euronetlang - Legautonomie
Transcription
euronetlang - Legautonomie
EURONETLANG European Network of Language minorities A work by Valentina Guiducci and Paola Manca, Legautonomie 1 The project was funded by the “Europe for citizens” programme With the participation of the following Municipalities: Pomaretto, Orosei, San Marzano di San Giuseppe, Montecilfone, San Felice del Molise, Acquaviva Collecroce, Montemitro, Prali, Abries, Perosa Argentina, Chateauneuf du Faou, Shkodër, Grad Omis, BESA Union of Municipalities, Associazione Molisana per l’accoglienza. 2 THE PROJECT The EuroNetLang project, promoted and organised by Legautonomie and Focus Europe, aims to set up and strengthen a European network of Municipalities on the theme of linguistic minorities, a cooperation between municipalities and twinned municipalities through the exchange of experience, good practices, project ideas and through the enhancement of minority languages. It also aims to provide models which can be replicable in Europe. The project, developed between 2012 and 2014, involved local administrations, citizens and the local administrations of four European Countries – Italy, France, Albania and Croatia – and it also involved those municipalities where minority languages are spoken, such as Occitan, Arbëresh, Croatian, Sardinian and Breton. The goal of the EuroNetLang project is to set up an exchange network among European countries in order to define common methodologies aimed to preserve these linguistic minorities and, at the same time, to foster their development from a cultural and tourism point of view. The linguistic minorities of the European Union are an extraordinary historical and cultural wealth, a fundamental heritage that must be preserved. 3 The objectives of EuroNetLang in brief: To promote a forum of meeting and dialogue between municipalities and twinned municipalities To raise the participants’ awareness of the socio-cultural value of linguistic minorities in the EU To strengthen the cooperation within the European Union To identify new methodologies to preserve and/or promote linguistic minorities To foster the exchange of experience and good practices To foster active citizenship THE STEPS OF THE PROJECT AND THE WEBSITE The project was developed through four events which were held in four different municipalities: Orosei (NU), Shkodër (Albania), Pomaretto (TO) and Châteauneuf du Faou (France). In each step of the event, participants had the chance to share local projects, good practices and project ideas. This joint work led to a “network” of municipalities, associations and citizens committed to the protection and the enhancement of minority languages, all of which has been also reported on the website www.euronetlang.eu. The portal has been translated into three languages: Italian, English and French, and it contains materials and multimedia contributions systematically shared by the various participants in the project. 4 THE FIRST STEP OF EURONETLANG: THE MUNICIPALITY OF OROSEI The first step of the EuroNetLang project took place in Sardinia in the municipality of Orosei from 26 to 29 October 2012, with its main theme being “Language and Culture”. Two days of seminars, workshops, debates and cultural activities with local administrators, language operators and experts, schools, associations and citizens, with the aim of sharing good practices and experience in the field of interculturality. The topic of language as the cultural foundation of identity has been broadened through music and singing workshops where particular relevance was given to the cantu a tenore, typical of Sardinia. Practical demonstrations and performances of many musicians, choirs and local folk bands were much appreciated. During the first session, held on 27 October 2012, the main theme was “Language standardisation and socialisation”, with interventions by: Joyce Mattu, researcher, language and cultural operator, on “National and Regional European Laws compared. Sociolinguistic issues and basic language policy”; Alessandro Mongili, sociologist of the University of Padua, on “Length and complexity of standardisation processes, the case of the Limba Sarda Comuna”; Diegu Corraine, professor of humanities and scholar of the Sardinian language, on “The Sardinian language between Orosei and Cagliari”. In the second session, the main theme was “Methods of socialisation and learning of the language in language” with: Gianfranca Piras, language operator, with a lecture entitled “In my own way. Experiences of experimentation of the Sardinian language at school”; Maria Maddalena Antonella Licheri, language operator, on “The work of the ULS –Uffici lingua Sarda (Sardinian language helpdesk) in Sardinia”; Marisa Margherita, operator of the Arbëresh 5 language helpdesk of the Municipality of San Marzano San Giuseppe; Mourglia Miriam, operator of the helpdesk in the Municipality of Pomaretto; Bruno Valter Filippo, deputy major of the Municipality of Perosa Argentina; Diano Massimo, major of Santa Cristina Gela; Fernanda Michelina Pugliese, Linguistic minorities in the Molise Region; Sara Firinu, language professor and operator, who presented the game in Sardinian language “Si sez atzudu ajò”; Manuela Mereu, language professor and translator from and into Sardinian language, with an intervention on “Didactics of the Sardinian language: instruments and means”. The session, held on 28 October 2012, started with “Language at school and in society”, with interventions by: Francesco Casula, professor of humanities, writer and scholar of the Sardinian language, on “Literature in Sardinian”; Giuseppe Gaia, teacher of humanities at the Province of Nuoro’s Liceo Artistico, on “Sardinian poetry in the didactics, CLIL method (Content and Language Integrated Learning); Gianni Lodo, I.P.S.A. professor from Oristano 6 on “Territories: mounts, plains and woods, CLIL method (Content and Language Integrated Learning)”. The first session ended with the showing of the documentary film “Murra sarda” by Andrea Lotta (ISRE – Istituto Superiore Regionale Etnografico). The afternoon plan included music workshops for “Intrare in Sonu” with Clara Farina, actress, who performed “Ringratziamentos” by Remundu Piras, accompanied by the tenor Osana; Bustianu Pilosu, teacher at the School of Ethnomusicology of the Music Conservatory of Cagliari, with an intervention entitled “The Tenor and the language”. Works went on with “Music workshops in the tradition: construction and modality of execution”, with Cesare Carta, expert in “Launeddas e pitiolu”, Gian Giacomo Rosu, expert in “triàngulu e tumbarinos”, Pier Paolo Piredda, expert in “trunfa”, and Patrizio Mura. 7 During the day the photographic documentary “Tramas” by E. Lussu, which is focused on the traditional weaving in Armungia, was screened. A performance of tenors in the square of the municipality and one of choir songs in the Orosei church ended the day. 8 THE SECOND STEP OF EURONETLANG: THE SHKODËR MUNICIPALITY The city of Shkodër – Shkodra in Albanian – hosted, from 6 to 9 May 2013, the second of the four events planned for the project. The event focused on “Policies and law at local, national and European level for the protection and the promotion of minority languages”, and local administrators, the heads of linguistic helpdesks, language teachers and experts, exponents of local associations and citizens took part in it. In Albania there was the presentation of local projects, some of which were realised and some others are currently being implemented: those were managed through linguistic helpdesks, unions of municipalities or mountain communities, single municipalities. A valid example is given by the project “Coltivare parole” implemented by the Occitan linguistic helpdesks, which promotes the language by retracing the steps that link the knowhow and the construction of the identity (www.coltivareparole.com); it is also worth mentioning the organization and promotion of various cultural events by the BESA Union of Municipalities (composed of the municipalities of Contessa Entellina, Mezzojuso, Piana degli Albanesi, Palazzo Adriano and Santa Cristina di Gela), a true thematic union, which is unique at a national level, and which was created for the joint management of the protection, promotion and development of the Arbëresh cultural heritage. The Sardinian municipality of Orosei presented projects for the production of educational material in schools, and the research work on “Comente naschit una limba” in the occasion of an educational course promoted by the University of Cagliari. The Municipality of San Marzano di San Giuseppe, in order to give continuity to the project, felt the need to put forward a new project 9 proposal which, by broadening the network of the Euronetlang project, puts together not only the linguistic heritage, but also the whole intangible cultural heritage of these territories, in a tight integration of environment, culture and tourism. The exchange of experience between the territories involved, starting with the linguistic heritage, made it possible to retrace the steps of that common European history, that is also a history of migration from Albania to Italy, and to rediscover the traits of an identity based on language, culture and history, which acquires its unitary dimension in Europe. The linguistic and cultural diversity is a valuable asset for Europe, which has always recognized its wealth and its political-cultural foundation in the slogan “Unity in diversity”. 10 THE THIRD STEP OF EURONETLANG: THE MUNICIPALITY OF POMARETTO The Occitan valleys of Valle Chisone and Germanasca hosted, from 24 to 27 October 2013, the third event of the EuroNetLang project, focused on the topic “Minority languages and active ageing”. The municipalities and the communities of Pomaretto, Prali and Perosa Argentina together with the local associations welcomed the European delegation and hosted the three-day seminars, workshops and site visits on the territory. In relation to the objectives of the 2012 European Year for Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity, research projects and joint initiatives between the young and older people were presented, taking into account the important contribution that “old generations” can offer in order to preserve and foster culture and minority languages, as they are often the only influential and most authentic bearers of historical memory. Of particular interest was the presentation of the Toponymic Atlas of mountain Piedmont, project managed by the University of Turin and aimed at the protection of the orally transmitted toponymic heritage of the mountain. The important contribution of civil society in the promotion and the protection of the local culture can be seen in the local cultural associations (La Valaddo, Poggio Oddone, La Teto Aut, Amici della Scuola Latina), which have always been committed to the promotion of language and culture knowledge, and of the Provençal culture through conferences, exhibitions and publications. The event was also a chance to present projects of local development that bring together culture, environment and tourism. The visit to the Ecomuseum of Mines and Germanasca Valley (Scopriminiera and Scopri Alpi financed by European funds for interregional co-operation) and the visit to the exhibition “Antichi 11 Mestieri” (“The old crafts”) are part of a wider project of material culture aimed at the creation of a ecomuseum network, a project focused on the identification of a community with its own territory and the enhancement of local peculiarities. It is a good instance of conversion and of reaction to the economic and employment crisis that has hit at first the sector of talc extraction, then the textile sector and lastly the satellite activities linked to Fiat. Today, the Germanasca and Chisone valleys invest in culture, history and environment, and in their greatest heritage: the beauty of their mountains. During the morning of 25 October 2013 the convention “Linguistic minorities and active ageing: the contribution of older people on the protection and the promotion of culture and minority languages” was held, with the participation of: Aline Pons, from the Occitan linguistic helpdesk; Professor Federica Cusan, of the University of Turin; Vanda Petrone, Researcher, and the partner delegates of the project. During the convention the “Toponymic atlas of mountain Piedmont: a three-decade experience in our valleys” was presented. This was followed by the workshop “EU strategies in favour of active ageing”. 12 The session of 26 October started with the Project planning workshop: Projects of joint initiatives between the young and older people for the promotion and the protection of local culture and language, which saw the participation of Manuela Ressent, from the popular traditions group “La Teto Aut”, Ugo Piton, honorary president of the cultural association “La Valaddo”, Claudio Tron, president of the cultural association “La Valaddo”, Guido Ronchail, constructor of ghirondas, Luca Poetto, ghironda player and the partner delegates of the project. After the presentation of the project EuroNetLang website, in the afternoon schedule there were visits to the exhibition “The old crafts” at the Scuola Latina in Pomaretto and a visit to the Ramie vineyards. 13 THE FOURTH STEP OF EURONETLANG: THE MUNICIPALITY OF CHÂTEAUNEUF DU FAOU Brittany hosted, in the Municipality of Châteauneuf du Faou, the fourth and last step of the project, focused on the topic “Best practices, methods and instruments to promote and protect minority languages in Europe”, from 15 to 18 March 2014. The best practices of regional and European active citizenship were the focal points of the Breton event, with the expression of all those practices of a language policy that brings back regional languages to a normal language status, just like French, Italian, English and all the official languages. A minority that has become “dominant”, because even since the first postwar period, its people decided to exercise their influence through groups, associations, schools, institutions, on the only key pawn that could restore the Breton language and culture’s dignity and re-launch it, and that was the political class which understood and welcomed this idea and its practice. Investing in local resources and in the material and intangible heritage, Brittany could achieve its goals of language, cultural, economic, social and political affirmation, by enhancing, re-launching, strengthening and exchanging its resources. The major of Châteauneuf du Fau presented the traditional costumes and musical instruments to the delegates, and talked about the investments of the regional and municipal administration in the fields of agriculture, fishing and culture. In the testimony of the Breton writer Yann Moulin and that of Christian Rivoalen, director of Kreiz Breihz radio, one could find the history of the Breton language, from its censorship to its recovery and dissemination thanks to the interventions of schools, medias, radio and television at first, and also of publishing, toponymy, cultural and mainly commercial activities. 14 The meeting saw the participation of the Honourable Maryvonne Blondin, Senator of the Finistère and vice president of Cultural Affairs at the General Council, and member of the European Commission, delegate for Cultural Affairs, who came from Paris in order to meet the delegations and explain the methods, the instruments, the practices and the funding. 15 THE ARBËRESH LANGUAGE THE MUNICIPALITY OF SAN MARZANO DI SAN GIUSEPPE1 PROJECTS 1) “The arbëresh multimedia toponymy, making it known and enhancing it” Description of the project The project aims to develop various points: to take a census of cultural structures in the historical centre, to enhance their activities and to disseminate as best as possible all the cultural resources of this historical centre to the entire community, and to take a census of the local Arbëresh language. This projects includes the creation and the dissemination of a coordinated image. “Welcome” road signs will be strategically installed in points of access to the territory, road signs in Italian and Albanian language made of ceramic from Grottaglie, a town in the province of Taranto. With this kind of road sign system we want to transmit, not only a coordinate image (also from a visual point of view), but also a clear message, able to make the comprehension of the main characteristic of the territory immediate: a territory in which people speak a language that is different both from Italian and from the dialect of Salento, a language through which an Arbëresh culture can find its expression. 1 By Marisa Margherita, linguistic helpdesk of San Marzano e San Giuseppe (482/99) 16 In fact, among the activities for language revitalisation, bilingual toponymy (national language and minority language) is a fundamental instrument in order to regain prestige and visibility: it favours an increase in the populations’ language awareness and it stimulates its daily use. In brief: bilingual toponymy provides everyone with a chance to reflect on the history of the territory, even just while passing by car, bike or foot. The entire project’s development is going to be possible thanks to the synergic work of the municipal administration and the linguistic helpdesk (482/99), for the arrangement of the procedure and the positioning of the road signs, and also to ensure that each road sign shows the municipal toponymy in the local Arbëresh variety. Expected outcomes The implementation of the project will be instrumental for the preservation of the language for new and old generations which could, from the bilingual reading of the history related to an icon or a reproduced street, receive elements to preserve historical and linguistic memory of their own origins. The time expected for the implementation is no more than a year from the start of the project. The language The search for toponyms will be implemented through interviews to the entire population, in order to try and recreate the historical memory of the sites and to develop that sense of ethnic belonging that today seems to have abandoned the new generations. At the same time, during the phase of the interviews a multimedia linguistic census will be taken. This research project aims to implement a systematic lexical collection within the Arbëresh (or Albanian-Italian) community of 17 San Marzano di San Giuseppe. As this is an area that has not been studied in depth on a linguistic point of view, the municipality of San Marzano, together with the municipal Linguistic Helpdesk (482/99) has developed a research project aimed at collecting and systematically filing the lexicon of this community. The language spoken in this territory is Arbëresh (or Albanian-Italian), a more or less archaic dialectal variety of the southern Albanian. The arbëresh dialects are characterized by a complex variety, as they are the result of conservative linguistic traits that were brought by people from their mother country, but also of innovative traits absorbed in the new settlements in Italy. For linguistic and historical reasons, we have decided to examine the current condition of the local arbëresh dialect, taking into consideration the strong reduction of its use in favor of standard Italian and regional dialect. This is a phenomenon called in linguistics language shift, whose direct consequence could be the language death, as it already happened to some Albanianspeaking communities in Southern Italy, such as Villa Badessa in Abruzzo. The importance and the need for this operation is stressed even more by the fact that Arbëresh was listed in the UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages, as one of the many languages in the world which at risk of extinction. This research project has become operative thanks to the aid of the theoretical principles of Atlas Linguarum Europae (ALE), a project created in 1965 and implemented in 1970 under the aegis of UNESCO. Procedure This project will be implemented in two different steps: the first step is a period of research in the field aimed at the collection of lexical data and the second step is the filing of data. The survey on dialects will be conducted through interviews and the administering of questionnaires of the Atlas Linguarum Europae 1 and 2, to women and men born and raised in San Marzano of an age band between 55 and 99. The second step will be aimed at the 18 elaboration of collected data and their filing in a computer database that will be then transferred on an audio DVD digital support. The database will be accompanied by a printed glossary, in which the terms in arbëresh collected through fieldwork will be reported, together with their translation into Italian. Educational and didactic objectives This project wants to lead the future citizen to the recovery of the Albanian language and the sense of ethnic and historical belonging that, being only perfunctorily known in the San Marzano di San Giuseppe territory, and just through oral transmission, doesn’t bring the young closer to the arbëresh literature heritage. More specifically our aims are: 1) To provide decoding and coding instruments for the Albanian language through toponymy (an intervention that was never funded by Law no. 482/99); 2) To deepen (the knowledge of) Albanian history, customs, traditions and folklore; 3) To learn to appreciate the Albanian artistic-literal heritage; 4) To promote the importance of the knowledge of one’s own origins in order to achieve a better knowledge of oneself; 5) To educate to the pride of one’s own ethnicity to be able to start appropriate initiatives on the territory in order to improve the quality of life; 6) To deepen morphological and lexical knowledge as far as the language of San Marzano is concerned; 7) To juxtapose the local spoken language with the knowledge of other spoken Arbëresh languages, first that of Apulia and then those of the Albanian-speaking Italy, stressing the phonetic, morphological and syntactical differences; 8) To deepen the knowledge of Albanian literature by the reading, translation and analysis of extracts from the most important arbëresh authors’ works; 19 9) To deepen the knowledge of the history of the Albanian people in Italy, through a study focused on prominent characters and on historical Arbëresh events. The merit of the database is that of providing the user with the possibility to compare the terms and to listen to the pronunciation of every single word listed. The final product of the work is: a bilingual road sign system in the streets of the historical centre and a DVD that comes with a printed pamphlet which will be handed out for free to families, schools and cultural associations of the entire community that is subject to this study. If this project could make this happen, it would be the first time this community can count on a digital language documentation and also on a bilingual toponymy. This will represent a true turning point in terms of what the local Arbëresh linguistic literature has represented until now. It will be possible to transmit the voice of the past to the future generations, and if, in the near future, the language will disappear as it already happened in many other communities, this kind of work will serve as a tangible testimony of our historical linguistic tradition. The project has already obtained, with our great enthusiasm, free patronage from the University of Salento. 2)“Web TV arbëresh: making it known and enhancing it” Introduction In continuity with the project authorized last year and under current development, we confirm the will to proceed in the literacy work of the local arbëresh language, making full use of the opportunity offered by the Internet to enter, through the modern multimedia, in the young’s everyday life but above all in that of those who are interested in exploring a migration story which has characterised a 20 territory known as “Arberia tarantina”, by drawing an ethniclinguistic map in order to disseminate and enhance the signs and the sounds of a language that is at risk of extinction. The school is aware of the impossibility to organize the teaching of a language at risk of extinction, unless it is done by starting with the literacy of said language. For this reason, with the support of the activities implemented in the past for the recovery and the enhancement of the territory’s oral linguistic heritage, and through the various projects for the Arbëresh language, it wants to pursue the aim of the current project to bring the minority language closer to young users, who will become the future bearers of a specificity that must be preserved and safeguarded. A path that cannot work without a strong relationship with the families, as they will be required to participate, collaborate and share information according to their knowledge, as well as attitudes and mindsets related to the contents of this project in order to help them rediscover the pride of a “diversity” that must be perceived as a wealth to be protected and enhanced. Beneficiaries’ needs The project stems from the need to establish interactive relationships between the adults of the community and children to promote the transmission of the linguistic heritage to the young generations through the active participation in various expressions of the Arbëresh culture, also counting on the aid of the folkloristic singing tradition, and to favor, at the same time, the historicalcultural knowledge of a territory which expands its boundaries and involves other neighbouring towns in the province. Objectives The main objective of the project is to continue favoring the use of minority languages within the family and in interpersonal relationship to give the proper dignity to a language that, 21 reinterpreted from a modern point of view, must be necessarily conveyed through modern medias such as the Internet and television. The product we intend to create wants to protect the historical linguistic minority of San Marzano and meet the expectations of the population that strenuously wants to preserve its mother tongue and the still alive culture linked to it, also without neglecting the promotion and the enhancement of these areas and of its local resources. The project wants to reproduce a format to be disseminated through the Internet, implemented in schools, with the double function of information and cultural instruction, targeting the populations concerned, but open also to the Apulians so that they can realize the richness of the languistic, historical, cultural, traditional and religious heritage of the Arbëresh linguistic minority, which has been able to integrate itself in the political and social life of the region, but keeping intact at the same time its “diversity”. This will be achieved through a historical-folkloristic journey that on the one hand wants to trace the borders of Arberia Tarantina, in an explorative path to the sites affected by the Albanian people arrival between ‘400 and ‘500, some of which have now disappeared, and on the other hand, wants to recover the singing linguistic heritage of the local folkloristic tradition with the production of a music CD. The material, collected also in collaboration with families, will be used for the set-up of an ethnographic museum accessible to the pupils of the institutes on the territory, as a documentation of the carried out research. Methodology In each step the use of the minority language will be favored, making pupils active protagonists of the project, and aware of the 22 products to be created and of the objective that, through it, we want to fulfill. The arbëresh language will be used on the Internet and on television in order to get the people’s ears accustomed to listening to the native language and to continue favoring this language within the family and in interpersonal relationships, especially regarding younger people. The use of the language on Internet and on television constitutes an essential element to give the right dignity to a modern language that must be necessarily conveyed through current means such as the Internet and television. The format will have a non-standardised index. The contents will be developed in historical paths of research and reconstruction of the signs left by the first Albanians when they passed through the towns of the area affected by the migration flux, which are tangible testimonies of their presence. There will be also time for moments of entertainment dedicated to younger people and sections created in collaboration with cultural associations and local folkloristic bands for the research, in the local music heritage, of songs and dances of the arbëresh tradition. To this end, the school will commit to the formation of a long-term folk band made of pupils from the primary and junior secondary school of the institute. The format will be produced via the Internet and its duration shall not be of less than 20 minutes nor more than 30. A maximum of 12 episodes will be created, with monthly replays. The website of the show will be continuingly updated and perfectly interactive and multimedia in order to give space to the users and to all those who wants to give their contribution to improve the website. Work techniques: - interactive and recreational, communicative approach. 23 1) Research project for the lexical collection in the Albanian community of San Marzano di San Giuseppe (TA) Introduction This research project aims to implement a systematic lexical collection within the arbëresh (or Albanian-Italian) community of San Marzano di San Giuseppe. As this is an area that has not been studied in depth on a linguistic point of view, the municipality of San Marzano, together with the municipal Linguistic Helpdesk (482/99) has developed a research project aimed at collecting and systematically filing the lexicon of this community. The language spoken in this territory is Arbëresh (or Albanian-Italian), a more or less archaic dialectal variety of the southern Albanian. The arbëresh dialects are characterized by a complex variety, as they are the result of conservative linguistic traits that were brought by people from their mother country, but also of innovative traits absorbed in the new settlements in Italy. For linguistic and historical reasons, we decided to examine the current condition of the local arbëresh dialect, taking into consideration the strong reduction of its use in favor of standard Italian and regional dialect. This is a phenomenon called in linguistics language shift, whose direct consequence could be the language death, as it already happened to some Albanianspeaking communities in Southern Italy, such as Villa Badessa in Abruzzo. The importance and the need for this operation is stressed even more by the fact that Arbëresh was listed in the UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages, as one of the many languages in the world that are at risk of extinction. This research project has become operative thanks to the aid of the theoretical principles of the Atlas Linguarum Europae (ALE), a project created in 1965 and implemented in 1970 under the aegis of UNESCO. 24 Procedures This project will be implemented in two different steps: the first step is a period of research in the field aimed at the collection of lexical data and the second step is the filing of data. The survey on dialects will be conducted through interviews and the administering of questionnaires of the Atlas Linguarum Europae 1 and 2, to women and men born and raised in San Marzano of an age band between 55 and 99, resident in the municipality and with a low education level. The research was carried out in its entirety according to the ALE 1 and ALE 2 questionnaires. The second step, that is currently under implementation, will be aimed at the elaboration of collected data and their filing in a computer database that will be then transferred on an audio DVD digital support. The database will be accompanied by a printed glossary, in which the terms in arbëresh collected through fieldwork will be reported, together with their translation into Italian. Educational and didactic objectives This project wants to lead the future citizen to the recovery of the Albanian language that, being only perfunctorily known in the San Marzano di San Giuseppe territory, and just through oral transmission, doesn’t bring the young closer to the arbëresh literature heritage. More specifically our aims are: 1) To provide decoding and coding instruments for the Albanian language; 2) To deepen the knowledge of Albanian history, customs, traditions and folklore; 3) To learn to appreciate the Albanian artistic-literal heritage; 4) To promote the importance of the knowledge of one’s own origins in order to achieve a better knowledge of oneself; 25 5) To educate to the pride of one’s own ethnicity to be able to start appropriate initiatives on the territory in order to improve the quality of life; 6) To deepen morphological and lexical knowledge as far as the language of San Marzano is concerned; 7) To juxtapose the local spoken language with the knowledge of other spoken Arbëresh languages, first that of Apulia and then those of the Albanian-speaking Italy, stressing the phonetic, logical and syntactical differences; 8) To deepen the knowledge of Albanian literature by the reading, translation and analysis of extracts from the most important arbëresh authors’ works; 9) To deepen the knowledge of the history of the Albanian people in Italy, through a study focused on prominent characters and on historical Arbëresh events. The merit of the database is that of providing the user with the possibility to compare terms and to listen to the pronunciation of every single word listed. The final product of the work is: a dvd that comes with a printed pamphlet which will be handed out for free to families, schools and cultural associations of the whole community that is subject to this study. If this project could make this happen, it would be the first time this community can count on a digital language documentation. This will represent a true turning point in terms of what the local arbëresh linguistic literature has represented until now. It will be possible to transmit the voice of the past to the future generations, and if, in the near future, the language will disappear as it already happened in many other communities, this kind of work (which is already under development) will serve as a tangible testimony of our historical linguistic tradition. The project has already obtained, to our great enthusiasm, free patronage from the University of Salento. 26 Effects on the territory To educate people to appreciate the language as part of a cultural and anthropological heritage. To foster the knowledge of values of culture such as the peasant and artisan cultures through the language which exerts significant influence over economy and today’s social relationships To foster the integration of foreign students in the reality of the territory To listen, analyse and understand texts in the minority language To be able to collect linguistic information, analyse, classify and code them To foster the intercultural exchange with the Albanianspeaking community on the territory To use multimedia tools to select and organize data Producing CDs-DVDs, written texts, graphic and video representations to be distributed at schools, visitors and tourists. Expected results Recovery and enhancement of the language of one’s native community in a multicultural historical framework. 27 THE SHKODËR MUNICIPALITY 2 The town/city Shkodër (in Albanian language Shkodra or Shkodër, and its inhabitants are called scutarini or shkodran) is a city of 109.632 inhabitants situated in North-western Albania, capital of the District of Shkodër which overlooks on the banks of the lake by the same name, near the rivers Drin, Buna and Kir, at the center of a zone near which, in a 45 km range, one can find from the shores of the Adriatic to the mountains of the Albanian Alps, many types of attractions. It is considered as “the most important Albanian culture centre” or “the Balkans’ Florence”. The lower part of the course of the river constitutes a natural border with Montenegro. 2 By Adisa Bala, Master of Public Administration, Municipality of Shkodër 28 The reality of minorities Albania, in the course of his history as an independent State, was and still is comprised of an Albanese majority and many different minority populations, which prevalently come from near countries: Greece, Macedonia and Montenegro. If we refer to state institutions, with the 2004 Law there was the creation of the State Committee for Minorities in reply to the ratification of the “Council of Europe Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities”. The mission of this Committee is: To propose to the government that it takes into consideration issues of outmost importance for minorities, especially regarding the fulfilling of constitutional obligations and of those obligations set by other special laws, which regulate rights and freedoms of people belonging to these minorities; To propose to the authorities the adoption of central and local measures to improve the situation of people belonging to minorities; To deliver opinions and to propose educational, economic, social and cultural measures, promoting the broadcast of shows in the public medias for minorities; To Request the participation of the local or central government representatives in those issues which are of the State Committee for Minorities’ competence. In January 2010 the State Committee for minorities, under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports, and of the Ministry of Education and Science, promoted for the first time a cultural event dedicated to minorities: the “Minority Culture Day”. The cultural event, which involved the minorities of Albania, was a chance to present the cultural specificities of each minority also through their customs and traditional songs and dances. However, 29 the event was not reorganised and it remained one of the few initiatives for the protection and the promotion of minorities. In fact, currently the situation of the support and protection of minorities is not clear, nor stable. Shkodër, as a border city, has a minority population spread in the city and in the near areas: there are Montenegrins, Romanis, and Egyptians. The first problem was given by data and their official registering. Even after the 2011 Census the debate over statistic data is still open and there are many complaints. It is important to mention that in Shkodër there is also an association, “Alba-Montenegro” which represents the Montenegrin minority. This was officially created in 2001 with the sole objective of preserving the language, history and culture of Montenegro. “I’m happy to participate also as an associate of this organization – Adisa Bala, Master of Public Administration, from the Municipality of Shkodër explained – because I feel the spirit of the importance that your origin can give you. The Municipality of Shkodër has an active and positive attitude toward minorities, we are trying to support them and to collaborate with them, but we’re not able to finance or implement specific strategies yet. In our municipality two social specialists work on activities or projects concerning this objective. To be part of the EuroNetLang project is not just an asset for our institutions, or an ulterior motivation for our work, but it is also a strong support which helps us promote our language and cultural 30 co-existence and tourism. We are going to contribute to the implementation of this project through the active participation in the creation of the new project website, through the participation in networks, regional round tables, so that we can carry forward proposals for minorities, as we have a long path ahead of us”. 31 THE OCCITAN LANGUAGE THE MUNICIPALITY OF POMARETTO 3 LINGUISTIC HELPDESKS Making full use of the opportunities provided by Law no. 482 of 15/12/1999 for the protection of historical linguistic minorities, starting from March 2004 a Linguistic Helpdesk was activated at the Scuola Latina (Latin School) in Pomaretto, as a decentralisation of the Helpdesk of the then Mountain Community of Valli Chisone and Germanasca. The Helpdesk, in addition to giving support upon request to public authorities (Municipalities, Parks, and other institutions) for translations, teaching and language consulting, also implements promotion and enhancement activities for linguistic minorities, which, for the Chisone e Germanasca valleys are Occitan (in its variation of Alpine Provençal) and French. Among the most relevant activities implemented at the Scuola Latina, there are: Classroom courses, concerning both Occitan and French language and culture, recently organised in a strict collaboration with the Linguistic helpdesk of Val Pellice and the Waldesian Cultural Centre of Torre Pelice (TO), which is in charge of training projects; a course of introduction to articulatory phonetics was activated, intended for the heads of the various linguistic helpdesks subordinated to the Comunità Montana del Pinerolese: a basic knowledge of articulatory phonetics can help people master the mechanisms underlying the construction of the various 3 -By Miriam Mourglia, French helpdesk; Aline Pons Occitan helpdesk; Carlo Baret, member of the association “Amici della Scuola Latina” (“Friends of the Scuola Latina”); Ebe Balma, member of the association “Amici della Scuola Latina” (“Friends of the Scuola Latina”) 32 graphic conventions. For 2014, an Occitan course was activated, with the aim of establishing a suitable framework of the different varieties of Cisalpine Occitan, and presenting the students with different levels of language analysis, using Occitan itself as a vehicular language during the lessons. Available also on the Internet, is an on-line Occitan course, which refers to the Alpine Provençal spoken in the Valle Germanasca; the spelling used is based on the spelling of the Escolo dou Po; The Language Minorities Day, which takes place on the last Saturday of September, with the organization of conventions, meetings and concerts; Writing and drama contests, related to the production of unpublished literary works and drama, which were held in 2008; Documentaries on traditional works in Valle Germanasca, created from recordings and interviews made by the Wiesen Institute on a project by the Comunità Montana del Pinerolese; Community map of Pomaretto, as a result of a project carried out between 2010 and 2011. A “narration of one’s own territory” created with the active involvement and participation of the population; 33 Coltivare parole website, in collaboration with La Valaddo, “learning to do by learning to say”: a rich collection of testimonies, told in the local patouà and accessible to a wide audience. Many materials, accompanied by audio recordings and videos, were aimed at the rediscovery of how to grow a vegetable garden, a vineyard, which herbs are edible and much more… A space thought to “collect, cure and disseminate the actions and the words that talk about an opaque knowledge, which, if rediscovered, can possibly improve the quality of our lives even today”. Among the strengths of the project, we can mention the involvement of about ten people in the video editing work, each of whom make the project richer as they all bring different competences: from ethnobotany to photography, to translation and video editing. Also, during two years of activities, more than forty people were interviewed, and in this way they were able to contribute to the protection of their own traditional knowledge. Interactive workshops at primary and junior secondary schools. In the year 2013 a pilot project called “Crescere in lingua” was implemented, which, in collaboration with the string quintet “Archi Torti”, involved about 100 children of primary schools on the territory in a project ideated with the aim of bringing the young closer to minority languages through the learning of popular songs. Thanks to a wide research work, the songs were contextualized and made accessible to an audience of young listeners. The themes faced were racial integration, emigration, love for one’s dear ones; these topics make it possible to create a strong link between the past and present life, by proving that yesterday’s problems, and also their solutions, are the same of today’s. Again in collaboration with primary and junior secondary schools, in the course of the years many workshops regarding novels and the reading of tales and traditional 34 legends were implemented exclusively in the minority language, in order to offer children the opportunity of approaching the reality of a linguistic treasure that surrounds them, starting from a very early age. A textbook for primary schools produced in collaboration with teachers Rita Previati, Grazia Calliero and the C. Gouthier Comprehensive Institute of Perosa Argentina. This textbook, made of two volumes, was thought for pupils of primary schools and for local teachers. This work is a written trace for the learning and the teaching of the Occitan minority language to the young; Collaborations with RBE, Radio Beckwith Evangelica. These collaborations, which have been active for some years, have had the result of producing, for instance, interactive games which focus on each of the municipalities of Waldensian Valleys through riddles, acrostics, crosswords, questionnaires. 35 OCCITAN CENTRE OF DOCUMENTATION In the catalogue there are books, pamphlets, notebooks, manuals and graduation theses, audiovisual materials (music CDs, DVDs) which contain studies and research, dictionaries and grammars, songs and music, films and documentaries, linked to the Alpine Provençal language, and more in general, to the Occitan culture, but also to the material culture. The “core” of the Library consists of the complete collection of works by the two local scholars, Arturo Genre and Teofilo G. Pons. Material and linguistic culture are both present also in the exhibition “Gli antichi mestieri” (“The old crafts”) and in the documentary works on traditional works on the mountain (for instance the documentaries “To grow buckwheat” and “To grow grapevine”). 36 Finally, the presence of texts and documents in French proves the attention that the Library pays also to the second minority language of the valleys. The access to the patrimony of the Library is granted to scholars, researchers, and interested and keen people, schools and population for initiatives of protection and enhancement of linguistic minorities. 37 CROATIAN LANGUAGE4 The municipality of Acquaviva Collecroce, together with San Felice del Molise and Montemitro, represent Molise’s Slavic community. It is the community with the smallest number of speakers among the historical linguistic minorities in Italy. In spite of its small number of speakers, the Slavic in the Molise Region has survived for more than 500 years, orally transmitted from generation to generation. Certainly a reason for its long survival is to be found in the isolation in which the three towns that still preserve the language, found themselves for a long time. Another reason that contributed to the survival of Molise’s Slavic language is the strong attachment of the community to its cultural and linguistic roots. Currently, Molise’s Slavic language is used for communications within the family and with friends, and people preserve and transmit the language privately. In this context, the contribute that older people could offer to preserve and promote Molise’s Slavic culture and language, is essential, as they are the sole bearers of historical memory, considering the lack of written documents. In order to maintain and transmit culture, traditions and language between older people and the young, it is necessary to implement initiatives that appeal to the older people’s attachment to their roots, and to the young’s thirst for knowledge. These initiatives cannot be carried out privately anymore. In order for them to be useful, we need the aid of the community and institutions. On this matter, I would like to briefly highlight some concrete initiatives implemented by these three towns to endorse the transmission of language knowledge and to use it as a local development factor. 4 By Michele Neri, deputy major of the municipality of Acquaviva Collecroce 38 The projects are: The financing for the printing of three novels edited in double language, Molise’s Slavic and Italian Istitution of the DE.CO. (municipal denomination of origin) in which, to the commitment to action for the territory’s development, we added the commitment to the preservation and transmission of old traditional recipes in a specific municipal Register. Of course, the original recipes are preserved and described both in Italian and in Molise’s Slavic Promotion of a strategic project for local development of the territory, which consists of the experimentation of the immigration policies and of the integrated management of literary cafés Participation in various international cooperation projects, such as: ° Creative workshops of the Adriatic ° Ad. MO. CRO. The projects “Polo dei Caffè Letterari” and “Immigration Policies” are educational projects aimed at the transmission of the accumulated local culture to the new generations. 1. In the old jobs (artisans’ workshops for wood, iron, weaving etc); 2. In the production and preservation of food (typical sausages, hams, etc); 3. In the musical, singing production and popular dances; 4. In the services of proximity; 5. In the culture of the sites. With a ESF financing, theoretical-practical educational courses will be organized in the literary cafès, all of which aimed at the acquisition of techniques linked to these traditions. 39 Teachers (older teachers living in these three municipalities) will transfer to the new generations (young residents between the age of 23 and 35) specific knowledge and competences, including manual skills, linked to these activities with the aim of training young artisans able to reinterpret roles and functions inherent to those activities, reintroducing them on the local and international market. Thus, it is a project which uses the intergenerational dialogue as a resource for compatible development. It also aims to give new dignity to the local culture and traditions, considered as the living memory of a community, to be used as a credible and applicable solution to transform the idea into a challenge. Moreover, to put this experience into a cross-border cooperation logic (particularly with Croatia) means to open a new and ulterior prospective based on the development of the Adriatic area as an opportunity of internationalization of paramount importance. The presentation of the projects: 1. Creative workshops of the Adriatic 2. AD.MO.CRO. Are all dedicated to this objective. The exchange between younger people from the Molise Region and Croatia, who will be involved in workshop activities organized under the informal method of active participation, is an occasion to create twinning arrangements and to create a common project planning. 40 SARDINIAN LANGUAGE5 The work carried out by me and other operators who have been working on this project since 2006, is strictly linked not much to the present legislation, but to the legislation applied by the Region of Sardinia, local authorities and schools. In other words, Art.5 of the Sardinian Statute of Autonomy provides that the Region can adapt the laws issued by the Republic of Italy to its particular needs, issuing integration and implementing rules, on the following matters: a) education of all types and levels, education systems. The Statute of Autonomy establishes that Sardinia adopt its own norms and laws in order to develop programmes that are not monolingual, but bilingual or multilingual, and that the programmes of history, culture, science and all the curricular subjects are integrated with the ministerial programmes, adapting them to the particular needs of the Sardinian territories. Clearly this must be done according to Articles 3 and 6 of the Italian Constitution, and to the principles of the European Charter. In fact, in Sardinia what was provided by Law 482/99 in application of Art. 6 of the Constitution, which doesn’t safeguard all the Sardinian linguistic minorities but only the Algherese and the Sardinian language, was implemented. Previously, in 1997, a regional Law was issued, that is the Regional Law 26/97 “Promotion and development of the culture and language of Sardinia”. This Law did not make a distinction between language and culture and has often been the foundation of projects that did not necessarily protect the Sardinian language and the other languages of the region safeguarded by said law: Algherese, Tabarchin, Gallurese and Sassarese. Finally, from 2006 the experimental standard was adopted and it involved regional, provincial, municipal administrations and schools. From 2009 another law for the curricular teaching of Sardinian with the CLIL method was issued, 5 A work by Joyce Mattu, Sardinian language operator, province of Nuoro 41 but the projects cover 24 hours per year and do not involve all schools. The activity focused on 7 fundamental sectors: 1. Sardinian language and culture teaching; 2. Translation of literary, informative texts and websites; 3. Language helpdesk; 4. Training of municipal employees and teachers; 5. Research on Sardinia’s history, culture, language and literature, sociolinguistics; 6. Curricular teaching of Sardinian language; 7. Training for museum operators; 8. Permanent training from 2003 to 2013; 9. Toponymy; respectively financed by Laws 482/99 and Regional Law 26/97 which not only financed teaching projects, but also financed the research on toponymy, literature, language, history and anthropology of Sardinia, and the publishing. This activity started in the school year 2000/2001, with a project based on Law 26 in a primary school in Nuoro. The project, financed by Law 26/97, dealt with the teaching of popular traditions and Sardinian dance. In this project children, in addition to learning dances of their own town, carried out a research in Sardinian language through the interviews to grandparents and older people of Nuoro, integrally recovering the history of the rituals and traditions, the ancient dance which had disappeared; this work, through the direct teaching of older people, brought to the rediscovery of the typical musical instruments, and also the canto a tenore. The children took part in workshops with the singers and recovered cultural practices, lexicon and idiomatic expressions. The project ended with a recital at the Ethnographic Museum of Nuoro, in which children danced accompanied by the Tenore Nugoresu and the accordion. Thus, this work involved children and extended families, Nuoro’s old neighbouring towns like Seuna and Santu Predu, older people, teachers, and the majority of the Nuoro community. The following activities are the ones carried out through the abovementioned projects: 42 Permanent training financed by Law 26/97 involved: 2003-2004 Master (second level) in Inter-disciplinary approaches in the didactic of Sardinian languages with a thesis in sociolinguistics, Thesis in Sociolinguistics, University of Cagliari, Educational Science 2011-2012 FILS (Teacher Training in Sardinian Language) at the University of Cagliari – Department of Philology and Modern Literatures, with a thesis in Sardinian language, 2013 FOLS (Operators training in Sardinian Language) RAS. The Research financed by Law. 26/97 involved: 2011-2012, Research on Sardinian Language and Literature, University of Amsterdam-RAS, which resulted in the text: didactic guide to the Sardinian language for the first biennial of primary school “pro unu bilinguismu de cabbale”; 2006-2007, Ethno-anthropologic research, Municipalities of Soddì, Sorradile, Bidonì, Aidomaggiore, with the publishing of: “Maistros, I saperi, la società, i valori tra passato e presente nelle piccole comunità dell’interno”; 2004-2006 Socio-linguistic research, lexicon and morphology: study of a case in central Sardinia, possibility of development of the administrative language, University of Cagliari-RAS, Book: Limba e limbàgios. Ricerca Sociolinguistica: il caso Ovodda; 2002-2004 Research in History of Sardinia, University of Cagliari-RAS The Research and teaching financed by Law 482/99 are the following: 2007-2008 Sociolinguistic research, lexicon and toponyms, in the Municipality of Olzai (NU) with the creation of texts and signs, set in the square of the town, of toponyms, historical districts, services and tourism and cultural sites. 43 2007-2008 Position/Responsibility, Sociolinguistic research and toponyms in the Municipality of Orosei. 2006-2007 Sociolinguistic research, in the Municipality of Norbello. 2011 Teaching and training of Sardinian and Mediterranean Language and Culture, at the Museo Archeologico Comprensoriale in Teti. 2010 Teaching and training of employees in Sardinian language and culture, Municipality of Lodine “su sardu de oe e de cras”, popular culture and tradition. 2009-2010 Training of teachers in Sardinian language and culture “su sardu in domo, in iscola, in totue”, Istituto Comprensivo Ozieri. 2009-2010 Training of employees and external entities in Sardinian Language, Municipality of Olzai “su sardu e oe e de cras”. 2008-2009 Training of teachers in Sardinian language and culture, Istituto comprensivo di Tonara “su sardu in domo, in iscola, in totue”. Teaching of Sardinian Language, Primary School Ovodda (Ist. C. di Tonara) 2008-2009. Teaching of Sardinian Language, Primary School Olzai, lexical and grammatical research, texts, signs, theatre, Ist. Comprensivo Ottana, 2007-2009. Teaching and training of employees in Sardinian language and culture, Municipality of Orosei “su sardu in domu e in sa domo Comunale Oroseino LSC”, 2007-2008. Teaching and training employees in Sardinian language and culture, Municipality of Norbello (“su sardu in domo e in sa domo Comunale Norbelle- LSC”), 2006-2007. 44 The teaching in schools financed by Law 26/97 regarded Teaching of Sardinian language and culture (Rituals, Customs, Gastronomy, Jobs, Poetry), Orosei, Irgoli, Orune, Nuoro (3 buildings), Siniscola, Ottana, Olzai, Macomer, Cagliari (2 classes) – (Primary schools and Junior and Upper Secondary Schools), for a total of 896 hours, 2005-2008. In this triennial project I cured the teaching of language and popular traditions and also the translation of the website, entirely bilingual, which can be visited at the following url: http://www.itcsatta.nu.it/andalasdeimparu Teaching of Sardinian language and culture in images through the works of Grazia Deledda, for a total of 23 hours, Liceo Linguistico Nuoro, 2003-2004; Teaching of popular traditions and dance, school San Giuseppe Nuoro 2000-2001 The curricular teaching financed by Law n. 7 and the following modification in Law n. 3 of 7/8/2009 Teaching of Local History- European History at ITC S. Satta, Nuoro, 2012, Teaching Local History-European History (CLIL method) at ITC S. Satta in Nuoro, 2011, Teaching of Sardinian Culture (Agriculture) Istituto Comprensivo F.lli Costa Azara, Agriculture and SardinianItalian, 2009; Teaching of Italian and History, Istituto Comprensivo Azara Sorgono 2008-2009, Teaching of linguistic education Istituto Comprensivo di Macomer 2014, Teaching of linguistic education Istituto Comprensivo 2014 The study/promotion/enhancement of language and culture regarded: The presentation of books and conferences, and press articles, activities of linguistic desks in the last eight years in municipalities 45 and Province of Nuoro, Functionary of Sardinian language in the Province of Nuoro, 2014, workshops in Sardinian language at Isola delle Storie, Gavoi 2011, workshop in Sardinian language in the festival Tuttestorie Oliena 2011, workshop in Sardinian language at the book fair in Sardinia Macomer 2011, workshop in Sardinian language Thinisolimba Siniscola 2011, workshop in Sardinian language in the primary school of Sarule 2011, workshop in Sardinian language at the recreation centre of Meana 2011, workshop in Sardinian language at the recreation centre of Olzai 2011, workshop in Sardinian language mastros in Nùgoro, Nuoro 2011, Direction and Coordination of the Sardinian Language and Culture Desk, Municipality of Lodine 2010, Direction and Coordination of the Language Desk, Municipality of Ovodda 20072008, Direction and Coordination of the Sardinian Language and Culture Office, Municipality of Olzai, 2007-2010), Direction and Coordination of the Sardinian Language and Culture Office, Municipality of Orosei, 2007-2008 (1 year), Direction and Coordination of the Sardinian Language and Culture Office, Municipality of Norbello, 2006-2007 (1 year). It is worth specifying that at first, starting from 2006, we had to invent our own work, since we didn’t have a manual as a reference. Still, many operators and I succeeded in working proficiently and we obtained many results in the matter of linguistic policy, toponymy, teaching, press, publishing, the activities of the Desks, the creation of videogames, CD-ROMs, and didactic material. From 2006 to today, with the adoption of the standard, we have reached a systematic and more organic linguistic policy. All the works can be found in the following websites, in publications and on the website www.euronetlang.eu Blogs and websites of Sardinian language and culture: http://www.limbasarda.nuoro.it/ 46 http://www.dischente.or.it/doceboCms/index.php?special=changel ang&newLang=sardo http://novasdaesumandamentuiii.blogspot.it/ http://ufitziulimbasarda-planargiamontiferru.blogspot.it/ http://www.tenores.org/ http://www.sardegnacultura.it/linguasarda/ http://www.sardegnadigitallibrary.it/index.html 47 THE BRETON LANGUAGE In the last years, the teaching of the Breton language has increased steadily in the French territory, counting more than 15 thousand bilingual students. 5.2% of state schools has a bilingual course, and this rate becomes 6% in catholic private schools. Almost 7% of primary schools has a bilingual programme. In the Finistère and the Morbihan departments the rate exceeds 10%.6 The delegate of the Breton Language Office, who took part in the conference “Identification of new and innovative means to promote and safeguard minority languages as European cultural heritage”, which was held during the Châteauneuf du Faou meeting, explained the work carried out by the Office and the language policy carried out in collaboration with the Regional Council. From the training of new teachers for schools and universities, to the toponymy, medias, commercial activities, there isn’t any sector in which the Breton language isn’t on par with French, thanks to the work of the Office, which is not a volunteer work: it is institutional and institutionalised, thanks to the annual funding of sporadic and temporary projects which are separated from the rest of society and institutions. Moreover, it is also the result of a deliberate political choice of the Regional Council, which, as Senator Mariyvonne Blondin, Senator of the Finistère, Vice president of Cultural affairs at the General Council explained, has always elaborated through the Department of Languages – separated from the Department of Culture – a linguistic and cultural policy which is consistent, structured not only through the Council’s budget but also through the RDP and Community funding. 6 In Alsace, there is a bilingual flow in 20% of schools. This rate reaches 60% in the Northern Basque Countries. When comparing Brittany and Alsace in terms of bilingual students, in 1999 the ratio between the two countries was of 2.8 (which means that the rate of Alsatian students is 2.8 times bigger than the rate of Breton students), while in 2012 it reached a 4.7:1 ratio. 48 In Brittany three types of state and private schools were established: French school, bilingual school (French and Breton) and Diwan (Breton schools that follow the “full immersion” method) in which the languages mentioned are taught, from nursery school to high school. The Breton Language Office continually trains new teachers, who receive the training cheque and once their training is over, they start working in state schools as permanent members of the teaching staff: for three years they teach Breton and then they choose whether to teach Breton or French. The Office also works on permanent training for adults. In Châteauneuf du Faou other projects linked to the safeguard and enhancing of Breton language - like the toponymy of the town, for instance, that is both in French and in Breton - were presented, together with local enterprises and cooperatives like the publishing house Breizh Coop, which was visited by the participants in the Breton meeting, and which works on the dissemination of the Breton culture. 49