A honest headline would read:
Selfish multilingual immigrant couples demand more redistribution of wealth to fund their parental choices
The whole idea is disingenuous. Integration demands learning the host language, first and foremost, what the child learns to speak at home is up to the parents. The woman interviewed openly states that her daughter will learn Finnish, with and through her peers, on the playground and at school, it will become her dominant language. What she wants is for the state (a.k.a. Finnish taxpayers) to make their job (parental choice) of teaching their child a second and third language… more easy.
Alain Minguet and Olga Davydova-Minguet speak Finnish together, but use their own native languages with their daughter, Aino. That means French for Alain, from Belgium, and Russian for Olga. They are currently waiting to discover which language 18-month-old Aino will use when she utters her first words.
“It could be Finnish too, if Aino is playing in the park,” laughs Alain. “There it is Finnish all the time, and you have to interact with other children in that language. We’ll see.”
”Apparently Finnish will become her strongest language, but we are doing everything we can to make sure that her Russian and French are as strong as possible as well,” says mum Olga.
“Sometimes you hear that there is a danger she won’t learn any language properly. I don’t believe that there is such a danger,” continues Olga.
Daycare groups a driver of employment
Multilingual families have become more active, establishing an association in North Karelia to improve information available to multilingual households.
One key goal is to start language groups in daycare centres, a measure the families believe would help support integration and provide employment for foreigners in the area.
“It looks as though Russian-speaking staff are in demand, and valued,” points out Olga. “It is valuable to be able to speak Russian, and valuable to teach it to children. It would also in my opinion have a strong symbolic significance.”
From the state propaganda news agency YLE
It’s not up to the Finnish taxpayer to fund local community agencies that decide to teach other languages to children in day care.
If parents want their children to learn their language of origin -that’s fine – nothing wrong with that, but it is their responsibility to undertake this in the home.
As for Russians in Eastern Finland, I’m sorry but having stolen 10% of Eastern Finland (Karelia) in 1942, they deserve no help whatsoever from the State.
So teach your children your language in the home, but don’t expect the state to fund what is your responsibility if that is what you want to do.
I don’t understand Alain and Olga. As their kids grow, they can easily take language classes when and where offered. It may not be on their time schedule but it can easily happen if they are willing to sign up for the courses.