Comments on: Language commission to be formed

By: St Marcouf

St Marcouf — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:23:43 +0000

I agree wholeheartedly with your insight. Guernsey is of course one of the last vestiges of the Duchy of Normandie but you would never know it.

Report abuse

By: valeite

valeite — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:26:27 +0000

Gache-a-pan.

Well that is fine but I cannot see the point of teaching good french and patois, when are they going to use patois. Years ago school had the basic subjects and little else, now they have so much to fill their little minds,I certainly would not want my grandchildren having to learn patois to the detriment of a valuable subject, even cooking would be more useful than patois. Not everyone is good at languages, let them do that as a hobby, but as for deputies getting involved oh pleeeeese.

Report abuse

By: Gâche-a-pan

Gâche-a-pan — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:38:27 +0000

I can speak Guernésiais and I am proud of it, I learnt it as a child from my Parents and Grandparents. I can also speak ‘Good French’ and I know that the fact that I knew and understood lé Guernésiais helped me no end to learn and speak French. I know some words are not the same in Guernésiais as they are in French but the tenses certainly do help. I am now teaching my grandchild of five and a half lé Guernésiais and he certainly enjoys it. I am also teaching him songs, some of which I have translated and others that I have made up in Guernésiais. I think young children benefit from learning it at a very young age, it WILL help later to learn French believe me.

Report abuse

By: Goubelin

Goubelin — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:18:57 +0000

I am a Norman from the Continent. I realise here (if the comments reflect really the peoples’ mind) that Guernsey is culturally (and mentally) dying from the very same disease that made Normandy become a flavourless colony of France : pragmatism, materialism, conformism, lack of fighting spirit. Guernsey people could not or did not want to struggle against the English cultural domination, and became simply an English colony, not yet fully flavourless, but right on the way. On the very same way as this planetary utopia with a single language want to make us these grey, standardised, flavourless, “world citizens” (for the seek of business: better market when 10 billion people consume Coca-Cola). Pragmatism can kill a culture. We have seen that on the Continent. Be aware.
If you cannot rescue your language (which existed nearly 500 years before modern French and English which are both “patois” of the Norman language), at least, try (if it is not too mentaly exhausting) to rescue the very last remains of specificities you have, unless your dream is to ressemble London people (or Paris if you prefer: not better).

Report abuse

By: West

West — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:04:13 +0000

I believe you are correct and I should of elaborated further. It was the principle I was trying to set out.

Report abuse

By: R.I.P.

R.I.P. — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:22:11 +0000

West, I think you’ll find that court documents and laws were written in French, not the Norman dialect. A few old laws are still in French.

Report abuse

By: sarnia expat

sarnia expat — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:39:09 +0000

Comment 14 – spot on. Lets concentrate on teaching our children to read, write and speak correct English first – and then start on another language other than Chavespeak.

Report abuse

By: West

West — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:58:45 +0000

St Marcouf – I agree with your comments, and the point you raise in your post no. 7 above para 4 is very close to the truth. But it is not just the states, it is our industry and every aspect of island life that has succumbed and become anglophiled. This has been going on for many years but has picked up pace since the 80′s. It was not that long ago when court documents, property deeds and language was Norman French first, English second but the influx of English peoples has determined our future. I doubt there is a way back.

Report abuse

By: markB

markB — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:24:37 +0000

So tell us St Marcouf, what use will it be for kids when they leave school, where will it take them, how will it help them?…. especially when no one other than a Guernsey person will understand it ?.

Now if they learnt Chinese that would come in very useful, Being that China is becoming, or is, the biggest industrial powers of the World.

Report abuse

By: valeite

valeite — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:18:18 +0000

Believe me St Marcouf I am a very old fashioned person and lived with my dear Gran and Grandpa who spoke patois so have been through it all,being told, many times if I had lived during the war I would have been pleased to eat that extra potato, to how they went to chapel in a horse and cart. Please do not call me a phillistine because I would be the first person to be able to go back to “old” Guernsey, but the world has changed, travel has got easier, youngsters travel to far off places that we would never have dreamed of going, so I cannot see the point in teaching patois. I am just being a realist and do not think it at all beneficial to learn a language that is all but lost.
I love listening to it spoken, but I would rather hear my grandson speak French or German even rather than some archaic language that he would only use on Euchre nights.

Report abuse

By: R.I.P.

R.I.P. — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:22:58 +0000

St M, Assuming your are not already a “parleur” of patois, why don’t you take one of the existing opportunities to learn, if you feel so strongly about preserving it? Or do you just like the vague idea that someone else will preserve it?

I think you’ll find that most of us philistines are not against the patois being continued by dedicated and, more importantly, willing participants. forcing the learning of a quirky, interesting but frankly useless dialest on our children is another matter, as is the spending of our taxes on doing so.

What next? will all the road signs have to be in patois as well as English? what about modern words that don’t exist in this ancient tongue? Will we have the farcical situation where they will be adopted from English or French by “Guernsifying” the spelling, like the Welsh language extremists do with English words?

Report abuse

By: Snoopy

Snoopy — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:12:36 +0000

St Marcouf, I do care about the history of Guernsey. Because it was no longer relevant or useful, Patois is now pretty much history.

The point being made is that it is not useful enough to spend taxpayers money on.

Quebec is a poor example. French is their main language, and most importantly it’s a widely used language around the world. The enforced use of Patois would be absolutely crazy…I’m not sure that you are even being serious to be honest!

Report abuse

By: floyd gacsy

floyd gacsy — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 19:45:03 +0000

go darrin go

Report abuse

By: St Marcouf

St Marcouf — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 17:42:04 +0000

The comments here demonstrate that, sadly, the island is full of philistines who care little about its quirks of history and uniqueness.

Perhaps this latest push will change that even though it doesn’t go far enough. I’d far rather see money spent on this than, e.g., promoting football in the island.

Report abuse

By: valeite

valeite — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 16:52:34 +0000

One minute we are being told that twitter and facebook are the way forward which I believe it probably is, people are cemented to their i pads these days, the next thing we are being told our kids should learn patois, well I am sure if they twittered in patois they would get a few choice replies mon vien.A definite no no for me, I am not at all into facebook and twitters but millions are and if there was a choice to learn patois or technology there is no contest.

Report abuse