The Annual General Assembly of the Institut de la Langue Régionale Flamande ILRF-ANVT was held on Saturday March 30th in the ceremonial room of the Town Hall of Cassel.

After the welcome speech from Deputy Mayor Fabrice Duhoo, the membres of the executive committee of the ILRF-ANVT listed the actions that were implemented in 2018 with the financial support of the Region Hauts-de-France and of the Communities of Communes CCFI & CCHF : 40 Flemish classes and conversation groups, release of the dictionary of West Flemish from France, the Flemish Language Week, actions for the introduction of West Flemish into curricula, road signs in West Flemish, participation in exhibitions and forums, the Public Office for West Flemish project, hiring of a project manager, and many more actions.

The high attendance was also addressed by elected officials who detailed their personal commitment to our regional language, among whom: Senator Jean-Pierre Decool, Regional Councillors Valérie Vanhersel and Benedicte Crepel, Mayor Frederic Devos. Then the projects for 2019 were announced.

After a musical interlude with the trio « Om een keër », Thierry Kranzer gave a presentation on the situation of the Alsatian language and of German in Alsace. As the president of the Fundation for the Alsatian Language, he insisted that the regional language should be taught to children as early as possible. Thierry Kranzer, who works as a press secretary with the United Nationas, is the author of a book on regional languages.

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