Locating in Finland

[user1493811040]

We are deciding to move to Finland with our 2 year old toddler, purely because I am a teacher and love the education system being a lot more independent and outdoor based as well as starting at 7 years in comparison to the rigid, competitive, mentally draining structure of education in the UK.

Can anyone give any advice on areas worth looking into to settle as a family where there are good public, primary schools. We are visiting in July so would like to consider a few places. I'm a teacher and my partner is an accountant. We would also look into buying a property with a garden. Any advice on weather, lifestyle, people, socialising, cost of living. All advice greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Sounds great. Do you speak Finnish? Is it necessary to work?

Hi OP!

I don't know very much about Finland but for your other questions, it might also be worth putting a thread in the Living Overseas topic.

No English is our main language

I'm a primary school teacher so I would ideally like to work as a teacher amd my partner as an accountant.

errrr... how would you work as a primary teacher if you don't know the language?

or do you mean as an EFL teacher, or in an English school for ex-pats (which will narrow down the potential locations)|?

do you expect your dc to grow up as Finnish? what about plans for the future? remember that if they are resident in Finland, an English university may prove horrendously expensive

from my own experiences (Swedish) socialising can be a bit tricky in much of Scandinavia because the culture is very family-orientated so an outsider can easily feel isolated

not saying don't do it, just saying think carefully first

A friend of mine did this, relocating from the Netherlands to Finland. She first had to do intensive language training and pass the Finnish exam before she could even contemplate working in the primary schools there. She also had an MA already but I recall she had to do some additional training there.

Most teachers in Finland are educated to MA level, and all schools will teach in Finnish only.

Weather - about six months is rubbish but doable. Can get to -10 in south Finland (north is even colder) in winter and winters are very long. Worst for me was that in December it doesn't get light till 9-10am and would.get dark at 2pm.

Housing is very expensive. Around 1000euros for a small one or two bedroom apartment if you're lucky. The capital is very expensive for renting and buying. Most people including families, live in apartments rather than houses, particularly in the capital. Anyone living in a house in Helsinki is either loaded, or lives in the satellite suburbs like Espoo or Vantaa. I know very few people who have bought property. As compared to the UK here most of my friends are house owners.

I love it there and would move back in a heartbeat if I could. I'm not impressed with the current government though and there have been right wing rumblings for a while.

If you are going in July, you will love it. There are loads of goings on as they do make the most of summer, the sun sets at 11pm etc. Try to also visit in November or January, to see if you can manage the winter.

Ah, one more thing. Pp mentioned university.

Currently there are no tuition fees for Finnish and EU students (fees for international students were introduced in the last couple of years). University of Helsinki is rated very highly in the QS World Rankings and is a leading research university. They are starting to internationalise so loads of courses are in English.

There are schools that are English focused someone told me today. He said they teach in English but the children talk to each other in Finnish. I have totally no idea about anything other than that and the fact they breed them hardy - cut off temperature for outdoor play when DD's partner was at school was minus 25.

You'll need to be prepared for the lack of daylight, my DD ended up quite depressed there in the winter and cut her stay short. The winters sound really tough, there was snow in Helsinki on Sunday. Having funded DD through her stay it is expensive and worse now with the pound lower. I had a shot at learning Finnish and gave up in the end as not an easy language, Swedish much easier.

Trivia fact I learned today is they have a National Sleepy Head day where the last one in the family up on that day gets chucked in the lake. This complements their Wife carrying races.

That reminds me - there is a Montessori nursery in Helsinki where they use only English. There are likely to be others, this was one I used to walk past as it was in my neighbourhood.

Have a look here

Where will you learn Finnish? Here, before you go? How will you live until you have learnt the language?

This is good advice guys. Thanks and keep it coming. Phil, I wasn't intending on learning Finnish but by the looks of things I may have to if I want to live there!

WeSailTonightForSingapore Wed 03-May-17 20:28:35
"Ah, one more thing. Pp mentioned university."

Meant the other way round: if the OPs dc decide they want to have an English university education. Also, by the time this becomes relevant we won't be in the EU.

"I wasn't intending on learning Finnish but by the looks of things I may have to if I want to live there!"

Well wouldn't it be a bit weird to have your own children growing up speaking a language you don't understand? Very difficult to keep on top of their friendships and influences and know what is going on in their lives, I'd have thought. Also lonely, if you are left out of every conversation between adults.

See messages up thread. All a bit odd? I don't know how to report ..

It is a bit odd, kit. Either the OP is very, very naive (notice she hasn't even thought of Brexit) or she is spending an idle moment living out a fantasy. But unlike many such threads I can't see it doing any actual harm: it is not triggering and it is not likely to encourage other posters to spill sensitive information or waste any money. Why not let her dream a bit?

The other thread suggests she's looking for work in an international school, but if you're moving there for the education system....

Finnish is super hard to learn.
We lived there for three years, my daughter was born there.

The winters are ok especially in the south. Everything runs smoothly even with several feet of snow, but the snowy months do drag on.

The education system is great, but it doesn't suit everyone especially those on either end of the academic spectrum. Your child will learn Finnish, how will you help them with homework, parents evenings, school events etc. The other option is the Swedish speaking areas and learn Swedish which is far easier, in my opinion.

Housing is expensive, renting is expensive, tax is high, but it's a lovely country to live in.

English is spoken especially within the multinational companies and those working with the ex-pats.

It's hard to make friends especially if you do not know the language, but there are international playgroups...but if you are there permanently, then you need to integrate.

I suggest you buy a few language books, visit for a longer period of time and then look at how feasible it is to work there.

This reply is for all 3 of your threads as the advice fits them all.

Before you consider moving to Switzerland, Finland or the Netherlands, maybe you should look into their country's education system a bit better as you appear to not understand how they work? Also your priority shouldn't be about the best place to live or the alleged best schools, but learning the language of the country you'd prefer to live in. Without speaking the language, you & your partner won't stand a chance of getting a job, no matter how good your qualifications!

Best of luck with your dream OP, but that's all it appears to be.

Good luck with learning Finnish!

I'm a Brit that moved to Finland ten years ago. Firstly if you want to teach but only speak English you're pretty much restricted to the major cities - Helsinki, Tampere and Turku but Helsinki is your best bet for jobs but Tampere has an International school and is cheaper. However buying a house with a garden in a major city will relegate you to the outer suburbs and will be expensive. Also you will most likely need extra training to get a teaching job as the requirements are stringent.

Don't know about accountant work, it will obviously involve learning about the different taxation system but apart from that I can't imagine that language will be a big difficult as most educated people here speak decent English.

Weather is obviously cold in winter but with proper clothing its fine but winter drags on for a long time and summer is very short (but very bright and beautiful).

Cost of living probably ends up on par with the UK. Food is more expensive but monthly bills are cheaper. There's a lot of financial help (rent help, help to cover bills if your income drops too low etc.) but not sure how available it is for newcomers, at least you need to have jobs and prove long term residence to get help.

People tend to be very friendly towards English speakers but more so when they're drunk. Making friends is difficult and requires quite a bit of effort but they're not fair weather friends.

Pretty much all I can think of right now but any questions I'll be happy to answer. I love this country and am so happy that DD will get a great education (she starts preschool this autumn at the grand old age of six and a half) and although its hard to learn Finnish it comes on quickly if you push yourself out of your comfort zone and speak to people who speak no English at all.

Surely there must be international schools in Finland.

There are Lenina