La Langue de Molière – losing the battle against la Langue de Shakespeare?
French trades unions have discovered a new enemy to protest against: the English language.
Led by right-wing French MP Jacques Myard, French trade unionists and language pressure groups have started a new war against the invading Anglo-Saxon force.
They argue that the English language is now conquering the French workplace, in e-mails or “les e-mails“, and on “le web” or “l’internet” and even on “les news“.
According to a trade union survey, 7% of French firms already use English as their main language, while multi-nationals routinely send e-mails to their French workers in English regardless of whether they understand them.
The CFTC trade union says the trend towards using English in the workplace here is both dangerous and insulting to French workers. Safety, as well as efficiency, could be compromised if workers do not understand instructions given to them in a foreign language.
All this has made some in France fear that the decline in the use of the French language – both in international diplomacy and business – goes hand in hand with the decline of French influence on the world stage and its importance as a global power.
It’s interesting that, as usual, France is the only exception to the various multi-nationals using English as their official language. Personally, I think it’s more than a little insulting of the union to assume that their members won’t understand English.
Those multi-nationals going as far as adopting an “official” language are more than likely European too. Siemens, ABB and the like adopted it many years ago.
Interesting too that http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/workabroad/20040525-kranhold.html referred to knowing “only English” wouldn’t be a show stopper. Knowing only French probably would be though.
Arnold: I totally agree with you!
BTW Interesting link from CareerJournal:
“Siemens has a corporate rule about internal meetings: If one or more individuals doesn’t speak German, the others are obliged to speak English. (There are exceptions: In France, meetings may take place in French even if one or more attendees doesn’t speak French, a Siemens spokesman says.)”
France is quite exceptional in respect of the language.
I remember meeting the head of computer security at Citibank once and he was told me that throughout Europe, all computer departments operate in English, except in France.
Even though he was based in Germany and there were no non-Germans in the office, they still worked completely in English. Granted, even I think that’s a little crazy, but that’s how widespread the use of English is in multinational outfits.
In France though, they always operate in French unless there is someone there who can’t understand it.
Net effect being that presumably in German it’s “ein e-mail” or whatever whereas in France they celebrate reinventing the wheel by producing a new French word (mel) though from your reference it would appear that their new invention didn’t fly too well. Slightly ironic really as I gather we acquired the word “mail” itself via ye Olde French…
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