| THE FINNISH LANGUAGE All the newcomers who were natives of Finland were literate in the Finnish language. Because it is written exactly as it is pronounced, the language is very easy to learn to read. The Lutheran Church was the State Church in Finland. Everyone had to go to confirmation school. To be confirmed, it was necessary to be able to read and write. After the move to America the immigrants continued to read by subscribing to at least one Finnish language newspaper and often some other periodical. Children grew up speaking Finnish to their parents and English among their peers. When the oldest child in most families entered school it was often a bewildering experience. However in most cases, the English language was mastered in a few weeks. By the time the younger siblings entered school, they already spoke English. In most larger families the younger children could not remember the time they were unable to speak the two languages. For emigrants who left Finland as adults, the English language was a difficult one to learn. In conducting business an older child was sometimes called upon to act as interpreter or “tulukki”. This wasn’t hard for the youngster to do ordinarily, but it could be embarrassing sometimes when directed to haggle for a lower price on some merchandise. |