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🇫🇮 Finland /Culture & Society

My Adopted Children Wonder Why People Speak to Them in English

From Helsingin Sanomat · () Finnish

Translated from Finnish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Opinion Sources not specified Context piece
  • The author, a Finnish parent of two adopted children, observes that non-white Finns are often addressed in English.
  • This practice is confusing and hurtful to children who have no background other than Finland.
  • The author urges people to default to speaking Finnish to all individuals in Finland to foster a sense of belonging.

A Finnish parent of two adopted children has raised concerns about the common practice of speaking English to individuals who appear to be of foreign origin, even when they are Finnish citizens with no ties to other countries. The author notes that their own children, who were born and raised in Finland and have no other cultural or linguistic background, are frequently addressed in English, even on domestic flights with Finnair.

My children ask me, why do people speak to them in English?

— authordescribing the confusion of their adopted children

This experience is deeply confusing for the children. Initially, they would ask what unfamiliar words meant, but now they question why people speak to them in English. The author highlights that having a different appearance can already be a significant challenge for adopted and foreign-background children, who naturally desire to belong and be part of the majority. The author's older child has even expressed a wish for skin like their parents.

A different appearance is easily a difficult thing for adopted and other foreign-background children in itself. Everyone wants to belong.

— authorexplaining the challenges faced by children with different appearances

The author argues that societal segregation and fostering feelings of exclusion have serious consequences for individuals and communities. While acknowledging that gang crime has multiple causes, the author points to feelings of alienation and limited future prospects as contributing factors, suggesting that even small elements related to skin color prejudice should be addressed.

Societal segregation and increasing people's sense of exclusion is a big issue with serious individual and community-level consequences.

— authoron the impact of exclusion

Therefore, the author appeals to the majority population to default to speaking their native language, Finnish, when interacting with others in Finland. This simple act, the author believes, is a step towards creating a society where everyone feels they belong.

I wish people would act that way, as this only requires us, the majority population, to speak our own mother tongue.

— authorurging people to speak Finnish by default
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Helsingin Sanomat in Finnish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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