Suomi has long been "divided" by language, part speak Swedish, part speak Finnish. Many Suomalainens speak both, plus English.
My mother never learned English except from her siblings. She was the youngest of twelve (born in 1913), and English was never spoken in the household, in spite of the fact that my mother was born in Wisconsin and lived her life in the USA. Her mother (who died in the 40's) never spoke English, although my mother, and her siblings, highly suspected that she understood it.
When my mother talked on the phone to her brothers and sisters it was always in Finnish. Until her dying day she was a truly bilingual person. I only wish that she would have brought me up bilingual, too.
Now, I can only say hello, merry Christmas, and some Suomalainen curses (which my mother would say often rather than the English).
Haista napa!
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