Language preservation - 17th November 2021

Residents of Jersey, in the English Channel, have ramped up efforts in preserving their local language, Jerriais.

With a mere 800 islanders using the language as a mother tongue, Jerriais is on the brink of being a thing of the past, which brothers, Jean and François who are first language speakers of Jerriais, are concerned about.

François Le Maistre: "We're the last generation. My brother, all my colleagues, we're the last generation to speak it naturally. That's the sad part. "

Jerriais had been condemned as being a peasant dialect which children were discouraged from using by means of punishment. This, coupled with a preference for English usage, resulted in the current decline in first language speakers. Nevertheless, 2019 saw Jersey recognising Jerriais as one of the island's official languages, joining French and English, and also backing its instruction in schools.

Jerriais instructor Susan Parker:

Susan Parker: "There's no textbooks, so my colleagues had to learn in kind of a ad hoc way. Now, the new teachers have a more structured program to follow. It's very similar to French, its heritage is Norman French, but it has its own unique spellings and words and grammar and it's not that easy to learn, so it takes a while."

Situated 22 kilometres off the north-western shores of France, the island of Jersey is a British Crown dependency with its homogenous and distinctive way of life which student Atticus Mawby, considers to be embedded in the local Jerriais.

Atticus Mawby: "No culture is complete without its language, and there's no way you can really understand the spirit of Jersey without understanding its language. And if Jerriais does die, then Jersey will just become another part of Britain and it will be incredibly sad."

As the clock ticks away for Jerriais' survival, Jersey islanders are being spurred on to pick up the language. Geraint Jennings spearheads the Jerriais language campaign in Jersey Heritage.

Geraint Jennings: "The aim of revitalization is to bring back Jerriais as an everyday, living language. Not replace English, not to replace French, but to ensure that people can, if possible, live their lives with Jerriais."