[axelroze]

Can speak and will speak are two different things.

Many people can speak English but would like not to. This is especially the case in groups where foreigners are much less in number than natives. They can all speak English but feel unhappy about having to do that to accommodate the foreigners.

Unless Helsinki citizens reach a state in which English is a native language for them and feel other English speakers as co-natives, this whole declaration will be essentially useless at the level of the people foreigners interact with every day. And these matter most. Shopkeeps, colleagues, etc.

In essence being able to speak English does not make one less tribal. Cultural integration of foreigners is very hard to do without learning and living with the native language. Due to this 'expats' flock to places where they pay least taxes and have largest amount of other foreigners to socialize with, e.g. Amsterdam.

[type0]

> Due to this 'expats' flock to places where they pay least taxes and have largest amount of other foreigners to socialize with, e.g. Amsterdam.

'expat' - a word North Americans and Western Europeans like to use to avoid calling themselves immigrants. Usage: Josh is an expat. José is an immigrant.

(from urbandictionary.com)

[TMWNN]

>'expat' - a word North Americans and Western Europeans like to use to avoid calling themselves immigrants. Usage: Josh is an expat. José is an immigrant.

What nonsense. North Americans and Western Europeans who call themselves expats are exactly that, expatriates, because they aren't planning to stay in the place they're living in forever. If an American or Briton ends up marrying a local, obtaining citizenship, and working in a "normal" (that is, one not typical for expats) job, such a person will readily call himself a immigrant, too. But most don't do that; they will finish their contract, or their educational program, or their series of casual jobs they get to pay their way while "finding themselves" in Prague or Florence or Buenos Aires, and return home.

[drcongo]

I'm not sure this comment was supposed to be a reply to mine. I was just answering the parent and making no claims about desire to speak English, tribalism, cultural integration etc. However I largely agree with what you've written.