Learn the Coolest Celtic Language in the World, From Home

Learn Breton Today!

​Has there ever been a better time to learn a new language? The global pandemic and the social distancing that comes with it have lead many to add virtual learning into their daily lives. Now is your chance to learn the Breton language from home with virtual training sessions in English.

Learn the Breton language in English from the comfort of your own home over the next year with a new program developed by Skol an Emsav. 
Skol an Emsav, based in Rennes, is a non-profit organization that has promoted the Breton language for adults for the last 50 years. They specialize in full-time training courses for the professionals, as well as weekly classes for the general public. With over 10 years of experience with online training, they decide that the time was right to offer a new program for English speakers. 
Breizh Amerika is partnering with Skol an Emsav to help get the word out to everyone in the world. If you are a Breizh Amerika member you even get a discount when you sign-up for the course! 💪


SKOL AN EMSAV - WEEKLY ONLINE CLASSES 
From September 2020 - June 2021
Duration : 30 weeks 
Course duration : 1h30 per week
Cost for year : 200€
Breizh Amerika member : 10% discount

​Every week for an hour and a half over the course of 30 weeks you will be learning the basics of the Breton language through active teaching methods. An emphasis will be put on adapting Skol an Emsav's experience to your needs all year long. You will have your level recognized at the end of the year through the European language scale. The course will teach you how to introduce yourself, to speak about your family and your surrounding environment. More importantly, you will be having fun doing so!
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What is Breton language exactly anyway?

For starters, Breton has nothing to do with French which is a Latin language. Breton is most similar to Welsh, Cornish, and Irish because it is from the Celtic language family tree. Breton was brought from the British Isles to what is now Brittany by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages, Since then, the language has been at the heart of the culture and traditions of Brittany, even while the French government has tried its best to make it go away. Those persistent efforts from French authorities has seen the number of Breton speakers decrease from over 1 million in 1950 to under 200,000 today. Breton is now classified as "severely endangered" by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. The grassroots work to create Breton language immersion and bilingual programs by locals in Brittany has been successful, and there are now as a result nearly  15,000 children learning Breton everyday. 
Now is your chance to learn a very cool celtic language from anywhere in the world.  


Why does it make sense to learn another language?

1. Give your brain a boost! 🧠

Breton is over a thousand years old and has its own intricate system of rules, structures, and lexis. Our brains like to be challenged and cope with complexity as it makes sense of and absorbs new patterns. Learning a new language helps develop cognitive thinking and problem-solving. The collective evidence from a number of such studies shows that the bilingual experience improves the brain’s so-called executive function — a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems, and performing various other mentally demanding tasks.

2. Improve Memory & Multi-Task like a pro! 🤓

Learning a new language is like a workout for your brain. Jumping from one language to another and thinking in a different language helps sharpen the mind making us better multi-taskers. Studies have also shown that bilinguals may have a resistance to the onset of dementia, being diagnosed, on average, 4.5 years later than their aging monolingual peers. This may be due to the additional white matter bilingual speakers in the prefrontal cortex. White matter is made of nerve fibers and is a component of the brain that connects and carries signals between different regions. It appears that we can state that speaking multiple languages creates a more “connected” brain.

3. See the World Differently! 🌎

Being multilingual offers the advantage of seeing the world from different viewpoints, enhancing our ability to communicate in today’s globally connected world. 
Language learning gives us a sneak-peek into different worlds and cultures allowing us to be more flexible and appreciative of other people’s opinions and actions.
When you learn the Breton language, you will not only get the change to discover a new culture, history, and people - you'll also get the chance of viewing the world with a Celtic lens. 
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