U.S. English Foundation Research
NETHERLANDS
Language Research
5. Costs: What does it cost in terms of money, time and government resources to police the country's language restrictions?
Unemployment in the Netherlands is falling and the economy is again on the rise. The problems and consequences of deprivation seem to have become exclusive to the big cities. A possible split in society is now of increasing concern as a result of ghetto-formation in certain neighborhoods in the big cities.
The economic consequences of structural unemployment in the unskilled sectors are giving rise to most deprivation in big cities. The resultant accumulation of problems has a negative impact on health and safety and consequently on the State budget. It further affects neighborhood environment.
The cities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht (the G4) agreed to the creation of an integrated policy program for the necessary revitalization of the big cities on July 12, 1995. The agreement covered: safety, social services, education and "livability" (neighborhood environment).
A compensation policy is directed at schools in areas where 75% or more of pupils come from disadvantaged backgrounds. These may be children from the lower social classes or from ethnic minorities. Schools in such areas may be allocated extra resources. In addition, all secondary schools, including those not in educational high priority areas, can obtain extra resources for pupils from ethnic minorities.
In Rotterdam, for example, new migrants and those with refugee status must register with the Integration of Newcomers Project (PIN). This project offers an acclimatization program through the study of Dutch society and language. Immigrants are acclimatized in phases. In the initial phase they take Dutch lessons and are allowed some work in order to acquire practical experience. In the second phase an opportunity for vocational training is granted. In the third and final phase they may enter the normal labor market.
They immediately receive official refugee status and they are entitled to all social provisions, including their own home. These measures are a drain on State resources, but are generally regarded as an investment.
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Updated (November 2003)
AN ANNUAL BUDGET FOR THE FRISIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE SLASHED
The Council of the Frisian Movement1 (Ried fan de Fryske Beweging) protested against a proposal of the Frisian Regional Government to cut an annual budget for the promotion and support of the Frisian language and culture by €177,000. According to the proposal the budget would be reduced from €577,000 to €400,000 and the Frisian Movement would also lose its regular support of €10,000.
Losing this subsidy would have a serious effect on the organization. Without it the province will not be able to organize the annual "Fryske Reklame Priis" for the best radio and TV commercials in Frisian. This prize has stimulated companies and advertising agencies to produce commercials in the Frisian language. The Frisian Chamber of Commerce has joined this initiative too.
The Frisian Youth Movement FYK (Frysk Ynternasjonaal Kontakt) was the first to protest against cutting the budget. They, as an active member of the YEN (Youth of European Nationalities), regularly organize joint projects with the North Frisians living in Germany or participate in conferences in Europe. Less money means that it will be more difficult for the FYK to continue its activities.
Professional Frisian institutions such as the Fryske Akademy or Frisian broadcaster Omrop Fryslân have their own budgets and thus they will be hardly affected by the recent reduction.
Source: Eurolang News, Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, October 21, 2003, Onno P. Falkena, http://217.136.252.147/webpub/eurolang/pajenn.asp?ID=4446
1 The Frisian Movement is a Frisian umbrella organization. This independent organization together with the Christian Frisian Association (Kristlik Frysk Selskip) and the Federation of Frisians living outside Friesland (Bûn fan Friezen-om-utens) has at least 10,000 members and works for the promotion of the Frisian language.
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Updated (January 2005)
A SERIOUS STEP BACKWARDS IN FRISIAN LANGUAGE EDUCATION
During its second monitoring visit to Friesland the Committee of Experts on the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages of the Council of Europe found that the use of Frisian as a language of instruction is on the decline in Friesland. Therefore the Committee is particularly concerned about some recent developments in the field of Frisian education.
Both the Province of Friesland and the Dutch Committee on Attainment Targets plan "to lower the objectives" for Frisian, what could cause a serious step backwards and weaken the position of Frisian even further.
The Committee of Experts is positive about the Covenant signed between the Dutch Government and Friesland in 2001, which wanted to strengthen the position of Frisian in education. However, according to them, this Covenant lacks a clear timetable and a holistic and coherent approach to the teaching of and in the Frisian language.
Another reason for concern is a negative attitude towards bilingualism spread generally in the country. Recent governmental steps supporting children of immigrants in their effort to study Dutch have resulted in a less favorable climate for regional and minority languages at a pre-school, primary and secondary school level.
On December 23, 2004 the Frisian Minister of Culture, Bertus Mulder, declared that starting in academic year 2006/2007, attainment targets for Frisian should be made more "diverse" so in the future all pupils should be able to understand Frisian and to develop a positive attitude towards the language1.
According to this new vision, every school may choose amongst four different levels of teaching Frisian and thus develop its own language policy. Towns with relatively few Frisian-speaking children could teach the language at a lower level while schools in predominantly Frisian-speaking areas could decide for a higher level.
However, these proposals have not yet been finalized as they have come in for a great deal of criticism2.
The Frisian Parliament will discuss and vote on the plan and it seems that the Council's of Europe stance is likely to fuel Frisian critics of Mulder's language policy.
Source: Eurolang News, Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, January 5, 2005, by Onno P. Falkena, http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4864
1 Nowadays Frisian and Dutch are equal, when students should be fully literate in both languages. However, in practice only 30 percent of all primary schools in Friesland fulfill this goal for Frisian.
2 A letter of protest from the Protestant schools in the Frisian capital of Ljouwert (Leeuwarden). Strong criticism is also expected from the Council of the Frisian Movement and the Frysk Nasjonale Party.
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Updated (July 2006)
FRISIAN GOVERNMENT TO SET TARGETS FOR LANGUAGE GROWTH
The Frisian executive presented a new language policy with the title "More Visible and More Familiar to Use". This policy sets clear targets for the coming decade: in 2020, at least ninety-five percent of the Frisian population should be able to understand Frisian and at least seventy percent of them should be able to speak and read it. Furthermore, at least fifty percent of the population under thirty years of age should be able to speak and at least twenty percent should be able to write Frisian well.
At present, Frisian is still more a spoken than a written language. Minister for Culture, Bertus Mulder, says that Frisians are traditionally not used to read or write in their own language. Therefore, it is highly important to have some goals for Frisian in education to stimulate people to use the language more. In order to reach the targets, the province wants to expand the number of trilingual primary schools in Friesland from seven to twenty-five. Furthermore, at least fifty percent of all primary schools should teach Frisian at a level to enable pupils to take final examination in their language.
The province also wants to inform all parents of young children about the benefits of bilingual or trilingual education. One of the ways to achieve this is to put information about the language in the so-called Happy boxes, which are distributed to expecting mothers. However, their primary target groups are young and future parents because many Frisian-speaking people still think that it's much better to raise their children in Dutch. Therefore, increased visibility and improved image of Frisian in towns and villages should stimulate people to speak their language more often in public.
By this draft language policy, the Frisian executive wants to challenge also other organizations to come forward with ideas and proposals to strengthen the position of the Frisian language.
Source: Eurolang News, June 30, 2006 by Onno P. Falkena http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2670&Itemid=1&lang=en
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Updated (August 2007)
FRISIAN MINISTER FOR CULTURE SETS NEW GOALS FOR FRISIAN LANGUAGE POLICY
In order to implement Frisian language policy, the newly elected Frisian Minister of Culture, Jannewietske de Vries, has decided to increase the annual budget for it from 120,000 to 400,000 Euros. The increased budget comes on top of the regular finance for Frisian media and education.
The Minister has called on Frisians and Frisian organizations to come forward with their proposals for the projects aimed at strengthening the position of the Frisian language.
Mrs. de Vries aims to make Frisian more visible on the street within a period of three years. According to the new language policy document entitled “From right to practice, language among the people”, Frisian should be just as visible on Frisian streets as Basque is in the Basque Country, Welsh in Wales or Swedish in Finland by 2015. However, the memorandum does not reveal how the Frisian executive intends to realize this goal.
In daily life Frisian is present in the smaller villages, but hardly visible in some of the larger towns. In order to change this, banks, supermarkets and restaurants will be asked to use Frisian signs and menus. Moreover, they have already started discussions with Microsoft about launching of Frisian language version of Microsoft Office. There are also plans for a Frisian predictive texting for mobile phones.
They also want to stimulate the use of Frisian in health care and private sector. The Minister has also said that it is time for Frisian hospitals to start using bilingual signs instead of Dutch only adding that within a few years the majority of Frisian hospitals should have Frisian signs.
The main objective of the language policy is to increase the use of Frisian in the public domain. The goals of the Frisian executive state that, in the year 2020, 95 percent of the population should be able to understand the language (currently it is 94 percent); 75 percent should be able to speak the language (now 74 percent); 75 percent of the youth should be able to speak Frisian well (now 71 percent); and at least one out of every three Frisians should be able to write Frisian (now it is only 26 percent). Another important goal for the coming years is to establish a place for Frisian in the Dutch Constitution – to make it equal with the Dutch language.
Source: Eurolang News, August 31, 2007 by Onno P. Falkena http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2942&Itemid=1&lang=en
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