Forget English: we want Occitan

Fecha de publicación: 25-nov-2009 20:32:10

By Lucy Stubbs on September 1, 2010

A bilingual class starting at the Ecole Maternelle Pignol this month means pupils in Sarlat will be educated bilingually up to the age of 12 – but the second language will not be English or Spanish; it will be Occitan.

Primary pupils at Jules Ferry and Ferdinand Buisson schools also do some maths, science and music in Occitan.

Jules Ferry head Laurence Plantec said: “It is a traditional language the children pick up easily and enjoy learning. Parents are pleased it is being taught and once the children have mastered this as their second language, it makes it easier to learn others.”

The language may also be introduced into a secondary school. Occitan was used in Périgord before the unification of France, when standard French was adopted.

http://www.dordogneadvertiser.fr/2010/09/forget-english-we-want-occitan/