'Compulsory' English lessons spark anger in France
By Kim Willsher in Paris
(Filed: 24/10/2004)

An official report suggesting that French children should be forced to learn English in school from the age of eight has provoked an outcry among nationalists, teachers and unions.

The report follows a study showing that France's pupils have a "mediocre" command of English compared with many of their European neighbours but has provoked anger among members of the ruling light-of-centre UMP Party.

"This is an error. English may be the most widely spoken language today but that's not going to last," said Jacques Myard MP. "Spanish is gaining ground in America as well as Chinese and Japanese. If we have to make one language compulsory it should be Arabic.

"In 1914, French officers learnt German," he added. "They were right."

The proposal that English lessons should be compulsory is supported by the prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, and the education minister, Franois Fillon, and is expected to be included in education reforms to be announced at the end of the year.

At present, it is up to schools to decide which languages are taught, and foreign language teaching is not widespread in primary schools.

The move comes just two weeks after the French president, Jacques Chirac, described the spread of English as a "disaster". France is suffering national disquiet about the decline of the language of Moliere in European institutions.

Bruno Bourg-Broc, another member of the UMP, said: "The government can't talk about cultural diversity on one hand and impose English in schools on the other."

Jacques Legendre, a UMP member of the Senat upper parliamentary house, who wrote a report last year on the teaching of languages in French schools, said: "It is legitimate to include a foreign language as one of the base curriculum subjects, but not English."

Schools inspectors also opposed the move and the country's leading teachers' unions called for "diversity" in language teaching. Yet a study published by the French education ministry earlier this year supports the findings in the report.

It examined the levels of English spoken among 15- and 16-year-old pupils in France and in six European countries - Sweden, Finland, Norway, Holland, Denmark and Spain - where English is compulsory in primary schools.

It found the French youngsters were "relatively mediocre" and well behind teenagers in the other countries.

Bof, on peut dire ce qu'on veut sur le sujet... C'est toujours simplissime de critiquer l'éducation nationale.
Pour avoir des éléments réels en main, télécharger ceci :
ftp://trf.education.gouv.fr/pub/edutel/dpd/noteeval/eva0401.pdf

Maintenant, pour avoir une idée globale du niveau des élèves Français, on peut aussi aller faire un tour sur le site PISA de l'OCDE, et là on rougit moins :
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/41/28/2675465.pdf
http://www.pisa.oecd.org/knowledge/download.htm

Bref, sujet extraordinairement complexe...

Pfff bullshit, the truth is that they don't want to teach a language they can't talk themselves ;).

edit : je fais evidement références aux réactions données dans l'article, pas à ton post Mynight :)

Je n'ai lu tous ces liens, mais le constat est clair : le niveau moyen d'anglais des français est pitoayble.

Et les bureaucrates de l'EN sont les dernières personnes à qui l'on devrait demander leur avis : l'anglais est incontournable, point barre.

@ Bender

Commence par lire ces liens au lieu de cracher des hérésies sur les "bureaucrates de l'EN"... Les journalistes savent toujours tout mieux que tout le monde, et quand on se fie à eux et qu'on s'en tient là, on risque effectivement de répéter un tas de banalités creuses qui n'ont aucun sens. Va sur le site du Sénat ou sur celui du MEN et regarde ce que l'EN est en train de faire pour remédier à cet état de fait sur la maîtrise des langues vivantes, au lieu d'aller dans le sens de la facilité... On est justement en train de faire de l'anglais une compétence de base, au même titre que l'informatique... Tu sais, les boucs émissaires tout désignés, c'est très simple... Maintenant, déterminer les causes d'un échec, ça l'est beaucoup moins. Et agir dans le bon sens pour corriger le tir, c'est encore plus complexe. Sujet sensible, c'est ce que je m'évertue à faire une bonne partie de mon temps...

Je pense que c'est une bonne idee. Mais je voudrais que en Anglaterre nous apprendons Francais quand nous somme plus jeune, parseque mes Francais est terrible.

Sorry, It has been 7 years since I had lessons in French. Really English is the most important language in the world - sounds egotistical but this firum is an example. It is increasingly usefull in the EU, and the most spoken language (when you include second languages). If you wnat a job in big business, tourism or the EU civil service then Englsih is the most important, more so than Spainish or Chinese.

What happened to the English section of the Francophone forum btw?

ce qui est agaçant aujourd'hui c'est de faire d'une langue le critère sine qua non pour quoi que ce soit sans juger l'intelligence ou la réfléxion.
L'Elite, celle qui a droit à l'enseignement de qualité, est-elle celle que l'ont croit? Qui peut au sortir du lycée dire qu'il parle une langue parfaitement? qui peut s'offrir le luxe de parler plusieurs langues ? Ahhh maman est anglaise ! Aaaaahh papa, maman la bonne et moi sommes restés 5 ans en Allemagne ! Aaaahhh papa est diplomate ! Aaaahhh... bref aujourd'hui "il faut" parler une langue ? A quoi bon ??? Et surtout être grammairien dans cette langue, connaitre l'irrégularité sinon, horreur !
Donc apprendre des langues... pourquoi pas si j'en ( on en) avait les moyens, et quand bien même est-il utile d'en apprendre une. Pourquoi est-il OBLIGATOIREMENT NECESSAIRE DE PARLER UNE LANGUE AUJOURD'HUI ??? c'est un plus certe, je ne dis pas qu'il ne faut pas apprendre d'autre langue ni ne s'ouvrir, mais arretons d'en faire un critère d'intelligence, ça devient stupide.

Year, let's be honest here. Look at this forum, and any other international forum, and what is the main language by far... English.

Cross over even to the eastern european forums, and they most speak english to each other there.

If you want to succeed in Business on an international level, then you need english. I work in a European wide company, and English is the language spoken between any of the country's, regardless if a British person is involved or not.

It's up to France, and I really like France, but if it want's to succeed internationally, and that is the way business is done these days, then they are going to have to learn English.

Pride is one thing, denying the next generation of a chance is another. If France chooses to ignore this fact, it is France that will suffer, no one else.

@ JP
C'est tellement vrai ce que tu dis que dans l'académie de Créteil, un beau jour de 2001, les mômes se mirent à aimer le Chinois... Il y eut un boum extraordinaire pour cette langue somme toute difficile, et qui peut certes servir à aller faire ses courses chez Tang, mais bon... La raison ? Quelques lycées très élitistes, genre Marcelin Berthelot à St-Maur, avaient ouvert une option Chinois, et les mômes voulaient à tout prix aller dans ces boîtes à bac... :D C'était un bon moyen de sauter la carte scolaire. Quand l'académie a ouvert du Chinois un peu partout, comme par miracle, l'engouement pour les saveurs sucrée du lointain Orient avait disparu... Quelle coïncidence !

Totally agree Justme

Petty attempts at nationalism veiled by the reasoning that culture is being destroyed is pathetic.

Just look at the third world's embracing of English - why does India have the most promising international service-based industry in the world - because a lot of Indians have an excellent command of English, more so than the Chinese.

Sri Lanka, where my parents come from, stopped compulsory English lessons at school when the ethnic nationalists came to power for exactly the same reasons the French govt is spewing out now. My folks were the last generation to be taught English at school, my mum's family also spoke it as their first language at home. The reason why services in the country are pretty crap now is precisely because of the fact that most people there can no longer speak English.

France is not a third-world country but the world is moving because of English... languages like Spanish and the Chinese dialects are domestic languages, English is what really enables cross-country communication.

There is clear and obvious reasons why local languages should be kept and cherrished. It would be a sad day in France, when the French don't speak French anymore.

But this is a totally different story.

Children in France deserve a chance to succeed in the world like any other country. English language knowledge is a very important criteria in getting any serious job in Germany now. It is often the deciding factor in interviews.

Of cause, if you are working on a production line you won't need it, but any French child that grows up and want's to make a mark in the world, does. And to deny this is just plain silly.

Learning Spanish as proposed is certainly not as helpful, and it won't ever be, nor Chinese or any other language.

Every country should keep their local languages, but English should be taught as a 2nd. This way everyone in the world can communicate.

C'est la décision de la France.
Français n'est pas forcé en Angleterre.

Also agree... I didn't mean to imply in my previous post that local languages should be displaced in favour of English (obviously!)

C'est la décision de la France.
Français n'est pas forcé en Angleterre.

Yeah, but it would still be a shame if France's future generations had to miss out in being involved in international commerce... hell, even missing out in understanding a Hollywood movie or a pop song.

It IS a decision for France, I just hope they make the right one... for their sake.

My regret is that foreign languages weren't hammered into British students from a young age - I would've loved to learn more than just French (most of which I've forgotten now).

The point is that the French do speak English on the whole but the average level is quite poor. In technical jobs, people are much requested if not demanded to speak and write a good English. I personaly use English in my job at work on a daily basis. English *is* the wordly language that everyone should speak quite well. The French have to improve their English, that is why the gvt (Education minister) has decided that English should be taught at school from 7 or 8 year old on. France does NOT loathe English but I think that the French do not like languages rather ;)

learning foreign languages has two advantages :
-learning different cultures and language formalizations
-improving our ability to integrate the globalization process affecting many activities and hence jobs accross the world.

As to me, the real issue in France is the so-called "pupil selection by maths".
I do not think as JP suggested, that knowing foreign languages is a mean to evaluate smartness.

@ Cyril

Plus tôt encore, dès le CE1 sans doute (7-8 ans). C'est le sens des rencontres actuelles entre les inspecteurs généraux EN et les groupes de pilotages langues vivantes rectoraux. De plus, dans le basculement vers la LOLF (loi organique relative aux lois de finances) et donc vers le PAP (projet annuel de performance) effectif à la rentrée 2005, on est en train de mettre en place un système d'évaluations en matière de maîtrise des élèves en langues vivantes dans le primaire (l'anglais représente actuellement 90% des LV 1 enseignées primaire-secondaire) basé sur PISA, l'indicateur OCDE, qui permettra de faire en sorte que les élèves aient un programme cohérent tout au long de leur parcours scolaire - non seulement qu'ils sachent lire Shakespeare dans le texte ( :D ), mais surtout qu'ils sachent aller acheter du pain chez le baker... Il faut savoir qu'actuellement, on fait face à un empilement de décisions politiques contradictoires depuis 20 ans, en essayant de conjuguer maîtrise de l'anglais et diversité de l'offre des langues (ça va de l'Espagnol au Chinois en passant par le Portugais et l'Arabe). Cela demande une réforme en profondeur, une vraie, qui est en train d'être réalisée - je n'en crois d'ailleurs pas mes yeux :D - mais dont les résultats ne seront pas tangibles avant quelques années, puisque quand tu commences une réforme au CE1, elle met 10-11 ans avant de se répercuter jusqu'au bac...

Please, please, please Justme, what you said is just so wrong!!!
Of course English is important but here it's a different matter, we are not suppresing English lessons from our schools here, we just want to think about the necessity of learning English so young, at an age where you're already learning you mother tongue.

In the French educational system, English has already a large importance which I belive is far sufficient.
For any bussiness situation the key point is to make all your views very clear and that's it, you don't care if you're doing mistakes, nobody will blame you for that, especially when it's a personn who is enable to speak a second language, so you've got the edge.

The purpose of the school is to give you the basis to deal with the most commun situations that you can face, and that's it.

I'm French, I'm leaving in England so I can tell you that learning English is really really important and it should not be wasted, but I seriously doubt that starting learning English so young is THE best way to later become efficient.

It's not by learning English very young that you will become automatically fluent, even if you work hard you will still have a "school level". Understanding someone with his specific accent, his own speed or with his specific slang language is a total different thing, and the only way to get it perfectly is to go abroard.

Finally, the reason why the Dutch are so good in English is very simple: all the English/American TV programms are subtitled in Dutch and not dubbed as in France, so they get the right prononciation and vocabulary quicker. I think this should be implemented in France, you improve your English, and the movies become far more interesting cos your're missing less subtelties such as jokes or play on words (I can't stand american movies dubbed in French anymore, it's such a pity honestly, we've got only five different voices and I'm not kidding).

Regards

P.S: France's already succeeding on an international level I believe...

Please, please, please Justme, what you said is just so wrong!!!
Of course English is important but here it's a different matter, we are not suppresing English lessons from our schools here, we just want to think about the necessity of learning English so young, at an age where you're already learning you mother tongue.

In the French educational system, English has already a large importance which I belive is far sufficient.
For any bussiness situation the key point is to make all your views very clear and that's it, you don't care if you're doing mistakes, nobody will blame you for that, especially when it's a personn who is enable to speak a second language, so you've got the edge.

The purpose of the school is to give you the basis to deal with the most commun situations that you can face, and that's it.

I'm French, I'm leaving in England so I can tell you that learning English is really really important and it should not be wasted, but I seriously doubt that starting learning English so young is THE best way to later become efficient.

It's not by learning English very young that you will become automatically fluent, even if you work hard you will still have a "school level". Understanding someone with his specific accent, his own speed or with his specific slang language is a total different thing, and the only way to get it perfectly is to go abroard.

Finally, the reason why the Dutch are so good in English is very simple: all the English/American TV programms are subtitled in Dutch and not dubbed as in France, so they get the right prononciation and vocabulary quicker. I think this should be implemented in France, you improve your English, and the movies become far more interesting cos your're missing less subtelties such as jokes or play on words (I can't stand american movies dubbed in French anymore, it's such a pity honestly, we've got only five different voices and I'm not kidding).

Regards

P.S: France's already succeeding on an international level I believe...

Yes, I don't know if 8 years old is such a good thing or not, will it hurt at all though? I certainly wish I had a 2nd language drummed into me when I was young in school. It would also be interesting to young kids, as you mention, they would be able to watch english movies and music in the original language.

I live in Germany, and am struggling with my German. I can get by, but I would have been so much better if I learnt German or French in school. If I had learnt French, I can assure you I would have probably moved to Paris instead of Frankfurt (I do prefer Paris ;) )

I agree that English is not needed for day to day things, but neither is most things learned in school. How much of what you learned in maths is used in your day to day life? How much in geography, or history? A 2nd language, and one that is a global language would always be of benifit, and I'm sure the youth would enjoy understanding their favourite pop songs better.

You are totally correct about the Dutch with their TV being in original langauge.

This works both ways. I have a great fondess for European cinema, including French, and I always watch in the original language with the English subtitles. I can't enjoy a French movie in English dubbed.

These days, with Satelite TV, people can watch pretty much the TV from any other European country. It is very easy in France to get Sky TV and free to get the BBC. So, these could be good options to practice one's English. I have British friends in the UK who get German, Spanish or French TV via Sat to practice their language skills.

And yes, France is succeeding on an International level - very well. But the world is changing, and every year, a single international language is becoming more and more important. It can only benifit the population to learn this international language from the outset. This way, it would give every child a chance in the future.

In the EU, I do business all the time across borders. When I need to buy parts or kit for work, I look for the best deal and service, and that often means crossing borders. Usually when buying abroad I end up talking to companies in Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands etc even if I have found the best deal in France, I just can't often communicate with the company.

But let's be honest. If that article is correct, Jacques Myard is dreaming if he thinks Spanish is a better alternative and everyone knows Jacques Chirac himself is the disaster. ;)

If any anything English is the son of French with alot of our words being French in origin.

William the conqueror not only brought his armies over - he brought his language over.

I would say without him English would be alot poorer.

So with this in mind the French should enjoy learning English as they will see alot of their own language in it.

je me suis peut-être mal exprimé. Les langues sont un peu plus qu'une "smartness"...
Le problème en France est la manière dont sont enseignées les langues. On devrait apprendre un moyen de communication avant de faire une sorte de pseudo linguistique culturelle dans les collèges et lycées. Et encore une fois la langue est un critère élitiste. En quoi a-t-on besoin d'une langue au quotidien ? Combien sont ceux que je connais qui devait avoir un "niveau" d'anglais pour ne jamais le pratiquer au final ! La langue est quelque part une supercherie pour le pauvre et le gueux, parlez des langues vous réussirez.Est-ce bien vrai ? N'est-ce pas ce que l'école nous inculque ( en nous dégoutant du reste des langues ! ) ...à quoi bon apprendre 2,3 voire 4 langues au lycée pour n'en parler au final aucune !
Je n'ai jamais appris d'anglais ce qui ne m'empeche pas de barragouiner deux-trois trucs et comprendre ce que je lis ( pas ce que j'entends par contre ), quant à l'espagnol ( promis au lycée comme une langue d'avenir très utile ! On parle espagnol aux Etats-Unis ! voyyyeeezzz heiiin ! On a oublié de me préciser qu'on parle d'abord anglais aux States.... ) bref j'en ai fait de l'espagnol, j'en ai fait des efforts pour rien...
Bref reste la langue de Sisi, mais ça c'est pour mon plaisir personnel comme certains jouent au tennis moi j'apprends l'allemand... mais bon, je ne sais pas comment vous êtes fait, mais... vous apprenez comment ?????????????????????????
pensez vous que vous parlez anglais ? espagnol ? allemand ? quoi comment où pourquoi??? vous êtes seul chez vous avec vos cassettes ? vous matez des films de boules en anglais? vous regardez Derrick en VO? ... moi j'ai beau lire les traductions flamandes sur le dentifrice ça rentre toujours pas le hollandais...
qui peut apprendre une langue seul ?... non parce que je veux bien apppppprendre des langues car on m'a dit qu'il fallait parler des langues, et il le faut si je veux rejoindre l'élite de l'élite, la crême de la crême, rejoindre le gotha et comprendre le monde... mais comment ? Des cours à l'université ? bah oui mais matériellement c'est impossible ? Des cours chez Goethe ? bah oui quand ils en proposent ? ... bon le séjour linguistique, OK un mois après j'ai les bourses vides... rencontrer le beau Franz ah oui pas mal l'idée ?! je tapine où ? ... voilà donc reprocher aux français de ne pas parler de langue d'accord mais en-a-t-on les moyens et les méthodes? le veut-on ? et n'est-ce-pas une illusion que le multilinguisme est synonyme de réussite ???? aloooooooooooooooorssss ;)

Tout bien réfléchi je pense qu'il faudait arrêter d'enseigner l'anglais littéraire. Se contenter des 2000 mots du globish: ça, tout élève moyen peut les ingurguter en quelques années et ça n'engage à rien moralement. C'est comme avaler le code de la route.
Par contre la dimension littéraire et culturelle, ça a une portée morale et de prestige pour le pays qu'on étudie. Ca fabrique des anglophiles en France. Pourquoi faire ce cadeau à l'Angleterre, qui ne nous retourne pas la pareille, alors que le monde à découvrir est si vaste?
Alors supprimons l'agreg d'anglais (sauf pour quelques espions) et consacrons nous aux cultures voisines européennes (qui en retour s'intéresseraient à nous) et aux grandes civilisations mondiales.
Transformons la victoire de l'anglais en piège du globish.

Quel extremisme... JP n'as pas tout à fait tort, ça sert presque a rien, mais en general, celle qui sert le plus, c'est quand meme l'anglais, je trouve ça bête de pas apprendre l'anglais sous pretexte d'une croisade contre les anglais.

Je ne suis pas du tout d'accord avec toi JP. La manière d'enseigner les langues est largement inspirée de l'apprentissage du latin, première langue-morte- qui était enseignée en france.

L'apprentissage par la linguistique (ébauche) est quand même plus intelligent il permet d'acquérir des réflexes, des raisonnements sur le fonctionnement des langues. ça permet de ne pas gober une langue du type de ce que propose Benmabillon.

Can't believe this is being debated again - it's fact that in business, the language of choice is English.
When i go to a foreign land and I can't manage to spell out a single word, i resort to English, and it's more than likely i get understood this way, fact.
English is the international way, fact.
I see some of you bitch about having English imposed will be a put off to be learn another like spanish or whatever your choice may be ; another fact is it's not enough to be just bilingual these days, three languages should be the norm.
France should just accept it as such it is a necessity to learn English, it's a bonus and it's nothing complicated to learn.

LOL Bruno, cet article ne reflète pas trop le sentiment général en France. Il y a des réticences mais la norme c quand même bien la reconnaissance de l'utilité de l'anglais...heureusement !!!!!!!!

Mais a voir les reactions sur ce forum, je me demande!

Ce forum n'a jamais été représentatif de la norme ;)

Tres bien.
FREAKS ! The lot of ya!

The report follows a study showing that France's pupils have a "mediocre" command of English compared with many of their European neighbours but has provoked anger among members of the ruling light-of-centre UMP Party.

Ca c'est quand meme une bonne reflection du forum non?

Can't believe this is being debated again - it's fact that in business, the language of choice is English.
When i go to a foreign land and I can't manage to spell out a single word, i resort to English, and it's more than likely i get understood this way, fact.
English is the international way, fact.
I see some of you bitch about having English imposed will be a put off to be learn another like spanish or whatever your choice may be ; another fact is it's not enough to be just bilingual these days, three languages should be the norm.
France should just accept it as such it is a necessity to learn English, it's a bonus and it's nothing complicated to learn.

definitely

Ca c'est quand meme une bonne reflection du forum non?

Peut-être, mais pas de tout le forum :)
Moi je sais bien que quand je vois le niveau d'anglais général en France, ça fait quand même peur.

Bien sur.

English is obviously the main foreign language taught by students... That's not a problem of quantity, that's a problem of quality... In France, we have two standards : english for business, which is fallen in disrepute - that's not a very cultural language, you know... :D - and english for literature... The problem is that studients can translate Voltaire in English or V. Woolf in French, but they can't ask their way in the street when they're lost in London... French gov is just beginning to aware of that fact, but long is the road to change... Anyway, the French regard English language as a necessity, especially for business, computers or technical medium for communication... Better late than never isn'it ? :D

Ah yes, it has to be French otherwise it's not cultural and rather looked upon in France.
From your sarcastic tone, i take it the matter isn't changing too rapidly in the French mentality, or is it?

I'll have to add that i get plenty of intarraction with french customers on a daily basis (or almost), and as far as i'm concerned, half the lot know how to communicate in English decently, as for ther rest... it's frankly horrific. It's almost as they take a maligne pleasure in indulging a bad prononciation, much like an affirmation of their own persona.

Réellement, ce sont les mentalités qui changent bien plus qu'on ne l'imagine, mais cela prendra du temps dans les faits à se répercuter dans la manière d'enseigner cette langue. Concrètement, l'Anglais va être enseigné d'une manière plus terre-à-terre, mais plus efficace pour le quotidien... On est loin des méthodes audiovisuelles des années 80, c'est clair... Honnêtement, ce n'est pas une matière qui me désespère, loin de là. Mon souci est beaucoup plus l'enseignement du Français à dire vrai... :(

Now French say: Liberté, égalité et l'anglais
From Adam Sage in Paris






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.

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, Michèle 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.”

Laurent Hénart, the Minister for Professional Training, agreed, saying: “Part of our job involves human relations. It’s a huge advantage to speak English.” His words illustrate the debate in France between idealists, who want to encourage use of the French language, and realists, who are bowing to the dominance of English.

Earlier this month, on a visit to Vietnam, M Chirac, who speaks good English after spending several months in the US as a young man, threw himself into the argument with an outspoken attack on what he described as the Anglo- Saxon sub-culture. “In a world where there was only one language and only one culture, our ability to think would shrink,” he said.

According to a recent survey, seven per cent of French companies employ English as their official working language, and 50 per cent are likely to follow suit.

Bad
Dominique Perben, Justice Minister; Michel Barnier, Foreign Minister; Gilles de Robien, Transport Minister

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

AND TO BE FAIR . . .

British Cabinet Ministers who speak French well:
Tony Blair, Prime Minister; Geoff Hoon, Defence Secretary; Tessa Jowell, Culture Secretary

Passably
Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary; Margaret Beckett, Environment Secretary; Baroness Amos, Leader of the House of Lords; John Reid, Health Secretary

Badly
John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister; David Blunkett, Home Secretary

je ne suis pas contre apprendre l'anglais, je l'apprendrais volontier si on m'en offrait la possibilité. Mais apprendre l'anglais avec apple pie et la vie trépidente de Phil and cathy Dupuis - they come from "bourrregogneu" le tout entremélé de l'exception grammaticale. Pour en revenir à ce que me disait Manuel "L'apprentissage par la linguistique (ébauche) est quand même plus intelligent il permet d'acquérir des réflexes, des raisonnements sur le fonctionnement des langues. "... je suis d'accord mais tu idéalises la chose... on apprend le faux ami, l'irrégularité grammaticale... c'est choisir le tissu des rideaux avant d'avoir construit la maison et d'avoir même une fenêtre...


maintenant personne n'a répondu, vous apprenez où et comment ??

J'ai appris les bases grammaticales à l'école, le reste en regardant MTV et NBC quand j'avais une jambe cassée, et ensuite en parlant sur le net, puis en vrai.

J'ai appris en en ch... comme un russe au lycée puis à la fac, chuis mauvais en langues. Mais l'ordi, ça aide mine de rien pour l'anglais technique... Maintenant, je parle anglais comme une vache espagnole, mais je le lis bien... on peut dire que la moitié du parcours est faite loooool ;)

lol! old monsieur prescott n'est parler francais!!! why am i not suprised!

i have to learn french as my parents bought a house in france recently and it is ultra frustrating not being able to talk to the local people in our village and downright embarrassing communicating in english.

but trust me.....japanese makes french look easy! i am working on my hiragana and katakana as we speak!!!