SENIOR French ministers admitted yesterday that they were taking English lessons to avoid being isolated in international meetings and ignored by global television networks. Their comments appeared to contradict in principle President Chirac's increasingly energetic campaign to halt the spread of the English language and of American culture. While the head of state is fighting to protect and promote French, his ministers say they are "perdus sans l'anglais" — lost without English. Cabinet members say that they receive few invitations to speak on international TV channels and are unable to hold informal discussions without interpreters.
PARLEZ-VOUS ANGLAIS?
Excellent English:
Jacques Chirac, President; Dominique de Villepin, Interior Minister; Jean-François Copé, government spokesman; Claudie Haigneré, European Affairs Minister
Poor
Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Prime Minister; Renaud Muselier, Foreign Affairs Minister; Patrick Devedjian, Industry Minister; Nicolas Sarkozy, Finance Minister |
They say that politicians from other European countries, such as Holland, Germany and Spain, tend to be far better at English. "It's a real problem, a big handicap in international relations," said Elisabeth Guigou, the former Socialist Justice Minister. According to a survey published by Le Parisien newspaper yesterday, only three French Cabinet members — Dominique de Villepin, the Interior Minister, Jean-François Copé, the Government spokesman, and Claudie Haigneré, the European Affairs Minister — speak fluent English. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Prime Minister, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the Finance Minister, are among those whose English is poor, the newspaper said. Several ministers have started lessons, including M Sarkozy, Michel Barnier, the Foreign Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, the Defence Minister, Serge Lepeltier, the Ecology Minister and Xavier Bertrand, the Health Service Minister. "I didn't think that as Health Service Minister, I would need English," said M Bertrand. "I was wrong. At the last European Council meeting for health service ministers, I realised that my counterparts speak it very well. Of the 25 ministers present, only five of us needed an interpreter to understand English. We stood out. Outside the official bits, I also realised it was a real problem for all the informal things: it's impossible to have a chat with your colleagues during the coffee break. When I got back to the ministry, I said to myself I had better get down to learning it."
M Bertrand now has 90 minutes of English lessons a week and reads the English- language International Herald Tribune every day. "Whatever your area and whatever the nationality of your counterparts, English enables you to communicate directly," he said. "If you need an interpreter, you lose spontaneity." |