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In Finland, Swedish is a mandatory school subject for Finnish-speaking pupils in the last three years of the primary education (grades 7 to 9). This so-called ''other domestic language'' is also mandatory in high schools, vocational schools, and vocational universities. Furthermore, all university graduates must demonstrate a certain level of proficiency in Swedish (the so-called ''public servant's Swedish''). Altogether 92% of Finnish citizens are native Finnish speakers, whereas 5.5% of the population report Swedish as their mother tongue.〔(Swedophone population )〕 Currently, it is possible for Finnish citizens to report a different mother tongue for themselves at any time, and as many times as desired, by submitting a form to the Population Register Center. According to the Finnish constitution, both Finnish and Swedish are national languages. The employees of the national government and the bilingual municipal governments are required to be able to serve citizens in Swedish. Finnish service is not required in the autonomous region of Åland. The official term for both mandatory Swedish and Finnish is ''the other domestic language''. However, the requirement to study Swedish is often referred to as ''pakkoruotsi'', a somewhat charged term in Finnish meaning "mandatory Swedish", or "enforced Swedish". == Overview == The status of Swedish as a national language in Finland is defined by the Finnish constitution. There was migration of Swedish-speaking peasants to some Finnish coastal areas during the Middle Ages. During this period, when Finland ruled by Sweden, Swedish language became part of the culture in the coastal areas. Swedish was also the language of the ruling class. The Finnish language was forbidden an official status alongside Swedish until the period of Russian rule (1809–1917), in 1860. The autonomous Åland Islands (pop. 26,000, 95% Swedish, 5% Finnish) has only one official language, Swedish, and the speaking of Finnish between employees is forbidden in some public services. In Mainland Finland both official languages, Finnish and Swedish, are mandatory subjects for pupils in primary and secondary schools. The Swedish test of the Matriculation Examination was made voluntary in 2004, although all university graduates must demonstrate that their skills in the other official language meet the standard required of all academically educated public servants. Usually this means the completion of a so-called ''public servant's Swedish'' test. The Swedish language is also one of the main agendas of the Swedish People's Party that has been a minor partner in most Cabinets since Finland's independence, and in all Cabinets between 1972 and 2015. Supporters of Mandatory Swedish argue that it brings Finland closer to the Nordic countries, since Swedish is quite similar to, and to some extent mutually intelligible with, both Danish and Norwegian, while Finnish belongs to the unrelated Finnic language group. Supporters also say that studying Swedish makes it easier to learn other Germanic languages, such as English and German. Lastly, they argue, mandatory Swedish is necessary to ensure that Swedish-speakers can interact with governmental institutions and get service, such as health care, in their own mother tongue. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mandatory Swedish」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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