Sweden's premier immigrant integration initiative expands to Finland with public service Yle

Yle Kielikoulu - Yle Språkskolan is a new app with the purpose to help migrants to Finland to both improve their Finnish or Swedish language and learn everything about Finland through Yle’s treasure of programs. The programs not only carry the language, but also the culture, the values and an understanding of how Finland works.

• “Media is an important gateway to Finnish society and to everyday life in Finland. It is important for Yle as a public service media to help foreign-language speakers have access to media content and to provide learning tools for this purpose. Through its activities, Yle should support the opportunities of the entire population to participate in society, shared experiences and the related discourse”, says Ismo Silvo, Director of Public Service at Yle.

The media format, developed by the Swedish non-profit NGO - Språkkraft , was awarded the European Broadcasting Union Prix Europa - Best European Online Project in 2018. The version in Sweden: SVT Språkplay now has reached almost half a million users and made close to one million hours of language learning possible.

• “We at Språkkraft are excited to bring the LanguagePlay/ SpråkPlay format to Finland’s migrants. Learning a new language is a real challenge. Yle Kielikoulu - Yle Språkskolan will lower the threshold to public service and the unlimited opportunities to learn Finland’s languages and understand culture and society.”, says Niss Jonas Carlsson, Chairman of Kielen Voima / Språkkraft 

Språkkraft (Kielen Voima) is a non-profit NGO founded in Stockholm in 2015 with the purpose to increase the pace of integration of migrants through media-integrated language learning. In order to quickly gain traction on the ground a partnership has been closed with Startup Refugees which will act as the Finnish NGO partner.

• “Startup Refugees is a non-profit entrepreneurship and employment support network for refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants", says Ahed Hussein, where he works as a Development Manager. "I think Yle Kielikoulu is a great new initiative that will help many immigrants learn about and accelerate their understanding of Finnish culture. Films and series provide a unique and powerful tool for immigrants to explore elements of other cultures, such as habits, customs, and values", Hussein says. "Before Yle Kielikoulu, immigrants living in Finland were not able to watch Finnish films and television with language support in their own mother tongue.", Hussein says.

Yle:
Ismo Silvo, Director of Public Service, ismo.silvo@yle.fi
Minna Pöntys, Head of Access Services, +358 50 554 5767 minna.pontys@yle.fi

Språkkraft
Niss Jonas Carlsson, Chairman, +46 0707 48 56 93 nissjonas@sprakkraft.org  

Startup Refugees
Elisa Vepsäläinen, co-CEO, +358 44 240 9985, elisa@startuprefugees.com,