How come there aren't any Finnish language testing centres abroad for the YKI and VKT tests yet?

There are university courses for the Finnish language but no testing centre to get a YKI or VKT score. Knowing the language before moving would take a load off of people moving from outside the EU/EEA. It even helps students living way outside Helsinki with getting part-time jobs.

Surely there's more than enough Finnish language enthusiasts who can set up such places with support from the government.

Like educational institutes could ask their students and professionals interested in going abroad if they want to learn Finnish. And if there is a popular demand, Finland is notified and arranges teachers to teach online or, more ideally, in-person.

I'm not denying the free material available online or the efforts of people who learned the language on their own before moving to Finland. I just think having language centres abroad/outside the EU & EEA would make Finnish more accessible.

Also, there are Swedish language centres outside Sweden that test for Swedex and TISUS scores.

https://www.folkuniversitetet.se/in-english/swedex-swedish-examinations/examination-dates/

And then on https://www.su.se/tisus/english/about-tisus?open-collapse-boxes=ccbd-testdatestisusabroad,ccbd-testlocationstisusabroad

It says "Test locations

In Sweden, Tisus is organized in seven cities with a geographical spread throughout the country. Abroad, we have no permanent test locations, but Tisus is held where there is a demand and where we have an available test leader."

by jaimecelaben

6 comments

  2. How many people want an YKI test before moving Finland? I can’t imagine it is very many.

  3. Those tests are made for citizenship application. What’s the point in having them abroad? You can still learn the language, have Finnish skills and certificates. Just not that particular one.

  4. I just don’t think there’s a particularly big interest in Finnish outside of Finland for it to be financially sustainable.

  5. That’s because Finland is a country with a population of 5 million and quite exotic (in sense of distant relation to other popular languages) language.

    Those things have to work somehow, they cost money. Sure, somewhere in Murmansk and /maybe/ Petersburg it would probably make sense financially, but it is not needed, a person from there can just travel to Finland to take the test. In more distant locations – it wouldn’t make sense.

  6. Because Finland is not a country it is a big village. A village mindset won’t require test centres abroad.

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