Editing Alsatian dialect (section)

=== Status of Alsatian in France ===
[[File:Rue du Sauvage.JPG|thumb|left|175px|A bilingual ([[French language|French]] and Alsatian) sign in [[Mulhouse]]]]
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Dominique speaking Alsatian.webm|thumb|left|An Alsatian dialect speaker]]
Since 1992, the constitution of the [[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]] states that [[French language|French]] is the official language of the Republic. However, Alsatian, along with other [[regional language]]s, is recognized by the [[French government]] in the official list of [[languages of France]].  France is a signatory to the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]] but has never ratified the law and has not given regional languages the support that would be required by the charter.

Alsatian has gone from being the prevalent language of the region to one in decline.  A 1999 [[INSEE]] [[Statistical survey|survey]] counted 548,000 adult speakers of Alsatian in [[France]], making it the second-most-spoken regional language in the country (after [[Occitan language|Occitan]]). Like all regional languages in France, however, the transmission of Alsatian is declining. While 43% of the adult population of Alsace speaks Alsatian, its use has been largely declining amongst the youngest generations.

In 2023 local French public schools began offering Alsatian immersion for the first time. The programs have proven popular with students and parents but after years of official state suppression of the language, struggle to find enough teachers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-19 |title=Alsatian: German dialect to be taught in French schools for the first time |url=https://www.thelocal.de/20231019/alsation-german-dialect-to-be-taught-in-french-schools-for-the-first-time |website=www.thelocal.de}}</ref>

A dialect of Alsatian German is spoken in the United States by a group known as the [[Swiss Amish]], whose ancestors emigrated there in the middle of the 19th century. The approximately 7,000 speakers are located mainly in [[Allen County, Indiana]], with "daughter settlements"{{ref|a|[Note 1]}} elsewhere.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Chad |last=Thompson |title=The Languages of the Amish of Allen County, Indiana: Multilingualism and Convergence |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=36 |issue=1 |year=1994 |pages=69–91 |jstor=30028275 }}</ref>