[…] The issue came to the fore this week when France’s culture secretary, Fleur Pellerin, declared that the French should not be afraid of foreign words, that we needed to wake up to the real world and not build unnecessary barriers to linguistic diversity.

Pellerin is wading in dangerous waters. France has, for years, waged a battle against Anglicisms. Public intellectuals routinely warn of the impoverishment of literary skills in the classroom, moaning that “kids these days don’t know how to speak” (this sentiment is partly responsible for the fact that French radio stations are required to play 40% of songs in French, thanks to the Toubon law).

Pellerin’s supporters, however, may have the ineluctable march of time on their side. They’re quick to remind us that languages are not monuments – they’re living, breathing systems and, above all, they’re tools for communication. As a result, they constantly evolve – and all those bores whining about the good olde days sound like retirees who still insist on paying their bills by snail mail, with a handwritten cheque. More.

See: The Guardian

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• French must drop ‘ineffective barriers’ against other languages – minister

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