EVA's Risto Penttilä proposes English as an official "auxiliary language"
Risto E.J. Penttilä
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Risto E.J. Penttilä, Director of EVA, the Finnish Business and Policy Forum, has commented in an interview with the weekly magazine Seura that he thinks English should acquire the same language status in Finland as is accorded today to the Sámi language (spoken by the indigenous populaution of Lapland).
On Wednesday, however, after the magazine's appearance, Penttilä corrected the interpretation that Seura had put on his words, to the effect that he would have been proposing English as some kind of third official language for Finland. Penttilä said he would prefer to use the term "auxiliary language".
"A separate statute would specify for those foreigners who are living here - and those foreigners and companies who are moving to Finland - such areas, for instance of public administration, services, and taxation, in which documentation would also be printed and made available in English", Penttilä commented.
In his view, such an initiative would be a logical next step to proposals, including those made by the business-oriented think-tank he represents, for improving Finnish competitiveness and attractiveness as a locale in a globalising world.
Links:
EVA
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 2.12.2004 - TODAY |
EVA's Risto Penttilä proposes English as an official "auxiliary language"
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