I'm amazed if there has been such a change in the Finnish youth. Not with the skills in English, but if they assume they are great English speakers!

When I was younger I noticed how almost everyone was really insecure about their English skills. When they were supposed to talk with exchange students, they were really shy because they were worried they will say something wrong.

The big thing which helped them was the fact none of the exchange students were native English speakers either!

I can't remember if we had the mentioned authoritarian upbringing, but it can be true. I'm just too used with the low confidence of Finns and might not notice the change with the younger generations.

Thank you for having a big package of information :)