Newsgroups: de.etc.sprache.deutsch,nl.taal,sci.lang,soc.culture.french,soc
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!nntp.sei.cmu.edu!news.psc.edu!scramble.lm.com!news.math.psu.edu!chi-news.cic.net!newspump.sol.net!nntp04.primenet.com!nntp.primenet.com!news.fibr.net!news.sprintlink.net!news-fw-6.sprintlink.net!interpath!news.interpath.net!sas!newshost.unx.sas.com!sdcmvs.mvs.sas.com!EURMXK
From: EURMXK@sdcmvs.mvs.sas.com
Subject: Re: Why is France systematically excluded?
Sender: MVS NNTP News Reader <NNMVS@sdcmvs.mvs.sas.com>
Message-ID: <19960821094907EURMXK@sdcmvs.mvs.sas.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 13:49:00 GMT
X-Nntp-Posting-Host: sdcmvs.mvs.sas.com
References: <snu3txj7ht.fsf@sparc4.i-have-a-misconfigured-system-so-shoot-me>
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.
Lines: 48

In article <snu3txj7ht.fsf@sparc4.i-have-a-misconfigured-system-so-shoot-me>,
<alwyn@sparc4.pia.bt.co.uk> Alwyn Thomas writes:
 
>kruisweg@flatearth.xs4all.nl (Ruud van de Kruisweg) writes:
>
>> It may well be that Breton has a similar status and provisions as
>> Frisian, ensured by a lively interest of Breton speakers to keep their
>> language alive well into the 21st century.
>
>This is not so. Since the late 1950's the Dutch government has
>actively supported the Frisian language: the French government has
>never done the same for Breton. Nobody knows how many people speak
>Breton; an estimate is 400 000, similar to the numbers for Welsh (a
>sister-language, incidentally) and West Frisian.
>
>I think it would have been more accurate to say that Welsh and Frisian
>are in a similar position.
>
>> Maybe someone can compare the status of Breton and Alsacian German in
>> France in detail?
>
>One encouraging sign is that the French talk of *langue regionale*
>rather than *patois* these days. But it is still not French policy to
>give them official recognition and teach them is schools.
There are some bi-lingual classes in Alsace, but not very many, and
most of them were created by privite initative.
 
On the other hand, recteur de Gaudemar (sort of the head of education
in Alsace) was backing bilingual education in a series of articles
in the "Dernieres Novelles d'Alsace" last year. It turned out that
children attending these classes were better in German (of course)
but also in French than children attending monolingual (French)
classes. 
 
>
>One interesting thing about Alsatian is that, unlike many dialects, it
>does not have a low social status; the fact that you speak it does not
>make you an inferior person in the eyes of most Alsatians.
>
I doubt this very much.  For years the Alsatians have been told:
"C'est chic de parler francais", and they have "learned" to
regard their languge as something inferior.
 
Manfred Kiefer
 
>
>Alwyn
>
