Roman Schatz
Roman Schatz Image: Yle / Iina Kluukeri
The Finnish communication culture is characterized by a hefty dose of context that is universally and subconsciously understood among Finnish speakers, says German-born Roman Schatz, a media celebrity in his new homeland. As a small culture, the Finns share many common conventions for shooting the breeze that they can all depend upon. Schatz gives the following example:
“Two men meet on the street. One says, ‘Mitäs jätkä?’ (What’s up, dude?) and the other answers ‘Paskaaks tässä’ (Same old shit). This brief four-word interlude contains so much: one asks how the other is doing and the other replies. At the same time they wish each other the best and bond,” he says.
As a foreigner in Finland, he has also taken note of how Finns find it unnecessary to use an equivalent for the word ’please’, or ’bitte’ in his native German. ‘Laita ikkuna kiinni’ (Shut the window) is a simple and direct request, requiring no useless grovelling or niceties. Even in the grocery store, everyone says on equal footing.
“When Finns go shopping, both the customer and the salesperson say ‘kiitos’ (thank you). In effect, thanks for having bought our product, and thanks for having sold it to me.”
But there is one Finnish word Schatz says has no equivalent in the German language:
“Talkoot! No German would go out on a Saturday to do yard work with the neighbours for free!”