Posted on 02/24/2005 9:27:36 PM PST by ijcr
The French language is in dramatic decline around the world, including in its traditional foreign heartlands, according to international language teachers recently gathered in Paris.
French is disappearing from European classrooms in favour of English
The predominance of English on the internet, the relative ease of learning basic English and the perception that English is "cooler" - thanks in large part to popular music and films - means French is becoming ever more restricted to older generations and the upper classes of many countries where it used to be the second language of choice in schools.
That was the consensus among language teachers from across the globe who gathered in Paris in early February for the Expolangues trade fair, dedicated to language teaching, learning and translating.
"Some among us see a sort of victory in this. But personally, I side with a campaign in the British press against our deficit in learning languages," said Julie Squires, a Briton who teaches French at Oxford House College.
In Britain, she said, much of the problem lies with a recent government decision to make a second language optional for pupils aged 14 years and older.
Twenty years ago everybody spoke French in Spain but in Burgos now French teachers outnumber students!She pointed to a study which showed that, across British schools, 72 percent registered a decline in the number of students learning French. German studies declined in 70 percent of the schools, while Spanish declined by just 44 percent.
A teacher from Germany's Goethe-Institut, Christina Trojan, said "French remains a beautiful language much appreciated by the upper class" but it was losing ground in curricula, even in areas near the French-German border.
French was still holding up compared to Italian and Spanish, but that may gradually change.
"Given the difficulty of the grammar and spelling, many prefer not to take up French," she said.
Only Japanese teachers talked of the future of French with enthusiasm A teacher from the Spanish town of Burgos, Julia Martinez, said most of her colleagues agreed that French was "in free fall".
"Twenty years ago, everybody spoke French in Spain. Today, in Burgos, there are more French teachers than students!"
A teacher from Portugal, Teresa Santos, said in her country 70 percent of Portuguese students preferred to take English courses, compared to just 10 percent for French.
"English is magnifique!" a teacher of Ancient Greek at the Aristotle University in Thessalonika, Thalia Stephanidou, said. "Even in poorer neighbourhoods, that language - which replaced French right after the second world war - is taught, even to old people," she said.
There's only one French school in Greece, and that's reserved for the elite "My grandmother spoke French, my father too. Today though, there is only one French school in Greece, and that's reserved for the elite," she said.
Even in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, English has crowded French out of the classroom, despite French being one of the country's official languages.
In Russia, where speaking French was once a prized talent among the tsars, French is trailing "far behind English" in Moscow and Saint Petersburg schools, Mascha Sveshnikova, of the Russian Cultural Centre, said.
David Fein, the head of the Alliance Française in the US city of San Diego, said French studies was part of the collateral damage suffered in the transatlantic fall-out resulting from the US decision to invade Iraq, but now it looked as though pupils were slowly returning.
"Only two Japanese teachers talked of the future of French with enthusiasm, with one of them saying that the luxurious images the language conjured up were its best advertisement.
French, she said, evoked "dreams, fashion, history, cooking and wine."
C'mon the French princess in Braveheart is a hottie.
Sophie Marceau. Hmmm.
I told you I don't speak french. LOL.
>>French and Italian are probably the most popular language in Europe because of their wonderful sound.
Not to mention being spoken in very pretty countries--always great for a holiday to learn a language in the country of origin. Myself I prefer Spanish, but if I ever become fluent in that language, I will probably switch to French or Italian. I was surprised how much of both languages I could read while in each country, but listening comprehension? Forget it.
Latin would be great to learn as well, but as you say, no one teaches it anymore (or so it seems).
So, what? My plumber makes that much too. I know lots of mathematicians in academia making a helluva lot less. That is not the point of my statement.
I would think people want to learn something useful. The french language doesn't qualify, nor does the country.
RE: "Sophie Marceau. Hmmm"
He, he. Forgot about her, but now that you remind me...um...uh...what were we talking about again?
Sometimes it is useful to ... be free ... from ideology and narrow minded thinking. Since France is -in comparison with the US- a much bigger and more important trading partner (among European nations only the UK has more economical exchange with the US than with France) to almost all European countries, the knowlege of French could be quite useful.
Some examples:
Germany export partners: France 10.6%, US 9.3%
Germany import partners: France 9.2%, US 7.3%
Poland export partners: France 6.1%, US is lower than 2 %
Poland import partners: France 7.1%, US is lower than 2 %
Belgium export partners: France 17.4%, US 6.7%
Belgium import partners: France 13.2%, US 5.9%
Spain export partners: France 19.2%, US 4.2%
Spain import partners: France 16.8%, US is lower than 4 %
etc. etc. etc.
Even if you do not share the political horizont and views of the French, the knowlege of their language is more than useful as long as you live in Europe (or elsewhere). BTW - most Europeans who learn French do it because they like the country and the people and not for economic reasons. Maybe they are not the fiercest fighters, but they have for sure some of the nicest girls on this planet.
That doesn't mean that there are no nice girls in America... ... but most people in good old Europe can speak English anyway...
:-)
Since I probably have to absolve a business trip next week with cold and lonley nights in a hotel room far from home, I need something to read for killing time in the evening. Therefore I am going to buy the "Tod in Breslau" and give you a review.
Thanks for the Tip and a salute to Wroclaw!
P.S. For a "latin" lover I got the wrong hair colour - although I hope that I am not too bad with the girls. My wife could give you the right answer...
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