Alsace talk · Languages in Alsace
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Languages in Alsace
Languages in Alsace
French is the official language and spoken by everyone, young and old. German dialect is still widely spoken by the older generation and in the more rural areas. The English language can be still limited to the younger generation. In some areas, the population may still use the native German dialect of Alsacien, an Allemanic German dialect similar to that spoken across the German border in western Baden-Württemberg or in northwestern Switzerland, but you will always find someone who can speak French fluently. Knowledge of standard German has again become important for economic reasons, but certainly English is more likely to play this role.
The Alsacien dialect was widely spoken in the big cities before WWII. After the war, people were discouraged from speaking anything else but French and children were even punished if heard speaking Alsacien on the playground.
In the last 30 years, the Alsacien dialect has rapidly declined and therefore the French Government has put in place some measures to try and save it. Children at school can take in optional "Regional Language and Culture" lessons and can even choose this subject as an optional one in their final high school examination.
To an unexercised ear, Alsacien might sound very similar to standard German, when it is in fact very different. As there is no written grammar, Alsacien is pretty much a free agent and whenever new words come into the everyday vocabulary, people will normally choose the French word over the German ones. Today, Alsacien is enjoying a small resurgence with many communities,(including Strasbourg),posting bi-lingual street signs in both standard French and Alsacien dialect as the stigma associated with German culture is no longer an issue.
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Alsace Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.