French President Emmanuel Macron has announced plans to ensure that the use of the French language is re-expanded around the world in opposition to English dominance.
Following the G20 meeting in Indonesia and the Apec summit in Thailand, Emmanuel Macron completed a diplomatic marathon this weekend at the Francophonie Summit.
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During a round table discussion in Djerba, Tunisia, the French President acknowledged the reality of the French language’s global decline.
French is the world’s fifth most spoken language, with 321 million speakers. However, it is steadily declining and is still often associated with colonization in the Maghreb or Sub-Saharan Africa.
Speaking about the decline, Macron said, “You have to be lucid. In the Maghreb countries, we speak less French than twenty or thirty years ago. It’s a reality. Francophonie has retreated a little.”
The position of the French language in the world has actually declined, giving way to English and, especially, other influences, most notably the Russian language.
Faced with a “return of imperialisms” or a “partition of the world”, which Macron said he “dreads”, Mr Macron said he intends to remake French a universal language of peace and democracy.
Macron said, “The French language is the one that makes it possible to create unity, from Haiti to the African continent via part of the South American continent, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“It is both a space of resistance and reconquest. This word has sometimes been misused by others, but it is a word of ambition carried and a journey that must continue.”
Fluency in French is expected to become a requirement for the issuance of residence permits under the proposed immigration bill. However, in 2014, the French President declared his intention to transform France into “La Start-up Nation,” using Franglais to appeal to more young voters.
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The then-finance minister had no idea he was igniting a conflict between French-language academics and the use of English words in everyday politics a few years later.
The French Academy, the custodians of the French language, chastised President Macron earlier this year for using English on French ID cards issued after August 2021.
The post Macron Admits French Decline In Move To Reconquer World Against English appeared first on SurgeZirc UK.
