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.  

Hello, What exactly is the Alsatian language? Where does it come from. Margie Karasek On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 03:36:03 -0800 (PST) Michael Brill <mikeinla71@yahoo.com> 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

Hello Margie; You can try this website also... www.hillsdale.edu Good luck, Patricia

Hello Margie and listers, as mentionned on the sites suggested by Mary and other listers, Alsatian is a dialect, or more precisely a range of dialects;, that vary from south to north. They belong to the Alemannic group of German languages. Smaller parts at the north, the dialects spoken belong to the Franconian group og German languages. One should add that in several small areas, usually the upper part of valleys in the Vosges mountains (area of Saales, some villages in the valleys of Ville' and Sainte Marie aux Mines, the "canton Welsche" around Lapoutroie) speak Roman dialects. A scheene Gruess en alle* Etienne * nice greetings to all Le 23 nov. 08 à 21:34, Margie Karasek a écrit : > Hello, > What exactly is the Alsatian language? Where does it come > from. > Margie Karasek