What are the minority language policies in your country?

Veddy Intristing   Monday, January 03, 2005, 18:17 GMT
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like our numerous French friends here on Antimoon write in similar styles and bring up similar topics. Hmmm...
Jonne   Monday, January 03, 2005, 20:44 GMT
We have here three languages, Finnish, Swedish and Sámi. Everybody has to learn Finnish, English and Swedish here. Though Finland is bilinbual between Finnish and Swedish, most of the people speaks English much better than Swedish.
You can learn Sámi in lappland only I think.. you won't need that language elsewhere.
.   Tuesday, January 04, 2005, 09:25 GMT
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Frog   Tuesday, January 04, 2005, 09:26 GMT
Yeah i am kidding all that european stuff!
Ved   Tuesday, January 04, 2005, 22:23 GMT
Easterner, it's true that Québec has a law that stipulates that French is the only official language of the province. However, this was only introduced when it became obvious that Québécois French was going down the same path that Gaelic in Scotland and Ireland had gone down before it, i.e. that it was gradually being supplanted by English.

However, most people in Montréal, especially the younger generations, switch effortlessly back and forth between French and (not quite infrequently accentless) English. Most people in the countryside speak only French.

Montréal also has a sizeable Anglophone community.
Adam   Wednesday, January 05, 2005, 07:58 GMT
There are definite problems with certain areas of the Canadian language policies. Just as there would be, and are, any other place in the world with more than one language being spoken by large portions of the population.

I wouldn't hold Canada up as a shining example of everything being done right when it comes to language policies, but I would say that we do quite well. Most of the old language based prejudices seem to be fading away, especially outside Quebec, even in New Brunswick, which is a 'bi-lingual' province.
nic   Wednesday, January 05, 2005, 11:49 GMT
hi all,

i am french and have been in Montréal for 6 months. I have been surprised to see some french Qhébécois who were really friendly with me, i felt i was welcome but, being unfriendly whish english speakers or foreigners like i have seen with a spaniard who did not speak french and so used english to be understandable. They are not all like that of course, but some of them. I told him he did not understand french and did not know the situation in Quebec like many of Quebecois don't know all the spanish do not systematically speak spanish at firts in their respectice countryn basque, catalan...
I remember a day in a shop, i asked to guy (french speaker) if he had the last record of Sonic Youth, i pronounced the name in english 3 times and he told me he did not understand. And said "Ah oui! Sonic youth (with a silent h in respect of french phonetic).


They are more conservatives than the french form france themselves, i can understand it because they are less and circled by english speakers only.
mirko   Wednesday, January 05, 2005, 18:09 GMT
Hi,

in Italy two regions are bilingual: Valle d'Aosta (Valléé D'Aoste) where the official languages are Italian and French, and Alto Adige (Sudtirol) where Italian, German and in some area I think also Ladino are officials.
In that regions both languages are taught in shools and are used in public administrations. In Friuli (near Slovenia) I think sloven minority is in some way protected.

In the rest of Italy the situation is worst, because there is a lot of different languages (recognized by Unesco) that are just classified as dialect and so are not recognized by the Italian State.

In 1999 has been approved a law that recognize some of them, like Sardo (talked in Sardinia), Occitan (talked by 4.7% of people of Piemonte, located in the north-west of Italy) and Catalan (talked in Sardinia, in Alghero) as real languages. By this law and the costitution that says minority languages must be protected I hope this languages can be preserved and taught in schools, but I don't know the actual situation.

bye!
lls   Wednesday, January 05, 2005, 18:27 GMT
SPain has very good language policy compare with other european countries. I think it is because spanish law is only modernise after Franco dies in more enlighten days <<like late 1970 1980>>. But language politics in France and Italy and other places were starting in 1930 1940 1950 and 1960 when societies are not so good with rights of minorities.
Bettina   Thursday, January 06, 2005, 02:44 GMT
>> in Italy two regions are bilingual: Valle d'Aosta (Valléé D'Aoste) where the official languages are Italian and French, and Alto Adige (Sudtirol) where Italian, German and in some area I think also Ladino are officials.
In that regions both languages are taught in shools and are used in public administrations. <<

Aostans are multilingual. The interesting thing about Valle d'Aosta is that, although French and Italian are the official languages in this semi-autonomous region, the majority of Aostans prefer to use Francoprovençal (known to speakers simply as "patois") as their daily means of communication. So my question is: why isn't Francoprovençal an official language since it is the language of the masses? It doesn't make any sense.

http://www.minority2000.net/Gr-75/t38gb.htm
nic   Thursday, January 06, 2005, 09:17 GMT
When Mussolini for Italy and Pétain for France, because they were both fascists and because you all the time have these 2 cousins nationalities in all the bad actions "les coups foireux". They decided in a common decision to erase franco-provençal and savoyard on the both country. The solution was simple, all those who refused to speak italian or french had a free ticket to concentration camps. Their action has not been a success.
Bettina   Thursday, January 06, 2005, 19:17 GMT
Ah, bon, je le comprends maintenant!
GREEK LOVER   Saturday, January 08, 2005, 18:07 GMT
THE REAL QUESTION MY FRIENDS IS.. WHO WON THE EURO 2004 ?

THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A FEW SECONDS.. THANK U VERY MUCH YOU CAN KEEP ARGUING NOW
Bob   Saturday, January 08, 2005, 20:27 GMT
>> When Mussolini for Italy and Pétain for France, because they were both fascists and because you all the time have these 2 cousins nationalities in all the bad actions "les coups foireux". They decided in a common decision to erase franco-provençal and savoyard on the both country. The solution was simple, all those who refused to speak italian or french had a free ticket to concentration camps. Their action has not been a success. <<

But Mussolini and Pétain were both dead and buried by the time the newly reformed Italian goverment granted Valle d'Aosta legislative and administrative authority in 1948. You would think this new automonous government would've then officialized Francoprovençal, but I guess this is just another example of the governing (French-speaking) elite ignoring the culture of the peasant masses.
Football/Soccer hater   Saturday, January 08, 2005, 21:15 GMT
Who gives a damn about the Euro 2004?