The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
1240/5(5003)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, SPORT AND CULTURE BY DEPUTY M. TADIER OF ST. BRELADE
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 8th DECEMBER 2009
Question
What does the Minister estimate to be the total amount of Jersey Norman French speakers (those with a good' command of the language) in the Island and what consideration, if any, has been given to promoting the teaching of Chinese and Indian languages (which are spoken by about 2,500 million people) in Jersey schools rather than Jersey Norman French?
Answer
Through information gathered from the Office de Jerriais I can inform you of the following facts. Current census information tells us that we can estimate that there are about 1,500 speakers of Jerriais. Additional information is;
• 35 adults have enrolled in evening classes this term.
• Around 200 pupils are learning the language in their own time.
• 160 children participated in the Jerriais section at the recent Eisteddfod
It should be remembered that the teaching of Jerriais does not take up any normal curriculum time.
There is no formal teaching of any of the Indian or Chinese languages or dialects in our schools during curriculum time. However, in the spring, Highlands College will be offering courses for adults in Chinese and Indonesian alongside several European languages that are already being taught – French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish. During the autumn term, there were a total of 255 enrolments in 24 language classes.
Hautlieu School has organised a school trip to China during the February half term in 2010. In preparation for this visit the students are learning about Chinese culture and learning helpful phrases from the language.