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Efforts to save Guernesiais are stepping up a gear with a new campaign to recruit commissioners to protect and preserve the language.
They're not all expected to be fluent speakers, with a commitment to learning the language a more desirable attribute.
Above: The job advert went live this week with applications due in by 11 April.
The new roles are being funded by the States grant given to the Language Commission.
It was agreed in 2020 that £300,000 would be given to a new Guernsey Language Commission with a set mandate to "first halt and then reverse the decline in the number of fluent speakers". The Commission is also tasked with planning methods "to sustain, develop and promote Guernesiais as a unique aspect of the island's culture, heritage and identify".
The number of Guernesiais speakers has been in decline since prior to the Occupation, with numbers dramatically reducing as fluent speakers age.
The most recent electronic census data suggests there are fewer than one thousand fluent speakers alive today.
The 2001 census data is the most recently collected set of statistics on Guernesiais speakers, with 1, 327 people considering themselves fluent then. At that time 70% of them were over 65.
Earlier this year a States spokesperson said most native speakers are believed to be aged over 75.
The language is classed as 'Severely Endangered' by UN standards based on this data.
Pictured: The 2001 census is believed to have provided the last data on Guernesiais speakers.
The Guernsey Language Commission which was set up following the States funding allocation in 2020 has four agreed core objectives:
Sir Richard Collas is Chairman of the Commission, and last year he said that he was looking forward to leading the development of a strategic plan to promote the status and use of the language.
That work will be done by the newly appointed Commissioners, with applications for the roles closing on 11 April.
Among their responsibilities they will oversee language teaching and revitalisation, awareness raising, researching, recording and archiving the language and fundraising for the Commission.
Within that remit, applicants should have experience in one of the areas covered such as teaching, digital development, publishing, fundraising or marketing.
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