Grisons into the Swiss Confederation and the improved communications, all helped to drive the ancient tongue out of the more accessible regions. The number of Rhaetians still speaking their own language dwindled rapidly. Those who did speak it mostly understood German and Italian as well. Nineteenth century public opinion generally was quite satisfied to see Romantsch die out. The Department of Education of the Grisons County, in a recent publication, gives an excellent sketch of the attitudes of those days:*Die Lehrmittel im vielsprachigen Kanton Graubuenden, Vom Erziehungsdepartment Graubuenden, Buendner Schulblatt. Chur, June 1954. ‘Romantsch in the schools was reduced to a minimum. The school was principally regarded as an instrument of progress and integration with the outside world. Romantsch as a language of the small world of the hearth, the village or at most the valley community was regarded as useless—even hampering—to further development. An attempt was made to suppress and eliminate the ‘useless peasant tongue’. The principal purpose of education was to Germanise the Romantsch pupils. This attitude was widespread among both Romantsch and non-Romantsch, and shared by the leaders of the day. Teachers, education boards and committees, and school inspectors bore down upon Romantsch in the schools with all the weight of their authority. Overzealous teachers and school committees fined children who spoke Romantsch on the school grounds…” Attitudes changed towards the turn of the century. A kind of Romantsch renaissance set in. Poets and writers started to publish literary works in the language. A movement developed to preserve and develop Romantsch language and culture, and found a great deal of public support. It was finally consolidated into the Romantsch League which has a powerful influence on the Grisons education system. Without the protection of this league, it is thought by many that Romantsch could not have survived. The league believes survival of the language depends to a large extent on its literary development and publishes numerous books and magazines in the various Romantsch dialects. The result of its work depends in the last instance on the younger generation.

The Schools Take Over The decision to teach Romantsch in the Grisons schools was taken in 1894. Gradually, textbooks and school readers were produced and the problems of teacher training solved. At the moment there are two types of Romantsch schools. In schools of the first type, in areas where Romantsch is the mother tongue, all instruction is at first in that language. German is taught as a foreign language from standard four onwards, and gradually becomes the language of instruction. As the teaching in German starts. Romantsch gradually loses importance and at high school is reduced to two periods per week. In the second type of school the teacher speaks German to the children from the beginning. Romantsch is taught two periods a week from the first standard onwards (but sometimes later). Sometimes children are free to drop Romantsch if they want to. The schools are of this second type where the people have lost a good deal of their Romantsch. In practically the whole of the Romantsch area, the schools are now of one of these two types. The communities themselves decide on the school they want. They may either choose one of the two types described or a fully German or Italian school. Romantsch is at present actually gaining ground. There are examples of people introducing fully Romantsch schools where previously little Romantsch was spoken. All this was not merely the result of help from the government. Every step in the development was first of all due to the Romantsch people themselves, to their enthusiasm for their language, to their eagerness to learn and preserve it, and to their strong support of the Romantsch League. For instance, in areas where the language threatened to die out, play centres were established by the league where Romantsch was spoken by the women in charge. Children learnt the language Typical house in the Romantsch district (Photograph: Koelly. Zurich)