French Declines in Indochina, as English Booms

By Michael RichardsonPublished: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1993

VIENTIANE, Laos: As the fight for control of Indochina between Communist and anti-Communist forces reached a peak of intensity in 1969, the supposedly pro-American government of Laos paid a backhanded compliment to France.

It used a large cache of cement provided by the United States for airfield construction to build a monumental arch near the center of Vientiane that was distinctly reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

More than a gesture of defiance by a small country against being dragged into the Vietnam War, the building of the arch also seemed to represent a bond of sentimental attachment to French culture. It remains a focal point in Vientiane, but that other bond between France and its former colonies, the French language, is on the defensive. Like Vietnam and Cambodia, Laos was part of French Indochina until the mid-1950s.

Yet the failure of France in recent years to keep up with other foreign aid donors, investors and traders eager to secure access to the resources of Indochina and its market of some 80 million consumers has helped to catapult English to prominence.

For many of the companies that have moved into Indochina, whether from the West or Asia, the language of communication between foreign managers and their local staff is predominantly English.

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"We still belong to the French-speaking group of countries," said Phongsavath Boupha, the Laotian vice minister for foreign affairs. "But the young generation is not speaking French so much. English has become the most popular language here. It is the international and commercial language."

Laos is represented by its president and foreign minister at an annual meeting of French-speaking nations sponsored by France that began in Mauritius on Wednesday and will end Sunday. Vietnam and Cambodia also sent high-level delegations to the talks, which are intended to promote closer ties between the participating countries based on their French connections.

Aware that it has slipped badly in Indochina, the French government is seeking to increase the economic and cultural presence of France in the region.

However, at least one recent attempt by France to make up lost ground has caused resentment. Earlier this month in Phnom Penh, about 1,000 Cambodian students took to the streets in a peaceful protest against mandatory French language classes at their technical institute.

Asserting that English would help the country to develop faster, the students called for it to be made Cambodia's official second language in place of French. In both Cambodia and Laos, French remains the official second language of government.

But English is the boom language in Indochina. Scores of backyard English schools teach capacity crowds each night in Phnom Penh. Government schools in Laos cannot meet the demand from students to learn English, and two private language schools in Vientiane run by Australian teachers have to turn people away.

Nguyen Xuan Oanh, a business consultant in Saigon and government economic advisor, estimated that Saigon now had three times as many students learning English as French.

"English has become the language of business in Vietnam," he said. "It's a must for anyone who wants a job with a foreign company or even with a Vietnamese firm that has significant contacts with foreigners."