Meeting at Raahe library

Participants: Anna Kippola (erikoiskirjastonhoitaja), Kirsi Korhonen (palvelupäällikkö), Laima Salkauskiene (hanketyöntekijä) and local immigrants (5 people).

The description of immigrants’ situation in Raahe region. Raahe is the center for the majority of immigrants There is a wide range of people from different countries like Ukraine, Russia, Afghanistan, Lithuania, Iran, Turkey, Columbia, Japan and etc The main issue for these people is to learn the Finnish language and find a permanent job Within the conversation, people expressed their will and wish to be useful, productive, and active while living in Finland. They do not seek to live only because of financial support or benefit, they would like to get a job even if it were unqualified. Furthermore, they would like to visit museums, and historical places, and find out more about Finnish traditions and customs.

Although they understand that the library is more related to cultural and educational support. They introduced their educational background (accountant, English language teacher and professional photographer, engineer, builder, project manager, yoga instructor); hobbies, interests such as sports, volleyball, music, concerts and etc. They admitted, that studying Finnish only twice a week or attending classes is not enough, they would prefer to practice Finnish in reality, which could improve their spoken Finnish and help to overcome the fear of speaking in Finnish. Moreover, a few of them would love to teach people English or Russian languages.

The conclusion. The professional photographer was encouraged to plan a personal exhibition of his photos/work of art which could be portable and exhibited in other libraries. Also, the first ”Jutellaan Suomeksi-Kahvit” will be arranged in the last week of October. The idea to create a web of ”Tandem language learning” (When two people teach each other their native language) will be considered as well.