english-speaking classes are intended for families coming from abroad and staying temporarily or permanently in finland, and for finnish families in which english is spoken. currently, there are 32 students in the english-speaking classes of viitaniemi school. most of them have finnish as their mother tongue but there are some who study finnish as their foreign language. instruction in most theoretical subjects is given in english but in practical subjects, as well as in swedish, the students are integrated into finnish-speaking groups.