Endangered language - 17th November 2021

Locals of the small British island, Jersey, are attempting to save Jerriais, the island's language.

Jerriais is an endangered language, with only 800 native speakers on the island today. Jean and François are brothers who've spoken Jerriais since they were children.

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 was known as the farmer's language and children were punished if they spoke it. This and the increased use of English means there are few speakers today. But Jerriais joined French and English as an official language in 2019 and is also being promoted in schools.

Susan's a Jerriais primary teacher.

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."

Jersey is located 22 kilometres off the northern coast of France but is a British dependency. It’s got its own unique culture and student Atticus Mawby believes this is evident in its language.

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."

With the low number of speakers, Jersey is speeding up its efforts to promote the language. Geraint Jennings is doing this 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."