4 ms·

Not disputing what you say, but they also learn other languages at the same time. "All students learn at least two foreign languages, mainly English and obliga

by cam_l 12y ago

Not disputing what you say, but they also learn other languages at the same time. "All students learn at least two foreign languages, mainly English and obligatory Swedish, up to high school." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finland

geomark 12y ago
Isn't studying a second or third language a different process than learning your first language? Your first language provides your basic operating system which you build on top of. Unless you grow up bilingual (another topic that is quite interesting).
- cam_l 12y ago
  Yeah, being bilingual may actually be an educational advantage.. I think of it like learning one language is understanding syntax, learning multiple languages is understanding the underlying concepts. I don't know if the Finnish people I have known are exactly representative of the whole, but they were all bilingual (ie. parents spoke finnish and english or swedish at home).
  - geomark 12y ago
    If most Finns group up bilingual then maybe that's their advantage (or an additional advantage). Studies link growing up bilingual to improved cognitive abilities[1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_advantages_of_bilingualism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_advantages_of_bilingu...
    - kiiski 12y ago
      In most parts of Finland, people only speak Finnish at home. It's mainly just Western Finland (and Helsinki to a lesser degree) where there are lots of finnish-swedish people that are bilingual. Elsewhere everyone tends to know English pretty well, but Swedish isn't nearly that common.
  - homarp 12y ago
    A recent study on bilingualim "advantage": Bilingualism changes children’s beliefs about the world around them http://www.concordia.ca/cunews/main/stories/2015/01/13/how-bilingualism-affects-childrens-beliefs.html http://www.concordia.ca/cunews/main/stories/2015/01/13/how-b...

by cam_l 12y ago

geomark 12y ago

Isn't studying a second or third language a different process than learning your first language? Your first language provides your basic operating system which you build on top of. Unless you grow up bilingual (another topic that is quite interesting).

cam_l 12y ago
Yeah, being bilingual may actually be an educational advantage.. I think of it like learning one language is understanding syntax, learning multiple languages is understanding the underlying concepts. I don't know if the Finnish people I have known are exactly representative of the whole, but they were all bilingual (ie. parents spoke finnish and english or swedish at home).
- geomark 12y ago
  If most Finns group up bilingual then maybe that's their advantage (or an additional advantage). Studies link growing up bilingual to improved cognitive abilities[1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_advantages_of_bilingualism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_advantages_of_bilingu...
  - kiiski 12y ago
    In most parts of Finland, people only speak Finnish at home. It's mainly just Western Finland (and Helsinki to a lesser degree) where there are lots of finnish-swedish people that are bilingual. Elsewhere everyone tends to know English pretty well, but Swedish isn't nearly that common.
- homarp 12y ago
  A recent study on bilingualim "advantage": Bilingualism changes children’s beliefs about the world around them http://www.concordia.ca/cunews/main/stories/2015/01/13/how-bilingualism-affects-childrens-beliefs.html http://www.concordia.ca/cunews/main/stories/2015/01/13/how-b...