Cornish is part of the Celtic family of languages, traditionally spoken in Cornwall in the south-west of Great Britain. From the medieval period onwards, speakers in the region gradually shifted to English, leaving only a handful with knowledge of Cornish in the far west of Cornwall by the 18th and 19th centuries.

The 20th century saw a resurgence, and today, Cornish speakers are thought to number from around 400 to 4,000. Many are still based in Cornwall, although there is an active diaspora in mining areas of the US and Australia as a result of 19th-century migration.

In May, the BBC launched a new podcast, Learn Cornish. It’s the latest in a series of signs of growing interest in the Cornish language and culture in the 2020s. Artists such as singer-songwriter Gwenno and filmmaker Mark Jenkin (Rose of Nevada) have been credited for attracting learners to the language with their use of Cornish phrases and songs.

Recent recognition under part III of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages commits the UK government to promoting Cornish at an official level. Cornish phrases are now regularly used in the House of Commons by MPs representing constituencies in Cornwall.

But with so few Cornish speakers and such little representation in education or the media, what will this podcast actually do for the language?

We can look across the Channel for........

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