Michael, thanks for your input. Can Alsatian be considered a "language" or a "dialect"? Whichever, what a pity if it is lost. How does one say "quelle dommage!" in Alsatian? Maybe those of us who have Alsatian roots have an intensive course in the area from which are ancestors came. I'd love it. There are several links on the Internet, but we need be there to really get it. I'm ready to go back; one week was not enough and I communicated in French (such as it is). And thank you, Etienne , for alerting me to the particular "dialect" that my ancestors spoke in Niederroedern. Gloria On Nov 23, 2008, at 8:36 PM, Michael Brill wrote: > > > I presently live in Kehl, Germany which is just across the bridge > from Strasbourg. I've been here five months now and I usually am in > Strasbourg 4-5x a week. In all that time I've heard Alsatian being > spoken only 3-4 times, and only by the elderly. I talked to one > woman who lamented that none of her grandchildren spoke Alsatian and > that that was pretty much the norm. I'm sure you will hear more > Alsatian in the smaller towns and villages but there is little doubt > that the language on the French side is in steep decline. Strasbourg > itself does have bilingual programs but as far as I know they are > all standard German and French. My own son attends a bilingual > German/French kindergarten here in Kehl. On the German side, I hear > Alemannic dialect quite frequently, and in nearby towns like > Auenheim and Kittersburg, it is widely spoken even by the very young. > > > > > -- > Resources for Alsace-Lorraine list members: > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~valorie/Alsace-Lorraine-L.htm > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALSACE-LORRAINE-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message