Language politics

07-04-10, 02:11 PM

As an offshoot from the Swedish military service - thread I thought I'd start a thread about language politics in general. My beef is with so called forced Swedish as it is known that Finns are forced to speak in elementary school, college and university. Also all government offices are forced to be able to give service in Finnish and Swedish. There are also schools, universities etc. that are for the Finnish-Swedish - speaking minority of Finland. And of course Åland, an entire island much nearer to Finland then Sweden that is completely Swedish speaking and their men are also exempt from military service.

Actually the language that is tought to Finns is not Swedish as is spoken in Sweden but Finnish-Swedish, a dialect of Swedish spoken really only in Finland.

I know that for example in Belgium language politics have been a hot button - issue with the Flemish language etc. Would be interesting to hear views and opions about this matter, even from Swedes.

Wiki-article about mandatory Swedish.

07-04-10, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneToughHerring

Wiki-article about mandatory Swedish.

Link does not seem to work for me.

Edit: Issue resolved in original thread.

Skybird · 07-05-10, 04:44 AM

Mandatory Swedish? Sounds better than Mandatory Russian!

07-05-10, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skybird

Mandatory Swedish? Sounds better than Mandatory Russian!

You almost knocked me out of the chair from sudden laughter.
Very well said.

Betonov · 07-05-10, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skybird

Mandatory Swedish? Sounds better than Mandatory Russian!

I second that motion

August · 07-05-10, 08:09 AM

Skybird isn't right very often about things foreign but when he is he nails it.

GoldenRivet · 07-05-10, 08:12 AM

my experience with language and politics is this... English is the standard language of the aviation industry... thankfully.

If it were Chinese, I'd be locking the office up and hitting the bricks in search of a new career right this very second

Betonov · 07-05-10, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

my experience with language and politics is this... English is the standard language of the aviation industry... thankfully.

If it were Chinese, I'd be locking the office up and hitting the bricks in search of a new career right this very second

OMFG, a couple of months ago a chineese coal transport ship ran aground near Ankaran (slovenia) because the captain only spoke chineese. english is also standard language in naval transport

http://www.rtvslo.si/crna-kronika/na...z-mulja/224441
slovenian article

GoldenRivet · 07-05-10, 08:29 AM

wow.

yeah i remember a couple of years ago in order to align with the ICAO requirements i had to actually get an "English proficient" endorsement added to my pilot certificate. seemed a little strange for an American Air Carrier to require its pilots to prove english proficiency.

Betonov · 07-05-10, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

wow.

yeah i remember a couple of years ago in order to align with the ICAO requirements i had to actually get an "English proficient" endorsement added to my pilot certificate. seemed a little strange for an American Air Carrier to require its pilots to prove english proficiency.

so you's d0nt talk l33t whin yer in air... ya all'
I's be somewhere in air in b1g pl4n3 l00king on ye l00sers and n33wbs in control t0w3r

papa_smurf · 07-05-10, 10:49 AM

Im just glad I live in a country full of dialects, with no such forced language.
Can you imagine the whole UK being forced to speak "Queens English"?

Penguin · 07-05-10, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

my experience with language and politics is this... English is the standard language of the aviation industry... thankfully.

If it were Chinese, I'd be locking the office up and hitting the bricks in search of a new career right this very second

well it seems like some Chinese pilots don't choose a new career path when they find out that you are required to talk English:

even to the ears of a non-native speaker like me, the ATC guy speaks pretty clear- although he's from NYC

Penguin · 07-05-10, 05:24 PM

Back to the topic:
my opinion is pretty much already stated in the wikipedia article:
-Swedish gives you an advantage to learn other germanic languages
-Swedish is pretty useful in your neighbour countries: you can get along pretty well with Swedish: even in Scania some people can understand you

-it's useful in Finland too, when you want to visit the west-coast or Åland

However i think its bullskit (haha, jag vinnar över spellcheck) that it is mandatory even in high school/university. If you are not interested in learning something, you won't. I made the experience in school when I had to lean French (the other choice was Latin

). In 4 years I learned only the basics, because I had no interest in it. Later i regretted it, when I was in France and the people refuse to speak English... When I had voluntary Spanish in school later i have learned more in half-a-year than in 4 years French - ok, I had also a girlfriend from South-America at this time

Is it really mandatory to have a Swedish course in university? When I wanted to study in Oulu there was no such thing, only finnish courses, but the courses were in English anyway.

07-04-10, 02:11 PM	#1
OneToughHerring Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Language politics As an offshoot from the Swedish military service - thread I thought I'd start a thread about language politics in general. My beef is with so called forced Swedish as it is known that Finns are forced to speak in elementary school, college and university. Also all government offices are forced to be able to give service in Finnish and Swedish. There are also schools, universities etc. that are for the Finnish-Swedish - speaking minority of Finland. And of course Åland, an entire island much nearer to Finland then Sweden that is completely Swedish speaking and their men are also exempt from military service. Actually the language that is tought to Finns is not Swedish as is spoken in Sweden but Finnish-Swedish, a dialect of Swedish spoken really only in Finland. I know that for example in Belgium language politics have been a hot button - issue with the Flemish language etc. Would be interesting to hear views and opions about this matter, even from Swedes. Wiki-article about mandatory Swedish.

07-05-10, 04:44 AM	#3
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,604 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Mandatory Swedish? Sounds better than Mandatory Russian! __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

07-05-10, 08:09 AM	#6
August Wayfaring Stranger Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 23,197 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Skybird isn't right very often about things foreign but when he is he nails it. __________________ Flanked by life and the funeral pyre. Putting on a show for you to see.

07-05-10, 08:12 AM	#7
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	my experience with language and politics is this... English is the standard language of the aviation industry... thankfully. If it were Chinese, I'd be locking the office up and hitting the bricks in search of a new career right this very second __________________

07-05-10, 08:29 AM	#9
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	wow. yeah i remember a couple of years ago in order to align with the ICAO requirements i had to actually get an "English proficient" endorsement added to my pilot certificate. seemed a little strange for an American Air Carrier to require its pilots to prove english proficiency. __________________

07-05-10, 10:49 AM	#11
papa_smurf Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: High Peak, Derbyshire Posts: 2,851 Downloads: 33 Uploads: 0	Im just glad I live in a country full of dialects, with no such forced language. Can you imagine the whole UK being forced to speak "Queens English"? __________________

07-05-10, 05:24 PM	#13
Penguin Ocean Warrior Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Rheinische Republik Posts: 3,322 Downloads: 92 Uploads: 0	Back to the topic: my opinion is pretty much already stated in the wikipedia article: -Swedish gives you an advantage to learn other germanic languages -Swedish is pretty useful in your neighbour countries: you can get along pretty well with Swedish: even in Scania some people can understand you -it's useful in Finland too, when you want to visit the west-coast or Åland However i think its bullskit (haha, jag vinnar över spellcheck) that it is mandatory even in high school/university. If you are not interested in learning something, you won't. I made the experience in school when I had to lean French (the other choice was Latin). In 4 years I learned only the basics, because I had no interest in it. Later i regretted it, when I was in France and the people refuse to speak English... When I had voluntary Spanish in school later i have learned more in half-a-year than in 4 years French - ok, I had also a girlfriend from South-America at this time Is it really mandatory to have a Swedish course in university? When I wanted to study in Oulu there was no such thing, only finnish courses, but the courses were in English anyway.