Growing up in Finland, I was part of the Swedish-speaking community—one of the country’s two official language groups. At home, in school, and in my everyday life, Swedish was the language we spoke. It’s a beautiful, melodic language that has always felt like home to me.

But as a child, my world wasn’t only filled with Swedish. I had friends who spoke Finnish exclusively. And when you’re a kid, friendships don’t wait for language barriers. You learn to listen. You pick things up. You ask questions, you guess meanings, and before you know it—you start to understand.

That’s how I learned Finnish. Not in a classroom, but in the playgrounds, backyards, and cozy living rooms of my Finnish-speaking friends. They taught me their language simply by being my friends.

At the age of nine, I moved to Sweden with my parents. That was a big change. A new country, a new dialect, a new life. But even though I left Finland behind, the Finnish language never quite left me. It stayed tucked away in my memory—like a song you haven’t heard in decades, but still know the lyrics to when it comes on.

Now, 40 years later, I’m still surprised by how much Finnish I remember. Someone can speak to me in Finnish, and I’ll understand far more than I expect. The rhythm, the tone, the words—they’re familiar, even if I haven’t used them in years.

However, speaking Finnish fluently? That’s another story. My replies might come out a bit patchy, mixed with Swedish or even Swedish-accented Finnish. But I don’t mind. It’s a reminder of where I come from, and how language lives within us even when we think we’ve forgotten it.

So yes—you can absolutely speak Finnish to me. Just don’t be surprised if I answer with a smile, a few Finnish words, and maybe a little Swedish mixed in. ❤️