Harvard University To Teach Breton Language

From http://www.thelocal.fr/20130826/americas-harvard-uni-to-launch-course-in-breton

Harvard University to teach Breton language
August 26, 2013

Breton, the regional language of Brittany in the North West of France, may be struggling to survive in France but attempts to keep it alive have been given a welcome boost from across the Pond.

The agreement, announced on Saturday between the Department of Breton and Celtic Studies at Rennes 2 University and the Department of Celtic languages and literature at Harvard, intends to offer “crash course” sessions in Breton to both masters and PHD students.

The Breton language comes from the British Isles where it shares linguistic roots with the Celtic languages spoken in Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

But like the Celtic languages across the English Channel, Breton is struggling to survive. According to a TMO-Régions survey in 2009, less than 200,000 people speak it in France. Between 1997 and 2007 the number of Breton speakers went down by 30% whilst the majority of them are aged over 60.

Read the full article at http://www.thelocal.fr/20130826/americas-harvard-uni-to-launch-course-in-breton

Read a reaction to this news at http://www.k-international.com/blog/harvard-will-offer-classes-in-breton-language