by Bill Steele

Created on: August 25, 2008

If you spend some time in France I think you will discover that the language skills of the French are no better, and in some cases worse, than their contemporaries in other countries.

First, think about their skills with other people's languages. Brits and Americans are criticised for being unwilling or unable to learn other people's languages, but in fact the French are no keener. France is a big country (by European standards) and in the interior they will not have that much contact with people from other countries except perhaps occasionally some expatriate Brits who will attempt to speak either in some very simple French or very loudly in some very simple English. They generally have no skills in other languages or interest in either the language or the people from elsewhere.

In border regions there will be some interest in the language spoken across the border, particularly where the region has changed hands a few times, like Alsace. In the cities there is more capability with other languages, but in general expatriates or immigrants have to learn French.

Paris is France's most cosmopolitan city, so you would think the incentive for those dealing with foreign visitors would be strong. But no. I well remember asking a shop assistant if she spoke English. Her reply; "mais bien sr, mais pas toi" (of course, but not to you) put me in my place. There is little interest. It wasn't that long ago that the French thought everyone should learn French as a second language rather than English.

Now what about their skills with their own language? Well, everyone knows about how the Academie Franaise attempts to guard the so-called purity of the French language from infection by the Anglo Saxons even to the point of stopping the creation of the "Fun Radio" station. Maybe that's because they are so bad at consonants, and because the spelling bears so little relation to the sound of the language, that without the Academie the language would disappear altogether into a series of incomprehensible nasal whines.

In any event the strictures of the Academie have prevented the French language from benefiting from the interaction with other languages. So much so that some words in English and German have to be translated into phrases in French, or sometimes the whole structure of the sentence has to be changed, because the French don't have an equivalent word. They have developed their own peculiar way of conveying things to cover up the fact that they don't have a word, and are not allowed to borrow other people's.

Compare a country like Papua New Guinea. It might seem strange, but it happens to be a country I know well. Many people I met there had better language skills than you would expect; they has their own language to talk amongst their wantoks, or tribe. Then there was Melanesian Pisin, which they used to talk to Papuans of other tribes, and many also spoke English, and some German. While many French have a smattering of English which they are often unwilling to use, most don't go further than that. Many Eastern Europeans are hungrily learning English, and they also often have some Russian, which they are reluctant to use for different reasons.

The British get a bad name for their supposed lack of ability with languages, but I don't believe we are any worse than the French. And we have more excuse, because when a Swede and a German get together to talk business (or anything else) they will speak English, because it is the only language they both know. Not French.

When a Brit and a Frenchman get together to talk business, they have to talk French. Because the Frenchman doesn't know anything else. And he'll get cross if you try anything else!

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