L’Assembllaie d’Guernesiais has celebrated its 70th anniversary.
An event at Les Capelles Methodist church featured traditional dancing, an array of local bakes, including a large cake, and several commemorative speeches, all given in Guernesiais.
Yet, the merry mood was also accompanied by an undertone of concern at the continued decline of the local language.
‘We hold things every month, but it’s nice to have this where we can all come together to celebrate and hopefully raise a bit of awareness about what we do and the language,’ said president Cynthia Lenormand.
‘Things have changed a lot over the years,’ added Jim De Garis, a long-term member of L’Assembllaie, who actually attended its first meeting as a boy in 1956.
‘Nowadays, the language is only taught in small groups and not in the schools. Everyone at L’Assembllaie, they’re doing their best. It would be nice for people to keep supporting them.’
For L’Assembllaie secretary Anne Le Cheminant, who feels that a language is the soul of its people, the matter was also not too far from her mind.
‘It’s painful for us to watch the culture become more and more Anglicised. If it keeps going, there will be no Guernsey left.
‘I’m so passionate about it,’ she said.
It was for that reason that she was particularly excited to have brought along her friend’s daughter, 22-year-old Catherine Gill, who is keen to learn the language after it waned within her family after younger members were evacuated to the UK during the Second World War.
‘It’s so important to preserve this unique language that makes us so different. I always wanted to learn growing up, but had no opportunity,’ she said.
Her words were echoed by Jannick Brehaut, who at just 26 years old is the youngest officer at L’Assembllaie.
‘I’ve been learning for around eight years now. It started as a whim, but after recognising how important it is for my own heritage, it was hard to stop,’ he said.
‘I’ve found there’s actually lots of interest amongst people my age. The issue holding most back is a lack of provisioning.’
2026 marks Mr Brehaut’s second year on L’Assembllaie’s committee.
He said he joined due to his desire to see its work continue and hopefully see the language’s reach expand to see a broader demographic of Guernesiais speakers emerge locally.