Education Reform in Italy

There wasn't much on this blog yet about the decline of French teaching in Italy, even though this subject deserves this blog's full attention since we're talking about one of France's neighbors. Here is a story documenting an ongoing reform of foreign-language teaching in elementary school and secondary education in Italy. I had begun to translate it into English, but since it's taking me too long, I might as well publish it untranslated before it gets too old.

La récente réforme du système scolaire italien a fait couler beaucoup d’encre. Les projecteurs se sont cependant dirigés davantage vers l’école primaire que vers les nouveautés importantes introduites dans le secondaire, qui mettent en danger l’apprentissage d’une deuxième langue vivante

Pour les élèves italiens, l’heure des inscriptions a sonné. La date limite a été cette année repoussée au 28 février. Ce délai est particulièrement important pour l’inscription dans les collèges car la mise en place de la réforme Gelmini, initialement annoncée pour septembre 2010, aurait été anticipée à la rentrée 2009. Or, les nouveaux formulaires d’inscription ne sont disponibles que depuis le 16 janvier 2009…
Pour bien comprendre les tenants et les aboutissants de la réforme, il faut revenir en arrière au mois de mars 2003, quand Letizia Moratti, ministre du gouvernement Berlusconi, propose une réforme du système scolaire. Au nom de la "loi des trois i", anglais (inglese), informatique et entreprise (impresa), on assiste alors à l’introduction de l’anglais, seule langue autorisée, dans le primaire (alors qu’il était jusque-là théoriquement possible d’y enseigner le français ou une autre langue). En sixième en revanche l’étude d’une deuxième langue (français, allemand ou espagnol) devient obligatoire (et non plus optionnelle, comme elle était proposée dans certains établissements). La réforme respectait donc pleinement les directives européennes en matière d’enseignement des langues étrangères. Cependant, deux ans plus tard, l’article 25 du décret du 17 octobre 2005 relatif à l’enseignement secondaire prévoyait "la possibilité, au niveau du collège, pour les familles qui en feront la demande, d’utiliser, pour l’apprentissage de la langue mentionnée ci-dessus (c’est-à-dire l’anglais, n.d.a), le nombre d’heures consacré à l’apprentissage de la deuxième langue communautaire."

L’article 25 : une épée de Damoclès
Silvia Diegoli est professeur de français au lycée de Carignano, dans les environs de Turin. Elle est présidente de la section turinoise de l’ANILF (photo ANILF)

"C’est l’existence de cet article, suspendu sur nos têtes comme une épée de Damoclès, qui est à l’origine de la création, le 22 décembre 2005 à Cuneo, de l’Associazione Nazionale per l’Insegnamento della Lingua Francese", explique Silvia Diegoli. Au fil des réunions, grâce au travail d’information effectué sur Internet et au bouche à oreille entre collègues, ce petit groupe de professeurs s’est élargi. C’est ainsi qu’il devint nécessaire de créer, le 14 mars 2006, une section turinoise de l’ANILF. Aujourd’hui, l’ANILF compte une centaine de membres au sein de ses deux sections, Cuneo et Turin. C’est l’ANILF qui rencontre en juillet 2007 Giuseppe Fioroni, ministre de l’Education du gouvernement Prodi. Une rencontre rassurante : "Nous avons obtenu la promesse que l’article 25, "congelé" jusqu’en 2009, serait aboli à cette date-là", poursuit Silvia Diegoli. Seulement voilà : la chute du gouvernement Prodi en 2008 change les données du problème et Mariastella Gelmini, dans sa réforme, reprend et applique le texte de l’article 25. Concrètement donc, en septembre 2009, les élèves des collèges auront le choix entre deux possibilités : étudier une deuxième langue étrangère (rappelons que l’anglais première langue est obligatoire pour tous) ou opter pour une section d’"anglais renforcé".

Contre le modèle unique
Pour Silvia Diegoli, ce n’est certes pas l’apprentissage obligatoire de l’anglais en première langue qu’il faut remettre en question. "En revanche, nous considérons que le monolinguisme est une tentative d’imposition d’un modèle culturel unique qui va à l’encontre des besoins de notre temps. Face à cet indéniable appauvrissement culturel, il faut bien voir que ce qui est vraiment grave, c’est que nos élèves présents et futurs vont se trouver dans une position inférieure par rapport aux jeunes européens qui, pour la plupart, connaissent deux sinon trois langues européennes. Alors, pourquoi ne pas proposer cet anglais renforcé comme une option, tout en gardant la deuxième langue pour tous ?" Par ailleurs l’ANILF, qui ne doute pas du succès que risque de rencontrer la section d’anglais renforcé telle qu’elle est proposée aujourd’hui, se bat pour que le français bénéficie du statut de deuxième langue officielle du Piémont en raison de la proximité géographique de la région avec la France. Dans ce combat, l’ANILF devrait pouvoir compter sur un allié important : la Région Piémont, par l’intermédiaire de madame Pentenero, chargée des dossiers relatifs à l’éducation. L’Union européenne, qui a toujours prôné "la maîtrise de plusieurs langues par le plus grand nombre", pourrait également venir à la rescousse…

First Public Library To Be Built In Rwanda

After the Rwandan government announced at the end of last year that Rwanda's school system would be mandated to use English instead of French as a medium of instruction, some Western commentators sneered that this decree would likely change little on the ground. However, here is one project that could change a few things for the Rwandan population:

During my time in Rwanda, I have had the pleasure of connecting with the organization of my roommates Amir and Anna, called “Miracle Corners of the World” (MCW). This is an international network that empowers youth to become positive agents of change, to improve their lives and contribute to their communities. MCW serves youth through leadership training, community development, oral healthcare, and partner initiative programs.

In Rwanda, MCW has begun building a community center inspired by the ideas of youth throughout the Bugesera District, several kilometers south of the capital city of Kigali. This center will house an ICT center for learning computer skills, a classroom for language instruction, and a preschool, among other facilities.

This project will be particularly important in facilitating Rwanda’s switch from Francophone to Anglophone, which occurred officially only several weeks ago at the end of 2008. In fact, Miracle Corners Rwanda hopes to build the first public library in the entire country, focusing on making English-language books available to the community.

"Kubaka" in Kinyarwanda means "Construction." This film tells the story of the groundbreaking ceremony for the center, highlighting some of the ways MCW has been working with the community, and celebrating the opportunities for education, networking, and socialization that have been and will be "constructed."

click to watch two related videos

English Learning Craze In China

In the Book Of Joe blog, May 23, 2005. link to original post

'By 2025 the number of English–speaking Chinese is likely to exceed the number of native English speakers in the rest of the world'.

So said Gordon Brown, the U.K. finance minister, during a recent trip to China.

If we won't learn Chinese then the Chinese will simply do the heavy lifting and learn English. It's as simple as that and it's happening.

The Financial Times is well aware of who's going to be ruling the planet in decades to come and is doing its level best to tell us, in our own language, how it's going to happen.

The Times article that follows, by Andrew Yeh, appeared on April 13, 2005. It speaks for itself.

New Dawn in a Shared Language

Many more Chinese are learning English to further their opportunities, driving the market for education

On a typical weekday morning, Gao Long retreats to a snow-covered park among the grey buildings of Beijing Normal University to practise English by herself.

Several other students do the same.

Some sit on benches mumbling over books while others saunter to and fro in sub-zero temperatures while reading aloud.

They come to work on their spoken English and escape the cramped dormitories they share with many roommates.

"You don't disturb anybody in the park because everyone is reading out loud," said Ms Gao, a bespectacled college undergraduate.

"You have to rely on yourself - others can only give you a form or teach you certain ways but it's still up to you in the end."

Ms Gao spends her time here reading passages from her heavily marked English text, stopping every now and again to perfect her pronunciation of tricky words such as "pesticide".

As the weather warms up, she says, even more students from the college will come to the park to practise.

There are countless Chinese youths with the same curiosity and drive as Ms Gao for mastering the English language.

In a country imbued with the values of self-improvement, learning English is often viewed as one of the surest ways to improve one's career opportunities.

And these attitudes are expected to yield significant demand for education-related products and services in the years ahead.

China is a country that has historically placed great value on education. Yet its current fanaticism for learning English is unique.

"It's a phenomenon," said Zhou Chenggang, a former BBC correspondent who is now vice-president of New Oriental, a private Beijing-based company that runs a network of English teaching services around the country.

"The biggest motivation is that they know it will help their lives."

In China today, the keenest students of English tend to be those cramming for foreign exams, with the aim of going abroad and winning scholarships.

To do well on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), a test of verbal, quantitative and analytical skills, for instance, a Chinese student must be familiar with up to 20,000 words.

And someone taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) needs to learn around 7,500 words, Mr Zhou estimates.

Students in the capital, where the country's best universities are located, are known for reading and watching everything they can get their hands on.

This hunger for learning is expected to generate huge growth in the market for English education products, which includes teaching services, textbooks, test preparation manuals, dictionaries and information technology products and services.

The demand for classroom instruction has been increasing, too, though spending power in many Chinese cities remains limited.

New Oriental estimated its total enrolment was 750,000 last year, up from 450,000 in 2003.

And the demographic range of students is widening.

Mr Zhou of New Oriental says that in the 1990s nearly all students learning English were preparing for specific foreign exams - such as GRE, TOEFL and the International English Language Testing System - to give them a chance to study abroad or raise their prospects of a job at a multinational company.

These days those studying the language include children, older people and those with a general interest.

English texts are now the fastest growing sector in China's book education market and account for up to 8 per cent of the retail book market, according to Xin Guangwei, a publishing industry researcher and author of Publishing in China.

Numerous foreign education and publishing companies have been positioning themselves to cash in.

Their success, however, will be determined by the extent to which they can access the market and how well they can outperform and co-operate with Chinese publishing houses.

There is considerable Sino-foreign co-operation in the market for learning English. Oxford University Press and The Commercial Press, one of China's oldest publishing houses, together produce a bilingual English-Chinese pocket dictionary.

Oxford University is also involved in producing English coursework materials for China's classrooms.

Gunawan Hadi, Asia vice-president of McGraw-Hill Education, says his company has been working with Chinese publishers to develop English texts and reference materials.

He adds that the company's China revenues have grown steadily in the past five years.

Other foreign publishers such as Pearson Education and Cambridge University Press have also been trying to target the country's English enthusiasts.

Gordon Brown, the UK finance minister, said during a recent trip to China that Britain's education exports were now the fastest growing export earner, having nearly doubled in five years to £10.3bn ($19.5bn) - equivalent to about 1 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.

Mr Brown said that education exports would be vital to the UK economy - possibly reaching £20bn a year in 15 years time - and that China is expected to be the primary driver of growth.

Many believe that China already has the world's largest number of people learning English.

"In 20 years time, the number of English speakers in China is likely to exceed the number of speakers of English as a first language in all the rest of the world," Mr Brown said during a speech in Beijing.

"I believe this is a huge opportunity."

Those on the crest of the wave of learning are endlessly creative about study methods.

Jessy Zhao, a 23-year-old from China's western Xinjiang region who is now studying for a Masters in education at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, covered her dormitory room wall with memos with English words she wanted to remember.

"There was a movie that I really liked a lot when I started to learn English, so I tape recorded the conversation and repeated it again and again just for fun," said Ms Zhao.

Students can be particularly obsessive about memorising vocabulary. Maggie Cheng, a student of English at Beijing Foreign Studies University, recalls how someone from her home town was given two Oxford dictionaries by her family as study aids.

She ended up using one as a reference guide and the other for memorising.

"She would read a page and then rip a page - for a sense of accomplishment, I guess," Ms Cheng says.

There are many study aids available to Chinese students.

Aside from the internet and English books sold in stores, outdated foreign newspapers and magazines are often for sale at a discount from street vendors and underground hawkers.

Ms Gao of Beijing Normal University has been studiously flipping through issues of Time magazine because the "stories are real rather than a sham", she writes in an e-mail.

"I read every book I can, I'm very interested," explains Ms Gao, who spends long hours in the library.

"I think books help broaden our modes of thinking and knowledge."

********************

Cost and Complications Take Some of the Appeal Out of Studying Overseas

Despite China's fascination with the west, the number of Chinese students heading overseas has been declining in recent years, while those returning have been on the rise.

More than 114,600 students went abroad to study last year, down from 125,000 in 2002, according to statistics from China's education ministry.

And in the last five years, the number of Chinese returning from overseas stints has been increasing, exceeding 25,000 last year.

Many students are choosing to stay at home to avoid the cumbersome visa procedures associated with foreign travel and the heavy financial cost of studying abroad - in marked contrast to the trend of the 1990s.

UK universities in particular have witnessed a significant drop in the number of postgraduate applications from China, as well as other Asian countries.

But for many students, the returns they seek can only be met by leaving China, where the job market for young professionals is tight.

English language skills, coupled with scarce expertise in a technical area, are seen as a combination for success.

"I regard [learning English] as a key to open the door to another world in which there are different cultures and people I want to understand," says Annan Yang, a 23-year-old from Hangzhou, near Shanghai, who is studying for a PhD in biology at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.

"It's a tool like a computer to get information," she explains.

"Especially in science, if I want to know the development of a field, I must know English because the best magazines are in English."

Gao Long, a student at Beijing Normal University, says she wants to go to the US since it represents fairness and better opportunities.

A book she is now reading describes an American town where life is "in harmony with its surroundings".

"It's an open country," says the 16-year-old.

"In China, many jobs are based more on background. In America, people pay more attention to your ability."

Tunisia To Step Up English Language Teaching

In Kongo Times, 27 Jan 2009. Here is the link to the original story. Another nail in the coffin for the French language in Africa.

The Tunisian Ministry of Education and Training signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the British Council in London Tuesday, to prepare for a huge project aimed at English language teaching reform in all state primary and secondary schools in Tunisia. The MoU signing ceremony was attended by Hatem Ben Salem, the Tunisian Minister of Education and Training; and Lord Kinnock, Chair of the British Council and former Leader of the Labour Party.

The project, known as 'English for the Future', seeks to design and introduce new English language materials and course books for primary and secondary education in order to produce output standards that are within the Common European Framework for Languages, and to equip learners of English with better vocational language abilities.

During the ceremony, Lord Kinnock stressed the Council's commitment to Tunisia.

"Our commitment to Tunisia, to education specifically, and within that to English language teaching and training is very very strong indeed and we would like to do much more of it," noted Lord Kinnock.

The English language is not only vital for employability, but "the fact is: an international language can be a medium of tolerance and comprehension," Lord Kinnock said.

The Tunisian Minister underscored his country's focus on improving education.

"Since its independence, Tunisia has decided not to invest in arms but to invest instead in education," said Ben Salem.

"The budget for the Ministry of Education is one fifth of the whole state budget," he added.

However, the Tunisian education system had mainly invested to enable people to have access to education, noted Ben Salem, adding that now is the time "to go further and work more on quality, not only in education but also in vocational training."

Tunisia, which boasts of around 2,200,000 students in primary and secondary schools, has the burden of 100, 000 high diploma holders who are unemployed, prompting more focus on vocational training, where mastering the English language is key.

"Now there is a target; to have students go to vocational training," said Ben Salem, adding that learners would not benefit by finding jobs in Tunisia only, but also by being employed in Arab Gulf States.

"Ministers in the Gulf are asking for experts from Tunisia who are skilled in English," noted Ben Salem.

The project also aims to focus on training Tunisian teachers of English to reach a certain level of expertise, especially since there has been an increase in the number of English language teachers and students.

"The Tunisian President Ben Ali had decided to impose teaching English for sixth year primary school children, which was revolutionary in Tunisia where people are accustomed to French. So the new teachers will need more training," explained Ben Salem.

The project initiative will begin by assessing the current situation of English language teaching in Tunisia before planning to set out a clear feasible strategy.

But the Tunisian Minister is optimistic that the project's success will make it a positive model for neighbouring countries.

Preparations for the project have already begun.

"Just over a year ago we had a three person scoping mission - distinguished consultants from the UK - who worked with a team from the Ministry and looked at the whole situation of English language teaching, root and branch," said Peter Skelton, British Council Director.

"The team produced a very weighty report," said Skelton, which will be the basis for work on the way forward, adding that the project could last as long as 8 years "as it is one of the biggest investments the British Council has made anywhere."

"It is being launched in Tunisia as a pilot not only for the Near East and North Africa region but for the rest of the world," explained Skelton, to see "what can be done using the British Council's new products and services."

"The absolute key in this is sustainability," stressed Skelton.

When asked about the significance of this project in comparison to previous British Council initiatives in Tunisia, Skelton said the Council "was involved with one off projects, good at the time but did not have a lasting impact. Now we're looking at long term impact and sustainability."

Is French program headed for guillotine at Manchester's Memorial Elementary School?

The Gloucester Times ran this story on January 27, 2009. Scrapping French-language programs in schools is a good idea since French as a subject is a waste of taxpayers' money, while languages such as Mandarin Chinese or Spanish are going to be more and more in demand.

Is French program headed for guillotine at Manchester's Memorial Elementary School?
By Robert Cann
Staff Writer

MANCHESTER — Proposed cuts to Memorial Elementary School's French language program will be among the items on the table tonight as part of a budget workshop hosted by the Manchester Essex Regional School Committee.

At an earlier School Committee meeting, Superintendent Marcia O'Neil proposed that the French program at the elementary school be cut as a part of a reallocation of funds.

Since that Jan. 6 meeting, however, committee members, parents and language teachers have demonstrated strong opposition to the proposal.

At last week's School Committee meeting, Manchester Essex Regional Middle School French and Spanish teacher Dorris-Ann Vosseler suggested introducing an "exploratory" language program in both elementary schools — Memorial in Manchester, and Essex Elementary.

The exploratory program would share one teacher between the Manchester and Essex elementary schools, with that instructor teaching Spanish for one semester and French the other, giving students at both schools the opportunity to try both languages. Essex Elementary does not now offer French.

According to School Committee Chairwoman Susan Beckmann, Vosseler's proposal will be given more consideration this evening.

Vosseler said the district's program has traditionally been very successful. Last June, four seniors received linguist awards for completing all four advanced placement language courses offered: French language and literature, and Spanish language and literature.

Vosseler referred to the district's language program as a "marble column that could be devastated by these cuts."

The meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the high school music room.

Robert Cann can be reached at gt_reporter@gloucestertimes.com

Hervé Bourges: Francophonie In Crisis

RTL info ran this story on June 4th, 2008:

France “is not protecting its language” and la Francophonie is in a crisis: a report submitted Wednesday to the government calls for a broad and “uninhibited” francophone campaign against English-language dominance, and especially for giving more importance to Southern countries.

“La Francophonie is little known. It gets little notice because in France we do not believe in la Francophonie, and the country does not protect its language”, explained Herve Bourges, author of the report submitted to Secretary of State for Co-operation and Francophonie Alain Joyandet.

“In France Francophonie appears dated, obsolete, out of touch with the young”, this one-time high ranking official for audio-visual affairs wrote, now a left-wing public figure and a Third-World activist.

According to him, France bears her share of the blame for this “unease” within the French-speaking community, one that claims more than 200 million from Haiti to Vietnam.

France is “too self-centered”, especially due to the “burden of its colonizing past” it “is perceived more and more as hostile by the French-speaking populations of the South”, he observed.

Herve Bourges advocates “ridding the Francophonie of its inhibitions”, making the work of the International Francophonie organization with its 68 States and governments more noticeable, and launching a “linguistic counter-attack, while emulating the US in pushing for commercial or diplomatic agreements to include as many French-language provisions as possible.

“We ought to regain the offensive and further the French tongue in an uninhibited way, the English way, because the linguistic battle is not only about culture or aesthetics: the real stakes are political influence and economic growth”, he wrote.

He stressed that the British Council had just launched a program aiming at increasing the number of English speakers from 2 to 3 billion with an investment of 150 million euros, whereas the OIF programs for the teaching and promotion of French amounted to about 6 million.

To protect the French language, Herve Bourges suggests among other things that Francophonie be taught at school and junior high and that a “French-speaking Academy” be created on the model of the French Academy, but where French writers would be in the minority, along with an “Erasmus program” that would foster exchanges between the universities of the North and those of the South.
(...)
We need to ask Southern countries for “a financial contribution and to allow them to be part of the decision-making process”, he explained.

All in all, the Francophonie must be less financially reliant on France “which today shoulders 50% of the Francophonie budget”, he said.

He proposes the creation of a “Francophone Foundation” which would report to the OIF but could raise private funding for language programs.

ULK Dumps French

Allafrica had this story on Jan 22nd, 2007:

Rwanda: ULK Adopts English as the Only Language of Instruction

Robert Mugabe
Kigali — The founder and Chancellor, Professor Rwigamba Balinda, of the Kigali Independent University (ULK) has announced the scrapping of French as a language of instruction at the university.

This was publicly announced, during the student's orientation briefing for this academic year by the Chancellor at the ULK stadium.

Professor Balinda said that no more use of French in all courses in both the Kigali and Gisenyi campuses.

The development follows last year's announcement by the government to promote the use of English as the medium of instruction in all public schools from primary to institutions of higher learning.

The decision was taken by the government to help build a competitive workforce that would compete favourably on the international market.

"ULK has taken that decision to enhance international standards and adapt to the cabinet decision (encouraging use of English); We have invested in everything needed in all areas to implement this...French is an expiring language," Balinda advised the students.

According to Dr. Rose Kasibirege, the Vice- Rector in charge of academics, ULK has hired other lecturers for five months to take over while their own undergo English training.

She revealed that, ULK had also hired some professionals who will teach listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills which will be offered free of charge to students.

According to the national curriculum, students in universities who underwent secondary education in the country are meant to be bilingual since both English and French had previously had the same hours in terms of lessons right from primary school.

Regarded as the country's biggest private university, ULK previously used both English and French as languages of instruction. It has so far awarded 5802 Bachelors degrees.

The Inevitable Decline of French in Quebec

Le Devoir, a Quebec media outlet, published this letter from a francophone reader, on January 2008:

For a few years, I have read, I hear and I feel that a decline of the French language is inevitable within the current Canadian institutions: many immigrants are moving to Quebec, but where they are really moving to is Canada.

English suits them better and, with French classes being now cut, all they do is mangle the language of Molière when ... they can't help using it. Many manage to avoid French school over generations (see private schools, English-speaking cégep) and continue to grow up to become Canadians first (Anglos, if you want): they gorge themselves on anglophone media, music and attitudes.

What enables me to make such statements? Simply put, my experience. I was born in Bas-de-Rivière, lived there 16 years, then I went to Quebec to study at the Cégep and the University for seven years. Until then, I had lived all my life in French; even foreign students and teachers had to speak French to become integrated, or else they would end up alone.

Yet at the Laval University Hospital (CHUL), I had my first experience of working in English, in the lab of a researcher who had recently arrived and spoke only English. Since I can speak English, I accepted this situation. However he soon had to speak French for survival, and his three daughters are now little Québécoises like any others: demographic pressure had been at work.

Things changed when I arrived in Montreal: first I worked for a Lachine company, then with the McGill university. Needless to say, virtually everything that happened there was conducted in English, even when no more than one English-speaker was present. Why? Because, at every given moment, everyone on the staff included a number of immigrants for which English was easier...

However, I started to ask myself serious questions when I had to see a doctor at the Jewish Hospital. On several instances, the staff could not utter a word of French, or even give me forms and regulations in French, except sometimes in bad French!

After six years of this, I began inverting word order («bleue porte», for example) or answering a spontaneous “What?” when asked a question. I reacted in a Draconian way to this change and I tried to reject English. Since then, I have practically stopped listening to English-speaking music or movies and I am less keen to learn new English words. Survival was somehow at stake.

Finally, we moved (with the family now) to Gatineau and have been there two years. Here, I sense a demographic crush: unilingual English-speakers are served in English by mechanics and grocers, without an "au revoir", why, the checkout clerk even treats them to a heartfelt “Have a good day!” and a broad smile.

Also, when riding the bus to Ottawa General Hospital where I work, I sometimes hear French-speaking people meet their anglophone friends (always in Gatineau) and greet them in English. As soon as the river is crossed, another country begins for me: 99% English-speaking commercials, unilingual drivers, businesses serving their customers in English only. What can French-Ontarians do about it? Some whinge a little against it but a majority of them folds, and… does so with pleasure!

More often than not, I can make out three French words in between two English sentences, or else someone speaks English and receives an answer in French. One might call it symbiosis, but English-language dominance is felt all the same.

click here to read the rest of the letter in French

Germany and France Drifting Apart Linguistically

Eurotopics summarizes a recent Le Monde article as follows:

The two neighbors drifting apart linguistically

Le Monde daily newspaper addresses the decline of French and German as foreign languages in both Germany and France. “The bad news is that co-operation is going through difficult times. There is the recurring issue of French teaching in Germany and of German teaching in France being both in parallel decline for all the promises repeated with each summit. … Even deserving efforts in border areas often result in failure, as the students' parents tend to favor English when choosing a first foreign language [for their children]. … Don't count on cultural institutes to compensate for the school system's failures, since they, on both sides of the Rhine, have been hit by budget cuts ordered by overscrupulous accountants in foreign affairs ministries' budget departments. The network of French cultural institutes in Germany has shrunk to next to nothing in the last few years, while the Goethe Institutes in France have fallen prey to similar belt-tightening measures.”

New Defeats For Francophoniacs

In the BBC, 08:04 GMT, Friday, 23 January 2009:

New lingua franca upsets French

That the French resent the global supremacy of the English language is nothing new, but as Hugh Schofield finds out, a newly evolved business-speak version is taking over.

They were giving out the annual Prix de la Carpette Anglaise the other day. Literally it means the English Rug Prize, but doormat would be the better translation.

Lord Nelson
Quel horreur! Lord Nelson is the inspiration for a French rock band

As the citation explains, the award goes to the French person or institution who has given the best display of "fawning servility" to further the insinuation into France of the accursed English language.

Among the runners-up this year: the supermarket company Carrefour ­which changed the name of its Champion chain of stores to Carrefour Market, as in not the French word "marche".

Also the provocatively-named Paris band Nelson (the Admiral, not Mr Mandela is who they have in mind) whose frontman J.B. sings in English because, he says, French does not have the right cadences for true rock.

Worst offender

But topping the poll for grave disservices to the mother tongue: France's higher education minister, Valerie Pecresse.

Valerie Pecresse
Valerie Pecresse has decided if you cannot beat then, join them

Her crime: proclaiming to the press that she had no intention of speaking French when attending European meetings in Brussels, because, she said, it was quite obvious that English was now the easiest mode of communication.

The rise and rise of the English language is a sensitive subject for many here in France, who believe: one, that French has every bit as much right to be considered a global tongue.

And two, even conceding to English victory in the war for linguistic supremacy, the least the French themselves can do is defend their own territory and keep the ghastly invader at a decent remove.


The same group that sponsors the Prix de la Carpette also brings legal actions against companies that, it says, breach the law.

For example, by not issuing French language versions of instructions to staff.

(...)

Recently I have spent a lot of time in French multinational companies, and what is inescapable is the stranglehold that English already has on the world of business here.

French executives draft reports, send e-mails, converse with their international colleagues - and increasingly even amongst themselves - in English.

It is of course a kind of bastardised, runty form of business-speak full of words like "drivers" and "deliverables" and "outcomes" to be "valorised", but nonetheless quite definitely not French.

Librairie Française To Close In Manhattan

Found in RFI:

The Librairie Française at New York's Rockefeller Center will close in September after 73 years in midtown Manhattan, as the store's rent jumps from $360,000 (258,000 euros) to a million dollars (716,000 euros) a year. The bookstore opened in 1935 at the invitation of David Rockefeller, who wanted Europeans to be part of his new office building.

Bookstore owner Emmanuel Molho, says the family-owned business's difficulties are due not only to the rise of on-line buying but also to the changes at Rockefeller Center itself.

With exclusive boutiques, selling clothes, cosmetics and electronics to tourists, "the Center has become a shopping mall," he told the AFP news agency.

Molho's father, Isaac, who arrived in America in 1928 from Athens, had attended a French school there. His contacts in Paris with the French publisher Hachette led him to David Rockefeller, and the idea of a French bookstore in the middle of Manhattan was launched.

During World War II the bookstore published French authors, such as André Maurois, Jules Romains and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who had fled the German occupation of France.

The shop flourished throughout the 1960s, with more than 50 employees. Books arrived by the shipload on board steamers such as the France.

The shop was a literary salon as well as a store for US and south American francophiles.

"In those years we would order 3,000 copies of the Prix Goncourt literary prize winner," said Molho. "Today, we don't have more than ten copies in stock."

The Molho family tried repeatedly to interest the French government in their plight, but to no avail.

"When French President Nicolas Sarkozy came to dinner at Rockefeller Center last September, he didn't even cross our threshhold," Molho said.

Radio France Internationale Outcompeted from Major Markets

According to a story published by Le Point on 11/12/2008, Radio France Internationale is losing out in most countries to other global players such as Deutsche Welle, BBC and Voice of America:

Rien ne va plus à RFI ! La station publique a de plus en plus de mal à faire entendre sa voix, en dépit des 465 journalistes assurant une mission d'information partout dans le monde en vingt langues. Le budget est en déficit "dont plus de la moitié concerne la masse salariale", soulignait, mardi 2 décembre, Alain de Pouzilhac, son pdg, interrogé par la commission des affaires culturelles du Sénat. Sans que le terme soit évoqué, la réforme entreprise semble mener directement vers un plan social.

En tout cas, dans un premier temps, certains services vont être restreints. C'est ainsi que, sur vingt langues, six (l'allemand, l'albanais, le polonais, le serbo-croate, le turc et le laotien) sont appelées à disparaître le 31 janvier 2009, faute d'une audience suffisante. Le service russe sera, quant à lui, maintenu uniquement sur Internet. Alain de Pouzilhac souligne qu'en Europe le taux d'audience de RFI est compris "entre 0 et 1 %".

Christine Ockrent, directrice générale de RFI, assume la restriction du service de RFI en Europe et propose de concentrer les forces de la station sur l'Afrique, où la station jouit "d'une expertise reconnue" et d'une couverture globale grâce à trois langues (anglais, français et portugais). Cette stratégie de repli en Europe suscite de vives réactions. Une pétition circule contre l'arrêt de la diffusion de RFI au pays de Poutine. Parmi les signataires, l'ancien dissident soviétique Vladimir Bukovsky et le phi losophe André Glucksmann protestent contre l'abandon de l'une des dernières sources d'information défendant les valeurs de la démocratie. Les auteurs de la pétition soulignent qu'Internet est loin d'être la panacée, car Moscou bloque les moteurs de recherche. RFI sur le Net diffuserait donc dans le vide...

Donner une "image positive" de l'Afrique

Bernard Kouchner, le compa gnon de Mme Ockrent, n'est plus décisionnaire depuis que RFI a été rattachée à un holding dépendant de Matignon, et donc de François Fillon. Mais que faire ? Les faiblesses se sont multipliées tant le Quai d'Orsay (autrefois chargé de RFI) a laissé, au fil des années, pourrir la situation. Qu'on en juge : même en Afrique francophone, le marché le plus puissant de RFI, la station peine à exister face aux radios locales de la BBC. Son taux d'audience, jadis de 30 %, a reculé pour ne plus peser que 20 %, selon les chiffres avancés par Alain de Pouzilhac. Pour endiguer ce recul, Christine Ockrent propose "d'élargir le champ des sujets traités à de nouveaux domaines" donnant une "image plus positive de sociétés africaines en pleine transformation". Et la directrice générale de donner deux exemples : "la place de la femme" et "le rôle du microcrédit".

Le plan de redéploiement de la station bute cependant sur un problème financier. Les crédits publics de l'audiovisuel extérieur (298 millions en 2009) devraient baisser de 30 millions d'euros d'ici à 2011... "Incompatible avec les objectifs de la réforme [lancée par Sarkozy en juillet 2007]", prévient le sénateur centriste Joseph Kergueris, auteur du rapport sur le sujet. Mais où trouver les sous quand les caisses sont vides ?

Link to the story

A Devastating Blow

The Nouvel Obs ran a story two weeks ago on draconian budget cuts to affect the propaganda apparatus that France maintains at great cost to the taxpayer outside of its borders. Cultural centers are being closed throughout Europe while European and overseas lycées français will have to hike tuition fees for non-French students. This is nothing short of a devastating blow to the global status of French considering that la francophonie is French-funded to the tune of 80% according to the same article.

Rien de va plus au Quai-d'Orsay, dans l'organisation de son réseau culturel à l'étranger, incomparable maillage de centres culturels, d'Alliances françaises, d'instituts français et d'établissements scolaires à travers le monde dont l'action sur le terrain est peu connue tant elle est peu mise en valeur. Or voici qu'une réforme préparée à la va-vite se profile tandis que l'utilité des centres et des instituts était récemment contestée par un récent rapport sénatorial (du senateur UMP de la Haute-Loire Adrien Gouteyron). En 2009, les budgets seraient réduits de 13% à 35%, alors que l'Allemagne annonce une augmentation de l'ordre de 7,5% de son budget pour son action culturelle à l'étranger. Au lieu de réfléchir à une politique européenne, on ferme des centres au coup par coup en Europe, centres qui, avant la chute du mur de Berlin, furent de hauts lieux de repérage de jeunes talents, d'échange et de formation des élites - artistes, archéologues ou scientifiques. Quant au réseau des 269 lycées français à l étranger, son financement est ébranlé par la coûteuse promesse du président de la République d'instaurer la gratuité d'inscription pour les étudiants français. Et sans augmentation de subventions à la clé. Décision qui fait craindre une désaffection des étudiants étrangers.

click here to read the rest of the story

11/12/2008

English in French comics

Author: BEN-RAFAEL, MIRIAM1
Source: World Englishes, Volume 27, Numbers 3-4, August/November 2008 , pp. 535-548(14)
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

English today has a strong influence on many languages, French among them. English borrowings and code-switching in general are now a salient feature of the dynamics of French. Many purists still oppose this, and continue to perceive the spread of English as a threat to the French language. They draw their convictions from René Etiemble's classic Parlez-vous franglais? published in 1964. Etiemble saw French comics as one of the major sources of the English/American invasion of French among the youth. In that context, this paper analyses the role of English in the Lucky Luke and Astérix stories (with reference to Tintin as well). The analysis shows that American English is mostly used for describing human and physical landscapes or for the purpose of humorous narrative; the discourse itself, however, remains essentially French. While Etiemble and his followers saw in the comics' genre a sort of subtractive bilingualism, this work suggests that it is more appropriate to speak of additive bilingualism.

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Happy 2009!

I would like to thank every contributor and every reader that helped keep this place alive throughout 2008. Please stay tuned for more great stories on the slow rot befalling the French cultural empire.

Have fun and don't speak French!

Unfrench Frenchman

Won't You Stop Opening Those Doors!

Back in 2005, Nora of the esperantist (read: anglophobic) e-d-e.org was lamenting the fact that a new English-singing band from Spain had had their breakthrough in France, of all places. English opens unlikely doors, now doesn't it?

"Les Sunday Drivers, jeune groupe de Tolède, en Espagne, [qui ne cesse de se vanter de chanter en anglais, NDA] risque de faire parler de lui avec sont nouvel album Little Heart Attacks. "

" c’est très difficile de ne pas chanter en espagnol car cela nous ferme beaucoup de portes y compris les passages radio, les médias en général."

Ce serait bien fait si c’était vrai ;) ...

" Etre indépendant et en plus continuer à chanter en anglais un peu à contre courant de ce qui se fait dans notre pays. "

" Ceci dit, maintenant nous avons une ouverture internationale et notamment vers la France qui accepte plus facilement le fait que nous chantions en anglais et cela tombe bien car nous avons très envie de jouer en France. Nous serons aussi distribuée en Italie, au Bénélux… La Suisse (en français) mais pas encore en Angleterre. Le marché anglais est très fermé. "

... et c’est malheureux que ce choix de langue leur ouvre les portes de marchés nationaux comme celui de la France !! :(((

A Feast of Whine

If you're into this kind of things achyra.org, Emprunts, néologismes et américanismes gives you a glimpse at the latest English words to invade the French vocabulary. And as it is a Francophone forum everything is accompanied with barrels of Gallic whine and the many threads will sate all but the most ravenous appetites for Schadenfreude. Enjoy!  

Anti-Gallic Slurs

Here a Breton is asking his fellow Bretons for anti-Gallic slurs as he doesn't know any (!!!). He has received a few replies. I myself have contributed a few choice words to that thread. I invite the distinguished readers of this blog to help: 

Date : 08/10/2008 à 20h40

Cher compatriote j'ai cherché sur le web mais n'ai trouvé aucun "surnom" donné au français ; pour les allemands il y a "Bosh" , les anglais il y a "rosbeef" les américain les "ricain" ... y en aurait-il ?? des péjoratif de préférence !!

replies here

A Proud Failure

It's not only yours truly, more and more French are becoming unable to continue to deny their increasing loss of cultural radiance and their failure to establish their language as the other global lingua franca. It was to be expected from Gallic vanity that one of those would find in this sorry state of affairs another reason to blow their own horn:   

Ici gît un peuple orgueilleux. (Hommage au déclin de la langue française.)

J’aime l’idée d’appartenir à une civilisation mourante. D’être le dernier d’une lignée. Vivre les derniers âges d’une culture ancienne qui est passée par tous les états d’âme. Nous avons construit des cathédrales et défriché les forêts de hêtres. Nous avons porté la guerre hors de nos contrées pour verser le sang dans les sillons de glaise. Nous avons eu la prétention insensée de porter nos lumières, brillantes sur le métal de nos baïonnettes. Nos marches militaires ont résonné comme la foudre à mille lieux de nos vergers. Tandis que le feu nous consumait, nous avons rédigé des textes immortels conservés dans nos encyclopédies. Nous avons associé le bois et la pierre dans nos demeures et chéri les arts plus que notre propre sang.

Puissions-nous disparaître aujourd’hui comme une fleur se fane après avoir connu la beauté et blessé de ses épines la main qui la voulait caresser. Que l’on oublie le chant du français ! Qu’il devienne la langue morte d’un peuple oublié ! Que l’on se souvienne de nous comme des Sumériens, sans plus de haine ou de tristesse ou alors avec un peu de tendresse.

Je veux m’endormir comme un ancien celte [sic] dans une forêt de Bretagne, statue de pierre grise couverte de mousses dans des dentelles de lumière au pied des grands arbres et des ruisseaux paisibles. Je veux que mes pensées deviennent des croyances oubliées et mes rêves de sombres contes pour les soirs d’orage où le vent rappellera notre passage.

H. le Khan (Né en 1979, on ne sait trop où)

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Que Reste-t-il de la Culture Française ?

Donald Morrison, author of the controversial Times piece on the decline of French culture, talks to le Monde about the French culture's loss of global significance and why it matters so much to France:

Donald Morrison, journaliste, auteur de "Que reste-t-il de la culture française ?" 

C comme culture, D comme déclin, E comme erreur ?

LE MONDE | 29.11.08 | 20h48 • Mis à jour le 30.11.08 | 11h01

Dans votre livre, Que reste-t-il de la culture française ?, qui prolonge votre article de Time Magazine, vous précisez que celui-ci vous avait été commandé par des Anglais et que "la rivalité historique entre les deux pays" peut faire peser un certain soupçon sur cette demande. Pourquoi alors avoir accepté la commande ?

J'ai d'abord refusé, je trouvais qu'il n'y avait pas là de sujet, je vis à Paris plusieurs mois par an et la culture est partout, bien vivante. Mais quand j'ai regardé l'impact de cette riche culture outre-Atlantique, j'ai vu qu'il était quasi nul, surtout si on le compare au rayonnement français de la fin du XIX^e siècle et de la première moitié du XX^e. Alors, j'ai cherché à comprendre. J'ai constaté, en premier lieu, le déclin de la langue française.

Il faut pourtant attendre la page 100 pour voir surgir cet argument. Lorsqu'une langue n'est plus dominante, le rayonnement culturel est moindre.

C'est tout à fait vrai pour la littérature, mais ça ne devrait pas jouer pour les autres arts. Or, à l'exception des architectes, les artistes français, plasticiens, musiciens, sont moins cotés que leurs contemporains britanniques ou américains.

"L'art n'est plus considéré avec le sérieux nécessaire en France", écrivez-vous. N'est-ce pas là le vrai problème, non pas la culture française, mais la France et son déni de sa propre culture, son manque d'intérêt pour la culture ?

Si, en partie. Je cite le cas du photographe Helmut Newton, qui a vécu en France, aimait la France et a voulu donner des photos à la France. On a refusé, il les a données à Berlin. Et que dire de François Pinault emportant sa collection à Venise ?

Est-ce que votre article et votre livre - dans une moindre mesure parce que plus nuancé - ont exaspéré les Français parce que vous leur montrez, en creux, une image d'eux-mêmes qui les dérange ?

Celle de gens qui, tout en proclamant le contraire, n'aiment pas leur culture. Il suffit de voir la sévérité des critiques sur la production française, et leur indulgence à l'égard de ce qui vient d'ailleurs, notamment des Etats-Unis, en particulier en littérature. Si on camouflait certains textes français en textes américains, ils feraient la couverture des magazines branchés. Et inversement, un roman américain moyen transformé en production française serait, à coup sûr, démoli.

C'est vrai, mais ce n'est qu'une partie du problème. Il faut aller plus loin dans le rapport de la France à sa culture. Même si les critiques font ce que vous décrivez, la France assiste sa culture, et il est facile d'être célèbre en France avec des romans médiocres, nombrilistes, des films que personne ne voit sauf sur Canal+. Les artistes n'ont pas à se battre, pas plus que les éditeurs, les producteurs, les galeristes. Il est bien plus facile ici d'être un artiste, singulièrement un écrivain, qu'aux Etats-Unis.

On voit pourtant moins d'à-valoir colossaux.

Parce qu'il n'y a pas d'agents. Mais ici tout le monde écrit, tout le monde peut et veut écrire. Et il est facile d'être publié, j'en suis la preuve.

Il est vrai que trop de Français se croient écrivains. Mais certains le sont. Pas toujours avec un mode de narration semblable à celui des Américains, modèle désormais dominant. Le roman américain aujourd'hui - sauf pour quelques grands écrivains - c'est souvent avoir "a story", une bonne histoire, déjà prête pour le cinéma.

Oui, mais c'est une narration empruntée aux grands auteurs français du XIX^e siècle, Balzac par exemple.

Peut-être. Alors, comment expliquez-vous que les critiques littéraires de langue anglaise, à travers le monde, en 2000, aient désigné comme plus grand écrivain de langue anglaise du XX^e siècle James Joyce, dont on ne peut pas dire qu'il soit un tenant de ce type de narration ?

Je l'ignorais... C'est très français... En France, c'est le Nouveau Roman qui a fait du mal à la littérature. Certes, il était lu à l'étranger, mais les plus jeunes ont voulu le continuer et c'est devenu l'autofiction.

Claude Simon, précurseur de l'autofiction ? La plupart des jeunes auteurs ne font pas d'autofiction. Quant à la génération qui suit immédiatement celle du Nouveau Roman - Le Clézio, Modiano, Sollers et quelques autres - elle est aussi très loin de ce que vous suggérez. Ils sont plus traduits que vous ne le pensez, sauf aux Etats-Unis. Mais, comme le dit Philip Roth, où sont les lecteurs ?

Enfin, pourquoi n'avoir critiqué que la France ? Vous auriez pu dire aussi, peut-être à tort, que l'Allemagne n'avait pas trouvé ses nouveaux Robert Musil, Thomas Mann...

C'est le fond de l'affaire. La France est le seul pays au monde pour lequel la grandeur signifie la grandeur de la culture. C'est un pays qui n'a pas seulement été fondé sur des principes politiques, mais sur la pensée, sur les Lumières. La "francité" passe par la culture, et c'est ça que j'ai touché dans mon article de Time. Sans une culture supérieure, la France devient un autre pays.

Dans le livre, le sous-titre de votre article du Time est traduit ainsi : "Qui peut citer le nom d'un artiste ou d'un écrivain français vivant ayant une dimension internationale ?".

Or le propos en anglais, "global significance", était plus dévalorisant.

J'aurais dû dire "reputation" et non "significance".

A propos de "global significance", que pensez-vous du Nobel de Le Clézio ?

Je m'en réjouis, il écrit une littérature ouverte sur l'extérieur, pas franco-centrée.

Pensez-vous l'avoir aidé par vos critiques de la France ? Vous avez entendu les déclarations de l'Académie Nobel sur la culture américaine.

Les Nobel ont raison sur un point, le manque de curiosité des Américains pour tout ce qui vient de l'étranger. Mais ils ont tort sur la littérature américaine elle-même. Quoi qu'il en soit, le Nobel est un prix assez politique, et de plus en plus politiquement correct. Et je ne crois pas avoir influencé le vote.

En revanche je suis heureux de prendre ma part des prix littéraires français de cette année, un Goncourt afghan, un Renaudot guinéen et un Médicis avec un gros livre pas du tout narcissique.

Là où les tigres sont chez eux, de Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès, qui a reçu le Médicis, a pourtant été étrillé par ceux qui délirent devant tout ce qui vient d'Amérique.

Je ne conteste pas cette réalité. Mais convenez que les écrivains américains se saisissent beaucoup plus que les français des grands problèmes du monde. La Shoah, la seconde guerre mondiale, le Vietnam, les questions du développement, du terrorisme...

On a le sentiment que vous faites ce constat sans lire les auteurs français. Et dans le livre, dans les remerciements, ne figure qu'un seul écrivain français, Marc Levy. En avez-vous rencontré d'autres ?

... J'aurais pu mentionner Bernard-Henri Lévy, mais nous ne nous connaissons pas assez.

Un point de détail : que voulez-vous dire en affirmant qu'à sa mort Françoise Sagan n'avait rien écrit d'intéressant depuis cinquante ans ?

Je ne suis pas le seul hors de France à penser cela.

Elle est morte en 2004, elle a publié Bonjour tristesse en 1954, elle aurait donc écrit un seul bon livre ?

Aimez-vous Brahms..., c'est plus tard ?

1959.

... Alors disons quarante-cinq ans.

Croyez-vous ? Avec mon meilleur souvenir, très bon livre, est de 1984... Et toute ma sympathie, de 1993, et Derrière l'épaule, où elle juge son oeuvre avec beaucoup de sévérité, de 1998...

Peut-être, mais c'est encore une qui a écrit sur elle-même et ses amis, rien de plus.

Passons au théâtre. Que veut dire "malheureusement la France produit plus de Soulier de satin que de Fugueuses" ?

Je n'aurais pas dû prendre comme exemple Le Soulier de satin, magnifique pièce de Claudel - mais pas accessible. Je voulais dire qu'en France, il y a trop peu de pièces intelligentes accessibles à un large public. Il y a du théâtre très populaire et du théâtre élitiste, c'est tout. Et la Comédie-Française, qui monte le répertoire. A Londres et aux Etats-Unis, c'est autre chose, on a du jeune théâtre intelligent sans être élitiste.

Les architectes, vous le disiez, échappent au déclin que vous décrivez. Pourtant vous estimez que la France privilégie ses propres architectes pour des projets médiocres.

Oui, la bibliothèque François-Mitterrand, l'Opéra-Bastille...

... Dont l'architecte est canadien.

Qu'avez-vous pensé de la réaction de Bernard-Henri Lévy à votre article ? Il y voyait une crainte de la culture américaine sur elle-même.

J'ai une mauvaise nouvelle pour lui : les Américains ne pensent plus du tout à la France, les Américains ne se préoccupent pas de savoir comment leur culture est reçue à l'étranger. C'est un pays suffisamment grand pour qu'ils se sentent assurés de ce qu'est être américain et avoir une culture qui se porte très bien. Ils regardent l'Asie, mais pas pour sa culture. Ils ne craignent pas les romans indiens, les films chinois, etc.

Moi j'enseigne depuis quelque temps en Chine. La culture y est en expansion. Mais il y a du chemin à faire.

Après tout ce que vous dites de la France, pourquoi donc aimez-vous y vivre ?

Mais pour la culture, bien sûr !

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