▁made ▁education ▁comp uls ory ▁and , ▁at ▁the ▁same ▁time , ▁forb ade ▁the ▁use ▁of ▁Bre ton ▁in ▁schools ▁to ▁push ▁non - F rench ▁speak ers ▁into ▁adopt ing ▁the ▁French ▁language . ▁Nevertheless , ▁until ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁Bre ton ▁was ▁spoken ▁or ▁understood ▁by ▁many ▁of ▁the ▁inhabitants ▁of ▁western ▁Brit t any . ▁During ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s , ▁Bre ton ▁schools ▁were ▁opened ▁and ▁the ▁local ▁authorities ▁started ▁to ▁promote ▁the ▁language , ▁which ▁was ▁on ▁the ▁br ink ▁of ▁ext inction ▁because ▁parents ▁had ▁stopped ▁teaching ▁it ▁to ▁their ▁children . ▁ ▁Having ▁decl ined ▁from ▁more ▁than ▁one ▁million ▁speak ers ▁around ▁ 1 9 5 0 ▁to ▁about ▁ 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 ▁in ▁the ▁first ▁de cade ▁of ▁the ▁ 2 1 st ▁century , ▁of ▁whom ▁ 6 1 % ▁are ▁more ▁than ▁ 6 0 ▁years ▁old , ▁Bre ton ▁is ▁class ified ▁as ▁" se ver ely ▁end anger ed " ▁by ▁the ▁UN ES CO ▁Atlas ▁of ▁the ▁World ' s ▁L anguages ▁in ▁D anger . ▁However , ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁children ▁att ending ▁b iling ual ▁classes ▁has ▁ris en ▁ 3 3 % ▁between ▁ 2 0 0 6 ▁and ▁ 2 0 1 2 ▁to ▁ 1 4 , 7 0 9 . ▁ ▁The ▁Bre ton ▁language ▁has ▁several ▁dialect s ▁which ▁have ▁no ▁precise ▁limits ▁but ▁rather ▁form ▁a ▁continu um .