I like to keep in touch with teachers out in the field and have over the years run many seminars for Finnish teachers of English. I’m also an English language examiner for the Finnish Matriculation Examination, so I have a sense of what level of English is ‘out there’.

It has been argued by some that standards of written English are falling. From the evidence of thirty years I would say that is not the case. What is remarkable is the growth of global and cultural awareness that the IT revolution has facilitated. Many Matric students in 2015, for example, wrote in an informed way about current issues not only in Finland but in Russia and the US as well.   

I’ve been the Vice Chair of the Finnish-British Society in Helsinki for donkey’s years. We have recently done e.g. an evening of dramatized readings to commemorate those who fell in the First World War.

As a Brit who’s always been fascinated by America I’ve also been closely associated with the former Renvall Institute (North American Studies program), especially in organizing the Maple Leaf and Eagle conferences. The biennial Maple Leaf and Eagle Conference of North American Studies was first organized in 1986 and has evolved into one of the largest and most prestigious conferences in Europe for American and Canadian studies.