You can not force people to inherit your culture or language. It either comes naturally (in order to socialise or to learn languages/cultures for fun) or out of need (to work). If one does not need the language/culture to live and effectively contribute to the society in question - there is no reason to force it. It is a waste of time and resources for everyone! You can not preserve a language or a culture forever - history lessons prove that over and over again. Things will change, regardless of any sentimental, wishful thinking or emotional attachments we may have now. So, please, let it go already! You are the ones responsible for building a place for the future generations to prosper. There should not be room for such sentimentality in politics, all the problems we have now come from that type of conservative, emotional and fear-driven thinking. The truth is, people who don't speak English will not live forever, younger people in Finland speak English comfortably or are perfectly capable of picking it up as one of the easiest languages out there. These younger people are the ones who could inherit a more international, open, resilient and flexible country. It also doesn't mean that if English is made an official language now - everyone who doesn't speak English will suddenly need it in their every day lives. This fear of change is absolutely unfounded. In addition, very few speak Swedish in Helsinki (if right now I start speaking Swedish at work, a restaurant, a shop - people will not be able to understand me, unlike with English) yet Swedish is an official language in Finland, one can take Swedish YKI exam and apply for a citizenship, but for some reason can't do that with English, which is a 100% more useful and practical language in Finland. I am not trying to say that Swedish should not be an option. I am trying to make a point in favour of English being an official language that should be enough to work, study and become a citizen in Finland for those, who can do that (which is the majority of highly educated immigrants who choose to invest their skills, time and money into Finnish economy). If one is forced to learn a language which is not practical/useful in ones life - it will be forgotten the moment an exam is passed. Why does an educated, highly-specialised adult have to waste their time on such nonsense?
You can not force people to inherit your culture or language. It either comes naturally (in order to socialise or to learn languages/cultures for fun) or out of need (to work). If one does not need the language/culture to live and effectively contribute to the society in question - there is no reason to force it. It is a waste of time and resources for everyone! You can not preserve a language or a culture forever - history lessons prove that over and over again. Things will change, regardless of any sentimental, wishful thinking or emotional attachments we may have now. So, please, let it go already! You are the ones responsible for building a place for the future generations to prosper. There should not be room for such sentimentality in politics, all the problems we have now come from that type of conservative, emotional and fear-driven thinking. The truth is, people who don't speak English will not live forever, younger people in Finland speak English comfortably or are perfectly capable of picking it up as one of the easiest languages out there. These younger people are the ones who could inherit a more international, open, resilient and flexible country. It also doesn't mean that if English is made an official language now - everyone who doesn't speak English will suddenly need it in their every day lives. This fear of change is absolutely unfounded.
In addition, very few speak Swedish in Helsinki (if right now I start speaking Swedish at work, a restaurant, a shop - people will not be able to understand me, unlike with English) yet Swedish is an official language in Finland, one can take Swedish YKI exam and apply for a citizenship, but for some reason can't do that with English, which is a 100% more useful and practical language in Finland. I am not trying to say that Swedish should not be an option. I am trying to make a point in favour of English being an official language that should be enough to work, study and become a citizen in Finland for those, who can do that (which is the majority of highly educated immigrants who choose to invest their skills, time and money into Finnish economy). If one is forced to learn a language which is not practical/useful in ones life - it will be forgotten the moment an exam is passed. Why does an educated, highly-specialised adult have to waste their time on such nonsense?