at all (that said, many people from Åland doesn't even identify as Finland Swedes, but as a different Swedish-speaking community of Ålanders - although some Ålanders do identify with the Finland-Swedish community and some identifies strongly with their Finnish national identity in addition to their Åland identity). Ålanders aside, it's not common for Finland Swedes to refuse to learn Finnish (it's A LOT more common the other way around). Not knowing any Finnish is highly unpractical. But some people struggle with it and for different reasons (general language-learning ability, exposure, etc.).

[@kasperdalkarl]

@@andro7862 Refusing is a bit misleading. It's not like young people "refuse" to learn Finnish. But the fact is that the Finnish education in schools are really bad and does no one any favours. But people learn when they start working. But the older generation, for example my grand mother does not speak Finnish. Because she has lived in i a small village where 95 % of the population speaks Swedish her whole life. She has never almost heard Finnish in her surroundings.

[@Aivottaja]

@@andro7862 It's part of Svecoman post-colonialist racism. The party that's devoted to Swedish-speakers, RKP (Swedish People's Party) considers Axel Olof Freudenthal their "ideological father". Freudenthal considered Finnish-speaking Finns an inferior race compared to Swedish-speakers.

[@woweixiaomiandui]

Or does a lot of Finnish cities also have a Finnish name. Like Åbo had a Swedish name before a Finnish

[@northstar2621]

But they had Finnish names before that, some of them were forgotten however

[@holoholopainen1627]

Björneborg IS almost like The tennis player Björn Borg ! Many Do remember HIM as 5 Time Wimbledon Winner !

[@valmet9014]

Yes Finland was a part of Sweden for a while a long time ago and now the finns still hold a grudge or something. Most of them saying we should "go home" or "go to Åland we the rest of the crap is kept" Sometimes when i lose my nerve over that stuff i tell them to go home to Russia aswell. To me, this is my home. It's the only home i've ever known. And i've been to Sweden just once or twice in my whole life. I also don't see the problem, i mean just as said in the video most of us learn finnish already from second or third grade in elementary school. And then there's also that stereotype that the swedish speaking people are always these rich bastards who just buy themselves everywhere with their big houses and fancy boats. Yes always sailing. Well guess what? There are these big names everywhere that do own a lot of land and such, but most of us ar pretty reglar working people with jobs just like the rest. And besides, here in Tammisaari i do see a lot of rich finnish speaking people building huge summercottages along the shorelines. There's even more of them than there is swedish speaking rich people. There might be some sort of cultural difference in that maybe effect the attitude towards us as well. I don't know where i'm going with this rant, but maybe that in the end we're al just people living here. No need to fight about things that happened hundreds of years ago. Or at least look for a way to punish the modern ascendants of those times. I personally find that the more languages you learn the better you're off. I always wish i would have had the chance to speak german since we had some classes in 9th grade. But it's since then slipped my memory. I speak swedish for the most part myself but with finnish people i just switch to finnish and no fuss about that. I even know a guy who comes from a home with both the languages who knows swedish yet i speak finnish with him just to keep my own finnish alive. I don't know.. it seems silly that it's the year 2019 and people are fighting over things such as language when there should be bigger problems to look at. I recently visited a local "Grilli" (burger/barbeque) and i stepped in front of the cashier to place my order, i know these people from before and we spoke for a while, swedish since it's a local place. And all the time i had this feeling of someone looking at me. And when i went to sit down and turned around there was two people staring at me, a man and a woman perhaps some years younger than me. Staring like i shouldn't be there or as if i was an alien or something. When they stood up to leave and put on their coats, they spoke finnish. This is how hated we are.

[@oskariylonen3574]

I think most Finns that hold a grudge against you do so because of being forced to learn Swedish. I'm almost certain most people simply wouldn't care about you much if Swedish wasn't pushed in their face like it is now. I personally don't have anything against you people, but a lot of people see the perhaps overt presence of your language as a sort of colonial relic.

[@northstar2621]

Have you ever even tried to learn how hated Finns have been by Swedes over the history? Fenno-Swedes always complain but they never bother to learn how it has been for us 🙄

[@stracciatelle]

Based if you ask me 💪🇫🇮

[@1Anime4you]

Finland and Sweden were one and the same for 600~700 years. There was no real distinction, and Finns and Swedes moved between the two halves of the country, as proven by the fact that there are lots of Swedes on the Finnish east coast and lots of Finns in Jämtland (in Central Sweden). Finland (referred to as "Österland" at the time) was as much of a core part of Sweden as Svealand, Götaland or Norrland. If you want a mirror relationship, think of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: You have Swedes (aka. Austrian Germans) and Finns (aka. Hungarians) who together conquered lots of other nations (e.g., Estonians, Latvians, Russians, Germans, Danes) and consolidated them into one country. What I mean by this is that the relationship between Swedes and Finns was not an exploitative one unlike that of Denmark and Norway, China and Korea, Lithuania and Poland, or Russia and Ukraine. Obviously the two halves have diverged quite a bit since the Great Northern War, and it is quite sad to see that a lot of Finns have hard feelings for Swedes. There's a joke here in Sweden that goes something like this: "If Finland wins against Sweden in a football match, Swedes will route for Finland, but if Sweden wins against Finland, the Finns will route for Sweden's opponent." A finnish friend of mine told me that the joke is kinda true to some degree, and I feel like this joke perfectly reflects how Swedes feel about Finland and how Finns feel about Sweden. I think a lot of that animosity steems from Sweden's unwillingness to help Finland fight the Soviets.

[@alexilsley897]

Psinixe Official but Finnish isn’t even an indo-European language?

[@1Anime4you]

@@alexilsley897 Yes, and? Why should such a trivial difference divide a people. Just look at the Indians, whom are also split in half across two different language families but share a common culture. Swedish and Finnish culture is very similar. We are both communal, very reserved, high on that heavy metal, and we both love salmiaki, ice hockey and skinny dipping in winter.

[@Aivottaja]

So I guess all those massacred American Indian tribes were "one and the same" with the future US Citizens as well.

[@1Anime4you]

@@Aivottaja By "Indian" I meant the people of India, not native Americans.

[@1Anime4you]

The only time when the relationship was truly unequal and blood was shed was during the Swedish Crusades into what we now know as Finland.

[@torillatavataan143]

"Pakkoruotsista" kärsiville tiedoksi että ruotsi on ihan äärettömän looginen ja helppo kieli kun vaa vähä yritätte. Suurimmalla osalla teistä on vaa asennevamma.

[@northstar2621]

"Helppous" on suhteellista eikä muutenkaan tee asioista oikeutettuja.

[@niklassatosaari8120]

Oon kyl samaa mieltä. 6 kuukaudes mun taso nous perus kouluruotsista siihen,että pystyin melkeen puhumaan mistä tahansa lähes samalla tavalla kuin muita kieliä mitä tiiän. Vähän kun yrittää ja puhuu ruotsalaisille sillon tällöin nii kyl se pikkuhiljaa alkaa tarttumaan paremmin((:

[@Thai_countryball]

Anteeksi että en voi vaan ”muuttaa” minun asennetta Ruotsi on selvästi turha missä asun kaikki täällä puhuu suomea ja vain lännessä puhutaan ruotsia (jonkun verran) tätä faktaa ei voi muuttaa ja ei ikinä tule muuttumaan

[@MrPrince600]

im swedish speaking

[@qwertyu600]

You are right. History is a topic you should have to do research before you speak.

[@splash824]

HEY I'VE SEEN U

[@roffe51]

Go to karis insted

[@holoholopainen1627]

Estonians President IS MR KARIS !

[@JayTheCursedLegend]

Most????? No....

[@sayonarabejbe27]

Iiii ship it

[@ralfhaggstrom9862]

Nu hafver du säkerligen hört: finnarna pratar vad de KAN, vi Finlandssvenskar pratar hvad vi VILL. .....................

[@Quzinqa1122]

😂 Också: "I Finland kan de hålla tyst på två språk." 🤪

[@himfromscandinavian5354]

Va trevligt att dom blir bättre och bättre på svenska dom där finnarna. Snart så kan dom ju överge finskan 😃

[@himfromscandinavian5354]

Skämt å sido skulle själv vilja lära mig finska

[@himfromscandinavian5354]

Åsido*

[@MrPrince600]

alltså är du från sverige eller finland

[@himfromscandinavian5354]

@@MrPrince600 Sverige men jag skoja bara, det är ju snarare så att svenskan håller på att dö ut där

[@PinjaEmilia]

I recently moved to Swedish speaking town because of work and I just plainly refuse to speak it. Besides Finnish, I can speak russian, spanish and English but Swedish is just something I've never picked up. And after learning Spanish I decided to say fuck it and not even try with Swedish because it just messed up everything, hah. I'd rather learn major languages that might be helpful in future and Swedish is not one of them, lol.

[@wardeni9603]

Swedish is super easy though, it's pretty much like speaking English with different words. I think the problem most people have is that they have a negative attitude towards learning Swedish because of misconceptions about our history, and then those people tend to transfer that negative attitude on others as well by saying stuff like "Swedish isn't useful anyway" etc.

[@ThePjotrovich]

To me, it seems like you decided not to learn swedish because of other reasons. But whatever, do as you want to. But if you actually live in a swedish speaking town in Finland, you would have a lot more use of swedish than russian or spanish. So your argument doesn't really make sense. " I'd rather learn major languages that might be helpful in future and Swedish is not one of them, lol." Well it could be. It is most certainly more useful in Finland than spanish. So it does seem like you have somthing personal against the swedish language to be honest. Which is fine I guess, but then be honest about it and don't say you're against it because it isn't useful or helpful.

[@Aurinkohelmi]

Personally it was all about those attitudes at school, but now working in customer service I have learned that it´s really useful. Needing daily at work.

[@del-cerro-bellavista]

Generalmente el español es más comercial. ¿Con quién lo hablas en tu país?

[@eliasnjetski1146]

@@Aurinkohelmi Hej, jag är svensk här. I Åland talar ju alla Finländare svenska. Detta gör dem inte till mindre Finländare eller hur? De hejar ju ändå på Finland i fotboll samt i andra sporter och sammanhang. När jag besökt Åland så talar de svenska med mig.

[@Aivottaja]

The after-effects of 800 years of colonization.

[@jepjep8926]

Finnishswedes are better 💪

[@Aivottaja]

@@jepjep8926 The what? And better at what?

[@jepjep8926]

@@Aivottaja better people. Suomenruotsalaiset

[@Aivottaja]

@@jepjep8926 Better how? Compared to whom?

[@jepjep8926]

@@Aivottaja richer and smarter💪

[@holoholopainen1627]

This IS Nice & Well Done ! But how many Swedes living in Finland Have heard of GAMMALSVENSKBY ? If intrerested - so everything in on KZbin - but If Not - I wont spoil The Fun of Discovering something totally different !