Have you ever noticed your Finnish friends slipping some English into their Finnish sentences and overall interaction while talking? Perhaps a few individual English words and short phrases here and there, or perhaps even longer chunks of English? Chances are, they play video games in their free time.
Playing video games, and especially being part of a gaming community, whether it be through taking part in gaming communities and conversations in the physical world or online, is a likely cause for one to come across the English language mixed within the language of the physical environment. Since Finnish is the language that one uses to address other Finnish-speakers, it is surely a strong presence throughout gaming sessions; English, however, is widely seen as a very prominent language for the world of the games, and therefore its presence within the game is not completely ignored, but more likely very much embraced. Consequently, some Finns who frequently play video games may find themselves actively using the language recourses available to them while playing and adapting English into their own interactional purposes.
Code-switching while playing games can, for example, be observed when watching Finns play video games in online videos and livestreams. Our study group watched a video on YouTube from a popular gaming channel that is aimed for the entertainment of the Finnish gaming audience, and observed the code-switching situations in the video. While playing the game, the player frequently switches roles and addresses different recipients that have an effect on the language he chooses depending on the recipient of his spoken message. In the video he has three different recipients: the characters in the game with whom he interacts with the avatar character he plays as in the game (predominantly in English), his Finnish-speaking audience on YouTube or elsewhere online (predominantly in Finnish) as well as a Finnish-speaking friend with whom he interacts through online voice-chat (predominantly in Finnish).
Immersion may cause the player to choose to speak in English from time to time, as it adds up to the fun experience of exploring the English-speaking world of the game. Using English with the Finnish audience brings humorous elements to the situation, with the circumstance of a Finnish person exploring an English-speaking world and coping in it with the language this world uses. Some Finnish gamers prefer to play their games in English since a translated game that is originally meant to be in English may break the immersive effect that the original language of the game creates. Perhaps also because of this important presence of another language, players often code-switch unconsciously without actually choosing the language, but instead speaking and using the two languages in a way that it feels natural to them.
Perhaps playing games frequently in English may lead to increasing implicit learning of the language due to immersion? After all, it is a rather popular hobby amongst some Finns, especially younger Finns.
English in Finland 