Corsican

According to the sociolinguistic survey carried out by the Collectivité de Corse from 25 May to 6 July 2021 among 1,500 people, 39.1% of the adult population living in Corsica are "active speakers", i.e. between 99,000 and 112,000 people (central estimate: 105,500)¹. While 65% of respondents said they "speak Corsican", only 41% answered the survey in Corsican¹.

Ability by age: 67% of over-50s consider themselves able to speak Corsican, against 46% of under-40s¹. Transmission: 81% of speakers learned it from their grandparents and 74% from their parents; 72% of respondents feel that Corsican is spoken less and less at home¹.

France: the Constitution states that "the language of the Republic is French" (Art. 2) and that "regional languages belong to the heritage of France" (Art. 75-1)⁴. France signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages on 7 May 1999, but the Constitutional Council ruled that it contained clauses contrary to the Constitution⁷. Law no. 2021-641 of 21 May 2021 includes regional languages in the linguistic heritage protected by the Heritage Code⁵; the Constitutional Council struck down two of its articles, on immersion teaching and on diacritical signs in civil registers⁶.

The "Lingua 2020" plan, adopted by the Corsican Assembly in 2015, aims at the normalisation of Corsican and the achievement of bilingualism².

France: the 2021 law allows public services to display translations into the regional language on public buildings, roads, transport infrastructure and their main communication materials⁵; however, the Constitutional Council held that a provision granting individuals a right to use a language other than French in their dealings with the administration was contrary to Article 2 of the Constitution⁶.

France: the 2021 law provides that, under agreements between the State and the regions, the regional language is a subject taught within normal school hours, so that it can be offered to all pupils⁵.

Corsica, 2020–21: bilingual teaching covered 44.6% of primary pupils, in 156 schools, an increase of 1,600 pupils in five years; all primary pupils receive Corsican teaching². In lower secondary, 29 schools offered bilingual teaching, followed by 3,510 pupils (about 27%); in upper secondary, only three schools ensured continuity, with 100 pupils in bilingual year 10 in 2020².

In 2022 the Executive Council of Corsica presented to the Corsican Assembly a strategy based on immersion (immersion classes and schools, immersion centres, "Case di a lingua"), after a pedagogical experiment in five public nursery schools with 312 pupils³.

In 2021, 23% of the programmes of France 3 Corse ViaStella were in Corsican; a partnership agreement links the Collectivité with the radio station RCFM to broadcast Corsican, and the language's presence in the written press is considered marginal². A partnership with four island media trained Corsican-speaking journalists through work-study contracts².