Finns speak English amazingly well!?

Question

I have met a few Finns (teenagers 20 years old) yesterday on a conference here in Dublin (which is in Ireland). I am Russian-Irish and I was amazed by how well Finns spoke English. They had perfectly English pronunciation. If Finnish say "good", then they would say that in the proper English way, not like other Romanians, Russians, Indians do (pronunciation is not English at ALL). When I came to Ireland I spoke 0 English that was 6 years ago, yet these guys form Finland arrived already fluent in English, and not only that, they also had perfect English speech. Does anyone know how come Finns are so good at English? May be there are some Finns over there who might shine the light on this issue.

In Russian primary & secondary schools were were taught by Russians who studies English as their second language. They taught us no English whatsoever. May be in Finnish schools Finns have proper teachers directly form England. Then that would be a good explanation.

Answer 1

1. Finns speak a Finno-Ugric language, completely different to all neighbouring languages (being Aryan or Slavic). So they're used to speaking the types of languages completely foreign to their native one, which includes appreciating different accents (unlike a Dane learning German for example).

2. Unlike larger European countries, English-language TV shows/movies are never dubbed (unless they're cartoons), so Finns hear English more often.

3. Children are made to learn foreign languages from a young age.

4. I actually thought Finns have a thick accent, mainly because they-prounounce-every-word-in-each-sente... Compare F1 drivers Hakkinen and Raikkonen with the other drivers and it's pretty evident.