It is a teaching programme for Jèrriais in primary and secondary schools and for adults. Its aim is to ensure the survival of Jersey’s official minority language by capturing the imagination of students with the colour, piquancy and vigour of Jèrriais
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\nL’Office du Jèrriais was established in 1999 to teach and promote the Jèrriais language. Initially teaching was in 13 schools, steadily increasing until Jèrriais was offered in all primary schools. Since 2012 a new model has been introduced, using 4 primary schools as Pallions (Jèrriais centres) for afterschool lessons. Teaching in secondary schools is provided where there is a demand and adult classes take place at different levels.
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\nPrior to World War II most people outside St Helier spoke Jèrriais. The 1987 census showed a decline in speakers to around 5700. In 2001 this number had dropped to around 2700, with only 113 saying that they used Jèrriais as an everyday language. There may now be as few as 1000 speakers, but a survey in 2012 showed that around 30% of the sample could speak and understand s ome Jèrriais. When parents of primaryschool children were asked in 1997 if they would wish their children to have the opportunity to learn Jèrriais, there was an overwhelming response. This resulted in government funding for the introduction of lessons run by Le Don Balleine Trust, an organisation which had previously been a publisher of Jèrriais. The Trust set up L’Office du Jèrriais, initially with a single member of staff, later supplemented to reach 3 staff members and a number of volunteers. However 2 fulltime staff are now reaching retirement age and with a budget cut of almost 20%, the programme faces a difficult future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is a teaching programme for Jèrriais in primary and secondary schools and for adults. Its aim is to ensure the survival of Jersey’s official minority language by capturing the imagination of students with the colour, piquancy and vigour of Jèrriais L’Office du Jèrriais was established in 1999 to teach and promote the Jèrriais…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-24057","ekitaldia","type-ekitaldia","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n