Sacrebleu!
TweetI read in the Metro yesterday that France’s language police have launched a drive to stop a glut of English invading their native tongue. No messing with the French! Terms including ‘email’, ‘blog’ and ‘fast food’ should be banished from the French language… well apparently there are a full 65 pages of banned words on the ministry’s new website launched this week! If anyone happens to have the URL, I’d love to take a look!
Here are a few examples – looking at the length of the French translation make me feel tired! I wonder how many hours were spent brainstorming French translations…
Click image to enlarge
Chers amis français, j’aimerais vraiment avoir votre opinion sur le sujet! L’Académie Française va-t’elle trop loin, ou a t’elle raison de protéger notre belle langue ? J
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about 3 years ago
Interesting post.
I live in Canada and there are usually French-English issues that arise from time to time. The most current problem in Quebec today is their decreasing population and therefore their concern for their loss of their identity.
I can understand the French feeling the same way although they might be taking things a little to far.
My two children went to a French Immersion school (they can speak it much better than me!) but I am able to to get by with a little French (je parle une petit peut).
Thanks for the post. You have a great blog, I’ll be back.
Cheers,
Steve
about 3 years ago
Lolly, c’est merveilleux et effrayant en meme temps…
It reminds me of conversations 20+ years ago [actually more recent] with mes tantes francaises about how terrible the english [american] language is with its messy and ugly vocabulary that has strayed so from UK english. Mon Dieu! It strikes me that language needs to be relevant to the people and the creating [ideas, commerce...] that takes place in a culture/country. If it isn’t relevant, then the language dies [e.g., latin]. But, if it grows and morphs, adapting to the way life changes, then it stays alive. Although, like Steve, I have great sympathy, too much regulation stifles and often causes behaviors counter to those the rules were originally created to correct.
I’m Imagining if english speakers were only allowed to speak Shakespearian or olde english. How might we adapt it to the technological changes afoot?
I would love to hear Cedric Giorgi’s and Loic Le Meur’s reactions to this subject…
Merci d’avoir partage’ ceci…
about 3 years ago
It’s always an issue. back in the day we had culture minister Jack Toubon who tried to ban words like sandwich and cool from french. The population responded by calling him jack “allgood”.
On the examples you gave though:
-Web is often said le “net” in french…
-Wi-fi is also just said as sans-fil (i.e. they drop the “access”).
-I’ve never heard anyone say Bloc (I think somebody simply misspelled blog on that one) or “diffusion par baladeur”, but then I’ve never really heard anyone say podcast in french either.
about 3 years ago
Thanks for the comments – good to hear your views