French Flemish

French Flemish (Dutch: Frans-Vlaams, and flamand français or Fransch vlaemsch in France) is spoken in the north of contemporary France and is considered part of the West Flemish dialect of the Dutch language. Place names testify to the dialect having been spoken since the eighth century in the area that was ceded to France in the 17th century and which became known as French Flanders. Its dialect subgroup, called French Flemish, meanwhile, became a minority dialect that survives mainly between Dunkirk (Duinkerke in Dutch = dune church), Bourbourg, Calais (Kales in Dutch), Saint-Omer with an ethnic enclave Haut-Pont (Haute-Ponte) known for its predominantly Flemish community and Bailleul (Belle in Dutch). French-Flemish has about 20,000 daily users, and twice that number of occasional speakers. There has been an active movement to retain the West Flemish language in the region for the last 3 decades.