Why I chose to study in Finnish?

After studying my whole basic education in English, it would have been logical to continue on the same path. However, after some pondering it no longer seemed so. 

The “Language Barrier”

It may sound absurd to use the words “language barrier” to refer to the difficulty of using one’s mother tongue, but I will do my best to explain my reasoning. I had studied in Espoo International School for about seven and a half years, when I first started exploring the option of going to a Finnish high school. My brother had just started his first year at Otaniemi and I had a glimpse of what studying here could be like. I was simultaneously drowning in school work, so I didn’t pay much attention to my brother’s studies, but I clearly remember several events he got to participate in. This painted a very positive image of studying at Otaniemi, while I myself felt surrounded by a dark cloud of MYP-reflections and essays.

I was still considering continuing my studies in English in one of the most prestigious IB-lines in Finland like SYK or Ressu. The idea of changing the language of my studies felt terrifying and futile. I felt that my limited vocabulary in Finnish could never get me through for example a single biology lesson, let alone the matriculation examinations. Yes, Finnish was my mother tongue, but I never used it in the context of school subjects other than Finnish. However, something would sway my view quite drastically. 

The Problem with IB

I didn’t choose to study in Finnish because I would have specifically wanted to study in Finnish. If there would have been a viable option to study the Finnish high school curriculum in English, I would have taken it. Overlooking the English School, for reasons I don’t have time to cover in this article, my only options were to study in an IB-high school or move abroad if I were to continue studying in English. Moving abroad wasn’t really an option and because of the reasons that I will soon come to, I wanted to avoid IB. 

In addition to teaching in English, Espoo International School follows two curricula – the Finnish curriculum and in middle school also the MYP (Middle Year Program), which is a preparatory program for IB. So in other words, I had already studied in an “IB-school”. For those who aren’t aware what IB is, IB stands for the International Baccalaureate and is a globally recognised education program. It differs from the Finnish curriculum in several ways, but some of the most notable are that the grades go from 0 to 8 and the students’ own thinking is emphasised through different assignments such as reflections. Fundamentally, in addition to learning what the Finnish curriculum required us to, we had to do extra work in IB format. This included various assignments, which were concentrated on teaching us how we learn through different “approaches to learning” -skills (ATL-skills), how to avoid plagiarism by using extensive MLA-citation of sources and how to form our own research questions, which we would use to complete our own research. These activities felt unnecessary at the time, as I would need these skills only once I was in University, unless I decided to continue in IB. In addition, following two curricula simultaneously was draining and confusing. It felt like most of my teachers weren’t even sure how to follow them and convert grades between the different grading scales. Shortly said, the IB curriculum didn’t work for me.

The main reason why I came to study at Otaniemi was the LUMA-line here – I wanted to continue studying all the natural sciences. The problem is that in IB-high schools you are limited to a certain number of subjects (generally six) and there are certain restrictions of what kind of combinations you can and can’t take. IB does offer a special program, in which it is possible to study all the natural sciences, but this would limit the number of languages you can take. I couldn’t have continued studying Finnish, Swedish and French along with English. The fundamental difference between IB and the Finnish curriculum is that IB concentrates on a smaller number of subjects and I would argue that it doesn’t provide as high of a level of general knowledge when doing this. 

Overcoming the Language Barrier

Forgetting the Finnish word for the industrial revolution mid-sentence, I answered a geography question in two languages. No one really seemed bothered by it, so why should I. I may occasionally rely on Google Translate to translate a word that I can’t think of a Finnish equivalent for, but generally speaking the language barrier didn’t pose as great challenges as I had expected. I had studied Finnish at a mother tongue level throughout my basic education and used it constantly during my free time. At first writing subject specific essays felt challenging, but I feel that I’m eventually getting a hang of it. If anyone reading this is considering studying in another language than the one they are currently studying, I suggest you go for it. 

Do I regret deciding to study in Finnish? Not one bit. Occasionally I may feel frustrated when I’m unable to present my ideas in the language that I feel most comfortable in, or that my level in English is deteriorating in the absence of constant use. I may ponder about how studying at an IB-high school could have opened doors and possibly more direct paths abroad, but would have required my mental health in return. I enjoy studying at Otis and haven’t considered changing schools at any point. I have been able to make tons of new friends, participate on several school arranged trips and events, in addition to being able to study all the subjects that I had wanted (great thanks to my guidance counsellor for arranging my mess of a schedule). When I hear from my friends, who chose the IB, I’m glad that I don’t have to go through what they are currently and I’m proud to represent Otis.