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Breton is spoken in Brittany, in the north west of France. There are circa 500,000 current speakers of Breton. However, this figure is deceptive, as most speakers are over 60. This is a decline from the peak of 1.2 million in 1928.

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Breton was suppressed to such a degree, that parents were not able to name their children Breton names until 1993. In 1845, teachers were instructed by the sub-prefecture to "remember that you have no higher purpose than to kill the Breton language". Even as recently as 1972, President Pompidou stated "There is no place for regional languages in a France destined to mark Europe with its seal.” This is indicative of the previous suppression of Breton. While Breton is no longer actively suppressed, it is not protected as a language, which is the same for all other minority languages in France. France has not ratified the Council of Europe’s Charter on regional and minority languages.

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There is a movement for Breton nationalism, although its aims are not entirely clear. What is clear is the desire for more autonomy and the right to self rule, along with recognition of the language. Emgann is a leftist Breton nationalist party which refuses contact with established French political parties. The Breton Revolutionary Army (BRA) is a small separatist group, which unlike Emgann uses force. The BRA are branded a terrorist organisation by the government, but their attacks have only killed two people, both members trying to diffuse a bomb.

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Breton is one of the six extant celtic languages, including Irish, Welsh, Manx, Cornish and Scots. Breton was brought into Armorica (western Gaul) in the 5th and 6th centuries by settlers from south-western Britain. The language they spoke became Breton in Brittany, and Gallo-Romance in the Loire.

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Breton has a strong standing in the education system. It is taught in private schools as the primary language, and in many public schools as part of a bilingual program. However, up until 1951, Breton was not recognised as a subject in the school system. Even then, it had to be taught outside school hours on a voluntary basis. This reflects the historic policy of teaching only in French, monolingualism was seen as a way to make a homogeneous nation.

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https://www.britannica.com/topic/Breton-language - number of speakers, location

https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00439199/PDF/CIDREE_final.pdf

https://elalliance.org/languages/celtic/breton/

https://langsci.wiscweb.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1012/2019/01/09-Mendel.pdf - attitudes towards breton by people

https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/docs/info-ngos/eblul.pdf - French language policy
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/01/france.jonhenley -  Emgann and the Breton Revolutionary Army

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- It is a West-Flemish dialect spoken in North of France in particular Calais.
- The language has 20,000 full speakers and approximately 50,000 with varying proficiency.
-  Its a dialect subgroup, known as the French Flemish, has become a minority dialect that survives mainly in Dunkirk, Bourbourg, Calais, Saint-Omer, with a Haut-Pont ethnic enclave known for its primarily Flemish population.

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Flemish as a name for the language was first used by the French (Flameng) around 1500, when the Flemish people called their language Diets. In Italian and Spanish, Flemish was referred to as Flamenco, which also referred to the Dutch language in the Netherlands.
When people in Belgium today say they speak Flemish, they are in fact using a gallicism, a term of French origin.

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A growing, re-introduced language, French Flemish is taught in several schools in the French Westhoek (Dutch for west corner - region between France and Belgium).
An experiment of teaching Flemish to students was carried out in four public schools in the Nord de France from the year 2007-2011. After there was an evaluation, requirements were met and the teaching was allowed to continue in those schools but not expand to other 'collège'

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Flemish Movement: a language barrier splitting the country

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Flemish Movement: a language barrier splitting the country

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Background to the social movement: The Flemish Movement made significant advances after WWII, especially in the early 1960s. Belgium's objective increasingly switched from bilingualism to regional unilingualism. In 1962, the language areas were formalised, creating a linguistic barrier through the middle of the country. There was mainly civil unrest among young people in universities during this time of turmoil. The image below depicts students from the university of Leuven protesting for a "Leuven Vlaams" - (Flemish Leuven). The division between the country resulted in the traditional national political parties splitting into Dutch-speaking and French-speaking branches, focusing on their own communities and the federal government.

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- En.wikipedia.org. 2020. French Flemish. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Flemish> [Accessed 24 November 2020].
- Flanderstoday.eu. 2020. French Flemish: Group Defends A Dying Language | Flanders Today. [online] Available at: <http://www.flanderstoday.eu/living/french-flemish-group-defends-dying-language> [Accessed 24 November 2020].
- The Brussels Times. 2020. The Flemish Movement: How Language Shaped Belgium. [online] Available at: <https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/magazine/49791/the-flemish-movement-how-language-shaped-belgium/> [Accessed 24 November 2020].

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Alsatian is an Alemannic dialect that is native to France. It is spoken in the region Alsace which is located in the North East of France, on the west bank of the Upper Rhine. There are two main forms of the dialect; the Bas-Rhin dialect which is spoken in northern Alsace and the Haut-Rhin dialect which is spoken in southern Alsace.

In 2013, there was approximately 900,00 native speakers of Alsatian. Today there are conflicting opinions as to the real number of native speakers, which range from 548,000 to 600,000 depending on which source you read.

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The region of Alsace is a French province, yet has a German identity in terms of its geographical location, history and linguistics. As a result of Alsace being under German control, the Alsatian dialect is therefore closely related to Swiss German and Swabian. The Alemannic dialect was spoken for almost 15 centuries and up until 1918, about 90% of the population still spoke Alsatian everyday. However, since the end of World War II,  Alsatian slowly became more French due to the social, economic and political dominance of the national language of France. Now, most Alsatians primarily speak French and it is believed that only 43% of the population still speak Alsatian. It is said that after WW2, the Alsatian dialect was looked down upon, even by Alsatians themselves. People no longer valued their language and so, customs were lost. The younger generation began to perceive Alsatian as old-fashioned and this resulted in the decline of native speakers. Today, the dialect is more commonly spoken by the older generation and spoken mostly on a minor scale, within families or among friends at home or in cafés.

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Alsace has been passed between French and German control five times since 1681. It began under French control. In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia gave France informal control over Alsace. In 1681, full control was established under the reign of Louis XIV after the French occupied Strasbourg.
1789- The French Revolution completed the administrative incorporation of Alsace into France. Alsace was administratively divided into the two departments of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin.
1870-71-At the end of the Franco-German war, Alsace was detached from France and annexed to the German empire.
1918-Alsace was returned to France under the Treaty of Versailles following Germany's defeat in World War I.
1940-German influence remained strong in the region and so Alsace fell under German control for the duration of WWII.
Post war-France's social, economic and cultural dominance reclaimed Alsace.

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Similarly to Breton and Flemish, Alsatian is a minority language of France. It is clarified as a regional language of France. Contrary to previous hostile attitudes, the French government has now encouraged regional languages to be spoken in schools. Due to the decrease in popularity of the Alsatian language, the government believes it is no longer a threat to French identity. Courses in the Alsatian dialect are now available in French Universities and regional languages are now optional to study in secondary schools. The dialect is spoken and taught in both the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin however differs in pronunciation and vocabulary.
This video helps to give a basic understanding of the sound of the language, its pronunciation and vocabulary:

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The Sound of the Alsatian language / dialect (Numbers, Greetings & Sample Text)

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{www.getalsaced.com/alsatian-language.html}- development and number of Alsatian speakers today and the dialect. (Accessed 24 November 2020)
{www.omniglot.com/writing/alsatian.htm}-number of speakers today. (Accessed 24 November 2020)
{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsatian_dialect}-the location of Alsace and number of speakers in 2013. (Accessed 26 November 2020)
{https://www.britannica.com/place/Alsace}-the social movement of Alsace
(Accessed 26 November 2020)
{https://scholar.google.com}-[Alsatian Acts of Identity: Language Use and Language Attitudes in Alsace by Liliane Mangold Vassberg]-Alsace and the education system, percentage of Alsatian speakers and development of Alsatian. (Accessed 26 November 2020)

{https://images.google.com}-pictures used (Accessed 24 November 2020)
{https://youtu.be/Ti2TUeHo_Eg}- video of the Alsatian dialect (Accessed 26 November 2020)