Posted on 05/06/2017 12:01:02 PM PDT by HonkyTonkMan
FLORENCE — Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, opted to deliver a speech in French on Friday morning because he said “English is losing importance” in Europe.
He gave the comments, which are unlikely to mend fences after a war of words between Brussels and London over Brexit negotiations, at the “State of the Union” conference in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio — an annual event for European dignitaries.
Juncker said he was opting for French because “slowly but surely English is losing importance in Europe and France has elections this Sunday and I want the French people to understand what I am saying about the importance of the EU.”
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.eu ...
In pre- WWII days French was the language used in diplomacy and international affairs. In the years since it has switched to English. The French elite think English, especially American English is low class.
I have no idea.
People all over the world who want to communicate learn English. I went to Korea, and had no problem at all because so many people know English. When I went to Mongolia, my guide had studied English in university. She gives tours to people from all over the world, always in English, and I was the first native speaker of English that she had ever encountered.
It sounds to me like that French guy is chewing on sour grapes.
Autant qu’il ne désirait autrement, il n’y a pas grande chance que le français deviendra une langue universelle. C’est un dommage car cette langue est tellement belle. (As much as he would wish otherwise, there is little chance that French will become a universal language. It is a shame, since that language is so beautiful.)
As long as you Frenchies know the word for “I surrender” you know all you need to about any language.
The French elite think English, especially American English is low class.
The point is that English is seen as a globalist language by nationalists of most countries.
“People all over the world who want to communicate learn English. “
No, they have to because of globalist businesses and Hollywood cultural influence, not because of properties innate in English. Globalism requires one language, which English has become. There is no denying that.
That's one of the main reasons Esperanto didn't catch on.
The Kuwait refinery being constructed for operation by Royal Dutch shell who hired a UK engineering firm to look after their interests monitoring the American design engineers that has parts of the work done by engineers in India to be constructed by two Korean mega construction firms is accomplished communications in English
English is the business world’s lingua franca (pun intended) for a reason.
Take a look at any of the instruction sheets that come with “some assembly required’ furniture or electronics, just to name two. If they are in many languages, check out which one is the shortest - always English.
In the business world, time is money and if you have to go on and on to get your point across, you lose out.
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