The language of a Crown Dependency
Jèrriais is the traditional language of Jersey, which is a Crown Dependency and not part of the United Kingdom. The Government of Jersey describes it as closely related to French and as having once been the island’s first language. This article summarises three government pages: “Jèrriais: Jersey’s traditional language”, the “Jèrriais Language Strategy 2022 to 2025” and a government blog post of 18 May 2023 by the head of the Jèrriais Teaching Service. It covers Jersey only. The figures quoted are dated, and each is attributed to the page and year it comes from.
What the government says about speakers
The government’s language page gives the 2001 census count: 2,874 people, 3% of the population, spoke Jèrriais, and around 15% had some understanding of the language. That count is more than two decades old. The strategy’s foreword states that Jèrriais remains endangered and needs significant ongoing support to survive, and describes the 20th century as enormously hard on the language. The strategy’s stated immediate challenge is to establish a critical mass of learners while stabilising and ultimately reversing the decline in the number of speakers.
Official status
The strategy foreword by the Assistant Minister with responsibility for culture says that a States Assembly amendment ensured that Jèrriais became one of three official languages of the States. It says the government has a responsibility to use the public sector to promote Jèrriais, which explains the appearance of the language on letterheads and signs, and that work was under way to seek ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Jèrriais. Those points are as stated in the strategy, which was written for the period 2022 to 2025.
Children’s lessons
According to the government page, before the 1960s there was no Jèrriais education in schools, and Jèrriais lessons are now offered in all States primary schools and some private and secondary schools. The Jèrriais Teaching Service provides sessions, some as “pallions” or after-school clubs, and schools are offered the Alentou d’Jèrri cross-curricular programme, in which children learn about Jersey’s history, geography, culture, heritage, music, dance and folklore with Jèrriais woven throughout. The 2023 blog reports that the number of Jèrriais learners grew to over 1,000, compared with just over 150 in the 2020 to 2021 academic year.
Adult lessons and apps
The government page says online and in-person Jèrriais lessons are available for adult learners from beginner to proficient, and gives L’Office du Jèrriais as the contact. The 2023 blog adds that Jèrriais was added to the uTalk language-learning app in June 2022, voiced by native speakers, and that a free licence covering Jèrriais and nine other languages could be obtained via the learnjerriais.org.je site. It also lists weekly café conversation groups in St Martin, St Helier and St Ouen, meeting from 10.30am, which were running in 2023. Anyone planning to attend should check current details with L’Office du Jèrriais, since the blog reports the situation in spring 2023.
What the strategy aims to do for learners
The strategy sets five themes: language acquisition, language use, language status, language corpus and language planning. Under acquisition, its aims include increasing the number of children and young people learning Jèrriais, developing opportunities for very young children in pre-schools and nurseries, securing a place for Jèrriais in the Jersey Curriculum, increasing the number of adults learning through a further-developed adult education programme, and creating a digital platform including a learning app and online resource. Aim 1.3 is to work towards accredited qualifications by working with other minority language groups to explore a GCSE-equivalent qualification in Jèrriais. The strategy names initiatives such as an early-years programme, a cross-curricular programme in schools and online lessons for adults and younger students. It also records that the Government Plan 2020 to 2023 funded the Jèrriais teaching service for up to seven staff.
The strategy is titled as the plan for 2022 to 2025.
What this means for a learner
- A learner in Jersey has an official teaching service, adult lessons and free app access.
- The strategy speaks of exploring an accredited qualification, so learners looking for a certificate should ask L’Office du Jèrriais what exists now.
Other minority-language guides on this site include Learning Scottish Gaelic and Learning Welsh, and general format advice appears in How to Choose a Language Course: Matching Format to Your Goal.
The bottom line
The Government of Jersey treats Jèrriais as an endangered heritage language it is trying to revive: it is an official language of the States, taught in all States primary schools, offered to adults online and in person, and available through a free uTalk licence. The learner numbers (over 1,000 as reported in the May 2023 blog, against just over 150 in 2020 to 2021) and the 2001 census speaker count are dated figures, and the language strategy runs from 2022 to 2025. For current lessons and any accredited qualification, L’Office du Jèrriais is the contact named by the government.
Sources
- Government of Jersey, “Jèrriais: Jersey’s traditional language” (gov.je)
- Government of Jersey, “Jèrriais Language Strategy 2022 to 2025” (gov.je)
- Government of Jersey blog, Ben Spink, “Un An Pus Tard – The Jèrriais Language Strategy 2022-25 – One Year On” (18 May 2023) (blog.gov.je)