Strasbourg, 4 September 2007 MIN-LANG/PR (2007) 7 EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES Third periodical report presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in accordance with Article 15 of the Charter THE NETHERLANDS The Netherlands: Low Saxon, Limburger, Yiddish, and Roma and Sinti languages European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages 2002-2007 Third State report on the measures taken by the Netherlands with regard to the Low Saxon languages, the Limburger language, the Yiddish language, and the Roma and Sinti languages in the Netherlands Responsible editor: Auke van der Goot Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations The Hague 2007 2 Content A Low Saxon languages in the Netherlands 5 Appendix A 1: The Art of Combining œ Culture Policy Document Province of Drenthe 2005-2008 32 Appendix A 2: List of bodies and associations which further the protection and development of the Low Saxon languages in the Netherlands 34 B The Limburger language in the Netherlands 37 Appendix B 1: Orders enacted by the Province of Limburg since 2002 to protect, preserve and promote the Limburger language 45 Appendix B 2: Brief summary of Limburger language projects, 2000-2006 47 Appendix B 3: Grants awarded for Limburger language-related activities (2000-2006) 50 Appendix B 4: Regulations governing the regional language officer‘s supervisory and advisory committee, Raod veur ‘t Limburgs 51 Appendix B 5: Addresses of associations working to promote and preserve the Limburger language in the Netherlands 53 C Yiddish in the Netherlands 55 Appendix C 1: List of organisations working to promote and develop Yiddish in the Netherlands 63 D Roma and Sinti languages in the Netherlands 65 Appendix D 1: Addresses of associations working to promote and preserve the languages and culture of the Sinti and Roma in the Netherlands 70 4 A Low Saxon languages in the Netherlands 1 Introduction 1.1 Several variants of Low Saxon are spoken in the provinces of Groningen, Drenthe and Overijssel, in the municipalities of Ooststellingwerf and Weststellingwerf in the southeastern part of the province of Fryslân, and in the regions Achterhoek and Veluwe in the province of Gelderland. The greatest divergence is found in the province of Drenthe, between east and west in the province of Overijssel (Twente and Salland, respectively), between east and west in the province of Gelderland (Achterhoek and Veluwe), and between northwest and southeast in the province of Groningen. The Stellingwerfs variant is spoken in the municipalities of Ooststellingwerf and Weststellingwerf in the southeastern part of the province of Fryslân and in adjacent parts of Drenthe and the northwestern part of Overijssel. In the northeastern part of Ooststellingwerf Frisian is spoken as an everyday language. 1.2 The first State report to the Council of Europe (1999/2000) noted that the population of the area where Low Saxon languages are spoken totals approximately 3,000,000. A study conducted at the time by the regional radio station in the province of Groningen showed that about 65% of the inhabitants of the province were able to speak the Gronings variant of Low Saxon. Partly based on this, it was assumed that in the entire Low Saxon linguistic area about 1,800,000 people can speak Low Saxon. 1.3 The second State report to the Council of Europe (2002) announced that a large-scale survey for the whole Low Saxon linguistic region was being prepared. Now completed, this survey was carried out by the Low Saxon Institute at Groningen University in cooperation with SONT (see 1.13). The survey was carried out under the aegis of Dr H. Bloemhoff (regional language officer for Stellingwerfs), Professor H. Niebaum (professor of Low Saxon) and Professor S. Reker (professor of Gronings). Sections 1.5-1.8 discuss the results of this survey in more detail. 1.4 The second State report also announced that a new survey would be carried out among residents of the Low Saxon linguistic region in the province of Gelderland. The survey was to be carried out by a market research agency specialised in statistically representative telephone surveys. Funding commitments for this had been made by e.g. the Zutphen-based Planten Fund. The Province of Gelderland has not made any announcements regarding the results of this survey for the present report (also see 1.25). 1.5 In 2005 the Low Saxon Institute at Groningen University published, in collaboration with SONT, a study entitled Taaltelling Nedersaksisch. Een enquête naar het gebruik en de beheersing van het Nedersaksisch in Nederland . The results of this survey, conducted in 2002/03, show that Low Saxon is still frequently used and that there is a certain command of Low Saxon. However, older generations do better in terms of the level of command and frequency of use than younger generations. It can be stated that the command of Low Saxon generally exceeds its usage, according to the Province of Groningen. In 2007, Groningen took over the role of the coordinating point of contact at the administrative level from the Province of Overijssel. 1.6 The study Taaltelling Nedersaksisch shows that according to the data provided by the Province of Groningen, 77.7% of its inhabitants speak the Groningen variant of Low Saxon reasonably to very well; 45.6% actually speak it at home and 46.4% frequently (weekly to monthly) read Gronings. The results show that there is still much work to be done. The Province of Groningen perceives this quantitative survey as a baseline measurement. Time will tell whether the command and usage of Gronings will deteriorate further or if the opposite will be the case. 6 1.7 The same study shows that in the Province of Drenthe 76.6% of inhabitants speak Drents and that 52.9% do so on a daily basis. Drenthe also believes that the results show that there still is much work to be done. The Province of Drenthe also perceives this quantitative survey as a baseline measurement. Time will tell whether the command and usage of Drents will deteriorate further or if the opposite will be the case. 1.8 On the basis of this survey, the Province of Overijssel reports that no less than 70% of its inhabitants still speak Low Saxon, but far fewer people actually use the language. Neither the Province of Gelderland nor the municipalities of Ooststellingwerf and Weststellingwerf made any reports regarding the results of the quantitative survey (see 1.25-1.26). 1.9 In the Province of Drenthe two additional language surveys were carried out. In 2005, the Fryske Akademy œ in assignment of the Drentse Taol foundation and the Province of Drenthe œ published a study entitled Taalbeeld van de leerlingen in het Drentse onderwijs. This study deals with the language of pupils in Drenthe education and investigates the relationship between the linguistic background and school performance of pupils at primary education in Drenthe. Taalbeeld shows that probably 10% of Drenthe‘s toddlers arrive at their playgroup or their day-care centre knowing only Drents. In areas where many parents are low-educated, this percentage can be as high as more than 50%. In addition, there are also children who start their education with a living foreign language. 1.10 Taalbeeld van de leerlingen in het Drentse onderwijs 1 also shows that more than 20% of children (56% of boys from low-educated families) speak the regional language at home and with relatives. Outside the family and the family circle, the use of the regional language is less frequent. However, pupils in Drenthe do have a slight preference for using their own regional language when interacting with friends and at clubs/societies, compared to usage at school (the playground) and in shops. 1.11 In 2007 the Onderzoeksbureau Cultuur Welzijn Zorg of the Province of Drenthe was asked to map how Drenthe citizens use and perceive Drents. The so-called Drents Panel œ a representative panel consisting of a large group of Drenthe citizens aged between 12 and 94 years of ageœ was asked about its use of Drents. Other questions concerned the panel‘s attitude to Drents. The conclusions: half of Drenthe‘s citizens speak the language on a regular basis. Only a quarter of Drenthe‘s citizens say they do not speak Drents. Practically everyone, however, understands the language. Especially older and low- educated people in Drenthe speak mostly Drents. This says something about the social environment in which relatively more Drents is spoken. 1.12 The written use of Drents is low (15% can write Drents well or fairly well). Only a few people (5%) read Drents on a regular basis. Regarding the attitude towards Drents, it can be concluded that Drenthe citizens are proud of their language and believe that their language should certainly be preserved. The majority of Drenthe citizens believe that Drents should be promoted, preferably via regional radio and/or television broadcasts, according to the report by the Onderzoeksbureau Cultuur Welzijn Zorg (2007). 2 1 E.C.M. van Ruijven, Taalbeeld van de leerlingen in het Drentse onderwijs. Onderzoek naar de taal van de leerlingen in het Drentse onderwijs en de samenhang tussen de taalachtergrond en de schoolprestaties van de leerlingen in het Drentse basisonderwijs (Leeuwarden: Fryske Akademy, 2005). 2 E. Lange, Drenten en hun taal; een onderzoek naar de houding en het standpunt van de Drentse 7 1.13 There are in the Netherlands various bodies and organisations that seek to preserve and develop the Low Saxon languages. SONT, the federation of regional and local language associations in the Low Saxon linguistic region, is an umbrella organisation of 21 associations that focus on Low Saxon languages in fields varying from plays in Low Saxon to research into local language.