Ah like all good resolutions the summer has come and gone and no Blog updates.
My four year old was recently given a magazine for kids which, in its central pages, had two pages of "Apprends l'anglais'. I was horrified to see the suggested pronunciations, 'ze traouzeurz', 'ze cap', and 'ze chouz'. I'll leave you to figure out what they are referring to!
I think this magazine epitomizes the problem with English learning in France. The French don't want to lose their language, a noble sentiment. They fear being swamped by Anglo-saxon culture. I'm not knocking it, the last nine years have been spent taking advantage of this by teaching English. However, this negative attitude has led to a state of affairs where France is one of the only world economies with such a poor command of english. (See http://www.laurelzuckerman.com/2009/08/french-still-lousy-at-english-new-study-says.html).
It all starts in school, where the emphasis is on learning grammar from teachers, who themselves have a weak command of real spoken English. (Read Laurel Zuckerman's book 'Sorbonne confidential' for an account of how trainee English teachers hardly ever actually speak English, they listen to lectures in French on linguistics and then churn out essays on the same topic again in French). Trained and experienced English teachers from the UK or US cannot enter the French educational system without passing through the same system. In further studies, English is relegated to last place, and frustrated students have few hours of English practice. This leads to a situation where millions of French people work in multi-national companies, fearing the international meetings, and training budgets are spent on English courses.
I think a few simple measures could rectify this situation. It is very difficult, outside of the major cities to get English speaking radio stations. There is no channel dedicated to programmes in English, and few films are shown in original version. The English press is not easy to find. In fact nothing is done to encourage people to access English. No doubt to protect French culture. However, students I have tested with perfect US or UK pronunciation claim it is from watching and mimicking their favourite series on DVD. Easy access to a language is very important to a students progress.
Secondly, the French government should make it easier for qualified British teachers to enter the Educational Nationale. Qualifications are supposed to be recognised Europewide, so France's position may even be legal. I wonder is anyone has every challenged it?
Finally, the French need to accept, as everyone else has, that English is the international business language and embrace it as such. The will still be able to protect their culture, god knows their proud enough of it!
