Many expat parents in Finland face the struggle of introducing their children to Finnish language. While the Finnish school system is the easiest point of access, there may several situations where a child cannot attend it. For instance young children may be staying at home with one parent or an older child may attend an international school. Luckily, there are many resources to allow kids to learn Finnish language and help them integrate in Finland. If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to read my interview on bilingualism in families to sociologist and language expert Soile Pietikäinen: part I and part II. Another great resource on bilingualism in children I want to share is Annika Bourgogne’s book Be Bilingual.

Methods and available resources vary if your child is in school age (7+ years) or younger. As far as I know there are no conclusive studies regarding the cut-off age of the critical phase of language learning – that is, the years when a child has high likelihood to learn a language at native level. Some studies children should start before age 5, others say 7, some even age 18. However, all agree that early exposure facilitates a child to learn. As a personal observation, I want to add that younger children are socially more relaxed, there is no social tension with their peers, no shame or embarrassment, so they allow themselves to make more mistakes and learn faster; beside that, early introduction allows children to explore more contexts where a language is used: we use different vocabularies in different contexts and with children according to their ages. Long story short, the earlier you introduce your child to Finnish (or any other language), the better. Whatever solutions you adopt, remember language learning is learned mostly through social interaction and not passive exposure.

Tips for younger children

Young children are the easiest customers. They usually enjoy every option you offer them and Finland has plenty of family events and workshops. Here’s some ideas of places and activities where your child can train her Finnish language skills.

Explore the local community

Where do Finnish stay-at-home parents spend their days? The answer is the local common houses. In the capital area, almost every neighbourhood has one. You can check out your town’s website and look up the keywords: asukaspuisto (“neighbourhood house”), avoin päiväkoti (“open daycare”), leikkipuisto (“playground”. This word denotes both simple open air playgrounds as well as common houses like asukaspuisto). In these places children roam and play safely, while mothers have a chat and a cup of coffee. They are also great places to meet other parents living close by. Don’t be shy of asking people their contact to plan playdates: Finnish people rarely make the first move at socialising but are happy to connect with other parents. MLL has also a special programme to facilitate this.

Family coffee meetups

The family association MLL plans nationwide regular meetings called perhekahvila (“family cafe”) open to all parents. Here’s the official page of the events; if you don’t find which is the closest gathering, do not hesitate to contact MLL! They are really happy to help parents building support networks. These meetings are also a great chance to socialise with Finnish parents and later organise playdates.

Library events

Finnish libraries are way more than book storage units, they are social and cultural hubs. Most libraries have regular and free-of-charge events for children, a popular one being the satuhetki, where books are read aloud to children. If you live in the capital area, you can check family events at this link, selecting “lasten ja nuorten tapahtumat” (“events for children and kids“). Pro-tip: use the Finnish page because Finnish events are not listed in the English one.

Music class

Music classes for children are popular in Finland, even as young as babies. You can look them up by searching for muskari. Music schools offer courses, but you may find one free-of-charge at the local church (they welcome people of all faiths) or in your local leikkipuisto or asukaspuisto. It’s a great parent-child activity as well!

Baby parks (kerho)

Kerho is some sort of daycare organised by the town. It’s meant for children over 2 years old who don’t attend daycare yet. When E was younger, I sent him to the local one to later ease up his introduction into daycare and it worked great. Children attend kerho 4-6 hours / week while their carer gets some well-deserved respite. An additional benefit of kerho is also that the child is introduce to the same routines and vocabulary that she’ll experience later in a Finnish daycare.

Daycare

This is the easiest solution: apply for a spot in a Finnish daycare! A child can attend daycare part-time as well as full-time. In Espoo daycares have standard programmes to enhance Finnish learning in bilingual children. Teachers and carers teach children Finnish through games and constant practice, and then report the progress to parents. My children learned Finnish quickly and very well thanks to the efforts of their carers!

Tips for school-age kids

I will admit older kids are not my expertise, since mine are still young. If you are reading this post and have suggestions to add to this section, by all means leave a comment and I’ll be glad to add them here.

Social life and hobbies

Nothing motivates kids like the wish to belong to a community. Depending on the age of your kid, you may have more or less influence on their social life. Be the first to encourage them to have Finnish friends. Hobbies are a great way to gently expose them to their peers speaking Finnish once or twice a week. Don’t be afraid that they won’t follow instructions and feel left out: I’m a sleep-deprived adult and I’ve been able to follow all kind of classes in Finnish even before speaking it. It may take time, but they will adapt.

Parent-child hobby classes

This requires some sacrifice on your side, but taking a hobby class with your kid can be a great way to spend quality time and a spectacular excuse to expose her (and yourself) to Finnish language. There are all sorts of courses offered in the Helsinki area on Ilmonet and they are very cheap: cooking, crafting, workout classes… everything you can think of, you can find.

Events

Libraries (see above) offer events for all ages, so it’s worth checking them out. Beside that, there are constantly events for families or kids advertised on Facebook. You can look up also cultural hubs (kultturikeskus) and their seasonal programmes. Check our also Lippu.fi or TicketMaster.fi for all kind of events.

Youth centres

Some neighbourhoods are provided with small centres for young people called nuorisotalo. There may be regular and free-of-charge events organised there, like “girls’ cafe” where young girls can meet up, or videogame competitions, and much more.

I hope this list of ideas will help you introduce your child to Finnish language and help you integrate here in Finland!