Finnish children in Dubai study the language via the Net

After-school club added to appeal of learning Finnish

print this

By Josetta Nousjoki in Dubai
     
      The children of Finnish families living in Dubai have set up an after-school club, where the kids gather to study Finnish courses online.
      "Earlier it was so that the parents would slog away at exercises with the children at home. It's pretty difficult to get teenagers very excited about that sort of thing", explains Christina Suomi, who was behind the idea of the club.
      Launched last autumn, the club became an immediate hit. "This is a social event, and the children are motivated towards learning together in a quite different way."
     
The computer lab at the Dubai International Academy is packed on Sundays, when the kids run from their normal classes to the afternoon Suomi Club.
      Yes, Sunday, because in the United Arab Emirates the weekend as such is celebrated on Friday and Saturday, the two most important days of public worship in the Muslim faith.
      The pupils log in to the Opit network and while online they can discuss with others, write stories, do Finnish grammar exercises, and read online books.
      A few adults are on hand to keep an eye on the studying, but the actual didactic guidance comes from Finland, where teachers of Finnish check the exercises of the telecommuting pupils.
     
The children are able to proceed at their own chosen speed. The big advantage of the online learning environment is that the link with the teachers and the material is not lost even if the pupil changes his or her place of residence.
      It keeps Finnish families abroad in touch with the language such that the children can slot into a place in a Finnish school when the family eventually returns home.
      This week's gathering is the last before the summer vacation starts. A cake has been brought along for the occasion, and Christina Suomi hands out certificates and class photos.
     
Later this year, when school reconvenes in the fall, there will also be an opportunity to study Swedish in the same fashion.
      Around a score of Finnish children living in the Emirates have progressed the age where they would be attending the upper level of Finnish comprehensive education, when compulsory Swedish comes into the curriculum. At the same time, the number of club members will rise to around 60.
     
Dubai is one of the world's most multicultural metropoles, with people from more than 100 countries having arrived to take up work here.
      The number of Finns resident in the region has grown dramatically in recent years. There are now an estimated 800 Finns living in the area of Dubai and in the UAE's capital, Abu Dhabi.
      The Dubai International Academy is in the lush setting of Emirates Hills, close to Dubai Internet City, the Emirates Golf Course, and the Dubai Marina, and it is surrounded by housing largely populated by foreign workers. The school itself is intended for their sons and daughters.
      The language of tuition is English, and Arabic and French are also among the compulsory subjects.
     
Children from other countries also study their native languages in their own clubs, but the Finns are the only ones making use of a virtual school for exercises. And it rubs off in other ways, too. "The others are amazed at how good the children have become in their computer smarts", says Minna Åman-Toivio, another of the founders of the project.
      The Finns in Dubai think that the Ministry of Education in Helsinki could do rather more to support the learning of Finnish by children living abroad. The Finnish adult education organisation Kansanvalistusseura, the KVS Foundation, which maintains the online "Comprehensive School for Finnish Children Abroad", has also applied for an increase in its state funding.
      The KVS operation for ex-pat children is growing in size, too. In 2004 there were 315 new students enrolled, and last year the number topped 400.
     
With no increases in government help forthcoming, the tuition fees have almost doubled in recent years. Using the online learning environment for Finnish now costs EUR 126 per child each year.
      The children in Dubai pay for the tuition themselves, or rather their parents do. In some cases the studies can be sponsored by the parents' employers.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 1.8.2007

More on this subject:
 Children enjoy the ex-pat life in Dubai, but the sand gets them down

Links:
  Kansanvalistusseura, KVS Foundation
  Kotiperuskoulu, Comprehensive School for Finnish Children Abroad (in Finnish)
  Dubai International Academy

JOSETTA NOUSJOKI / Helsingin Sanomat
josetta.nousjoki@hs.fi