“Occitan must regain its place in Sète”: at the Calandreta school, the important preservation of the Occitan language

In front of Laura, the children spell out, one by one, the letters of the Occitan alphabet to work on pronunciation. MIDI LIBRE – KELMAN MARTI

Associative, private establishments approved by the National Education, the Calandretas immerse students in the Occitan language from the age of 2. In Sète, the lion's share is given to nursery and primary schools.

The electro pop music bell rings out in the Charles-de-Gaulle high school in Sète. On the other side of the fence, in the small courtyard of the Calandreta, the children put down their scooters and small bikes one by one to come and line up two by two. The screams of amusement are over.

It is time to go back to school and for some, especially in the very early nursery section, it remains an ordeal accompanied by tears. It is difficult at two and a half years old to leave home to go to a school, especially where they speak a language they do not know.

Learn Occitan as early as possible

This is one of the specificities of the Calandretas: French is left at home as much as possible; here, Occitan is the master.

How the Calandreta de Sète works ?

Calendrete is a movement launched in 1979 aimed at create immersive schools in Occitan in order to preserve this language abandoned in favor of French.

The organization is structured into federations, with a charter to which schools must respond: offer bilingual education with institutional and Freinet pedagogy. To do justice to this charter, it was decided that schools should be associative.

The Sète association, managed by the parents of students, has the role of ensuring that this charter is respected. The staff of the establishment (secretary, Atsem, etc.) is paid by the association. The teaching team is under contract with the National Education system.

The teachers speak this language almost exclusively. Destabilizing, but not insurmountable. “Before the age of three, children who are immersed in a language integrate it as a mother tongue. Learning is much simpler from a very young age”, explains Laura Cros, a teacher in the senior classes and CP classes, before going to do the “ritual” with the students.

Sitting on the floor or on benches and in a circle, the students take turns speaking to start the day. One says the date of the day, another takes care of the weather. All in Languedocien, the dialect of Occitan taught in Sète. Élias counts the number of children present. Having arrived in the senior class this year, he is still having trouble adjusting. But to make things easier for him and to encourage him, he is applauded by his class for having successfully completed his morning mission.

A different pedagogy

The teachers' pedagogy here is active, inspired by Freinet and institutional techniques. By that, understand to accompany the child towards autonomy, sharing and citizenship.

There is a law that says: “we do not make fun”

“These teaching methods, and the small class sizes (73 students divided into four classes, Editor's note), serve the cause and the learning of bilingualism”, assures Maude Buinoud, member and former president of the school association.

Mutual aid, a key value

Concretely, “the students have “belts” (this is a scale, Editor's note), like in judo, for each subject, including Occitan, and behavior. This system pushes them to do better, to understand and to grow,explain Laura Cros and Aurélie Eschallier, teachers from the very early years to the middle section. And very importantly, there is a law that says: “we don't make fun”. They don't make fun of each other about their level in Occitan. Everyone advances at their own pace.”

And the result is positive. The classes are lively. Mutual aid is definitely there. Alexandre, a CP student, is proactive when his classmates are in difficulty. For him, this is natural. “I am happy to learn Occitan and to help. I understand almost everything Laura says (at the Calandreta the teachers are called by their first name, editor's note). It's an advantage I have to speak a language that the others don't know", the boy smiled before showing Laura the results of his calculations.

A family language

On this subject, Aurélie adds: “Few parents of students speak Occitan. For children, it's like a secret language and it motivates them to improve.” The reason? When registering, some parents take into consideration the low numbers or different teaching methods of public schools, to the detriment of preserving a language that is losing speakers.

But this is not the case for Maude Buinoud. “My partner and I enrolled our daughter at La Calandreta so that she could speak the language of her father and grandparents. And by getting involved in the school association, I started learning Occitan. Now, we speak this language at home, the mother is pleased. My daughter, in CE2, is doing very well in speaking. She is very attached to Occitan, it is part of her identity. And she is even aware of the stakes behind the preservation of the language."

Perhaps this is the most important thing to keep this language alive and to pass it on for generations to come.

Questions to Maude Buinoud, member and former president of the Calandreta de Sète association

What was the place of Occitan in Sète in the past ?

Historically, in Sète, the language of fishermen and jousters was Occitan. When you dig a little deeper, it's very easy to find the language in the public space. There was a time when everything was written in Occitan.

And today?

We still hear Occitan spoken, for example at the market. The Sète accent comes from the remains of Occitan. The problem is that native speakers are increasingly rare in Sète. Occitan is still alive, but it must regain a more important place in the city.

Exactly, how to do it ?

In public spaces, it would be great to have on signs the translation of the names of the streets and of Sète at the entrance to the city, as in Frontignan. It could be better. I don't think anyone will be opposed to it, because it enhances the cultural heritage of Sète. It also strengthens the identity of Sète than to give him back his language in the public space.

At the same time, at La Calandreta, there are more than 70 children who are learning Occitan and who speak it as they grow up. So that revitalizes the language. Afterwards, there are the grandparents who teach it to their grandchildren without going through school. Even if the little ones will not speak it fluently, they will have expressions, vocabulary words and the accent.

Finally, we must highlight the work of the Occitan circle which highlights the language, particularly from the point of view of literature.

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