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| Europe |
| Gallic outrage over call for all pupils to learn English |
| 2004-10-22 |
| English should be made compulsory for all French schoolchildren, according to an official report which appeared yesterday to howls of outrage from politicians and teaching unions. Sacre Bleu! Rest at link. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #15 No language is ever useless -- if only because it gives one new ways to think about things, and grows new connections between the brain cells. Literally! I studied Flemish for one year -- my mother teases me that it isn't even proper Dutch. But being able to say 'Ik wil dat ook doon' (I'll do that, too), and almost not giggling as the words come out of my mouth, makes every minute worthwhile. RWV, you can curse in Russian, knowledge that was kept from me because the university kept cancelling the class (not enough students signed up, darn it). Y'know, if the French students all are taught Arabic, they'll be able to read the Koran in the original, and then its much less likely they'll be fooled by talk of "the religion of Peace." And the alphabet is stunningly beautiful. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-10-23 12:37:48 AM |
| #14 You think you feel bad, I learned French, German, and Russian. Totally useless. If I had been smart, I would have studied Californian (Spanish). |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-10-22 6:35:05 PM |
| #13 "The spacecraft has apparently been taken over – "conqured" if you will – by a master race of giant space Arabs. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive French men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the Arabs will soon be here. And I for one welcome our new Islamic overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality I could be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves." – Kent Brockman (paraphrased) |
| Posted by: RJ Schwarz 2004-10-22 4:42:18 PM |
| #12 My degree is in French-it's very depressing to note that I won't likely be using it as a tool of cooperation in the foreseeable future. OTOH, I shouldn't get too depressed-when I look at the demand for Arabic right now (the language spoken by so many of our current enemies) and at the state of French-US relations, I can take comfort in the thought that my skills may be in demand again in my lifetime. Sigh. |
| Posted by: Jules 187 2004-10-22 3:02:52 PM |
| #11 Love the juxtaposition of ...growing competition from Spanish and Chinese. "If we must make a language compulsory, it should be Arabic,... Why Arabic if the competition comes from Spanish and Chinese? Cause they know who their new masters will be? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2004-10-22 2:52:45 PM |
| #10 Esperanto? Klingon? Latin? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-10-22 1:20:38 PM |
| #9 It's a great language and has a great literature full of examples of clear thinking, courage and heroism. France's problem is of recent origin and has to do mainly with a corrupt and desiccated elite. That can change; let's hope it does. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-10-22 1:18:33 PM |
| #8 DB - I would feel the same way if it weren't for the lucky fact that I didn't take French until my Freshman year in college - and dropped the class to minimize conflicts of interest... I was sleeping with the 25 yr old Prof, heh. Her French was awesome! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-10-22 1:12:46 PM |
| #7 It's just more proof that all the time I spent learning French was wasted. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2004-10-22 1:08:48 PM |
| #6 I believe the distinctions go this way. Mandarin is spoken by more people in the world. Spanish is the dominant language of the most nations in the world. English is spoken by people in more countries throughout the world (as first and/or second language). |
| Posted by: RJ Schwarz 2004-10-22 11:40:59 AM |
| #5 And another thing. English isn't the world's most spoken language and has never been. I believe Mandarin claims that spot. However, English is the language of aviation, banking, medicine, science, etc. You know, areas that Arabic culture hasn't contributed to in about 600 years. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2004-10-22 11:15:33 AM |
| #4 "If we must make a language compulsory, it should be Arabic For once, I actually agree with something said by a French politician. It'll make their transition into dhimmitude that much smoother. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2004-10-22 11:13:15 AM |
| #3 Note that this maroon is from the right-of-center party in France. Forget the rhetoric: for the French elites, this is all about winning muslim votes. Given the corrupt and inbred nature of the French political class, we can expect more of the same in future years. As regards middle east policy, France will tilt toward the jihadists regardless of who occupies in the Elysee Palace. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-10-22 10:37:07 AM |
| #2 "If we must make a language compulsory, it should be Arabic," he said. He then wiped the fecal residue from his tongue and lips. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-10-22 10:33:39 AM |
| #1 My favorite: Jacques Myard, an MP from the ruling UMP [Chirac's] party, said that English would be displaced as the world's most-spoken language because of growing competition from Spanish and Chinese. "If we must make a language compulsory, it should be Arabic," he said. |
| Posted by: Ben Dover 2004-10-22 8:54:13 AM |