LL-L "Language politics" 2006.01.20 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West) Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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20 January 2006 * Volume 04
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From: Henno Brandsma <hennobrandsma at hetnet.nl>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2006.01.18 (02) [E]


  From: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
  Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2006.01.17 (06) [E]


  Henno wrote:
  "In the Dutch territory Frisian is compulsory for children aged 6 - 15 
(about), but very often not very much effort is put into it. It really 
depends on the school and the teacher but the framework is there. One can do 
a final exam (like A-levels)
  for Frisian."


  This is interesting - are there any schools in which Frisian is the medium 
of instruction, or is the language only taught as a subject, through the 
medium of Dutch?
It is used as a language of instruction, depending on the school policy. 
There are some trilingual schools, that offer
classes in English, Frisian and Dutch, different subjects being taught in 
different languages. There is one such school (at least) in Germany, for 
Danish, Mooring North Frisian, and German. Most teachers of Frisian will 
teach in Frisian, I suspect. About 98% of the population claims to 
understand the language, so it's not really an impediment. There are some 
initiatives in standardizing terms for other subjects (like maths) for 
Frisian, but I suspect they are not used much, as of yet. People just aren't 
used to it.


  On a related matter, how much Frisian is on public signs? When I was last 
in Fryslan, the only Frisian I saw in public was (I think) a bilingual 
tourist information board as you entered the region. Most everyday public 
signs seemed to be in Dutch only, even though I travelled fairly deep into 
the Frisian-speaking are! a. Where Frisian is put on signs, is it written 
the same size as the Dutch or smaller?


Place name signs are bilingual, and some communities have their Frisian name 
as the only official name, and as such these names appear on official 
direction signs etc. There is some use of Frisian in advertising. Of course 
Frisian language institutions have Frisian signs outside. But it is not very 
visible, indeed.


  Go raibh maith agat,


  Criostóir.
mei freonlike groetnis


Henno

Laziness :

The quality that makes you go to great effort to reduce overall energy 
expenditure

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