Hi. I am English, by the way.
If the question is what I think it is, which is "will the French speak English all the time in a few years", the answer is probably no. If it actually means "will the French speak English", well, a lot of them already can, they just (naturally) choose to speak their own language in their own country.
I think it is great that the French are proud of their language. And I know it is true that that means some mean French shopkeepers pretend not to speak any English if you don't even attempt to speak French, but I think it is normal to expect you to at least try to speak French in France. If you get what I mean.
Some borrowed words from French.
police
pretige
garage
I personally sense 1000s of words as I switch between English and French each day. Too many to list...
100s (hundreds) of cognates I meant.
Might Mick, sabe pas si sès occitan mas you're wrong about the occitan litterature.Since the Middle Age occitan has had a big production, still nowadays: there are modern writers in occitan: Florian Vernet, JF Laforêt, Max Rouquette, Robert Laffont, Jean Bodon (in the 50's but for me he was the best, have a look to "Lo Libre dels Grands Jorns").In France occitan is the minority language which produces the most.I agree with you when you say there are very few native speakers, BUT there are many who -like me- have it as a second language.By the way, according to linguist Jules Ronjat, in the 1920's more than 20 000 000 persons spoke occitan.Today the best estimations say 2 or 3 000 000 (i guess better 500 000).
Hala, mas sabèm que poiria passar amb l'occitan la mèsma chausa qu'amb l'ebreu: ressucitar.Tot depend de la bona volontat daus occitans.Aquesta lenga qu'es nòstra,qu'es la de quau la reclama coma sieuna, es nòstre tresòr comun.
'Siatz!
lpa: not being picky, but guess you meant "prestige".
Of course, English has many French words in its vocabulary which have been "borrowed" then absorbed into the language over the centuries. Likewise, many words from many other parts of the world, a heritage from the days of British Empire expansion. It all goes to make it such a rich language. I will try and compile a list of such words. Starting of with 2 words beginning with "p":
pundit ............................... (Hindi)
pyjamas (US: pajamas) ....... (Persian/Urdu)
I have no time right now to continued. Let's start a list of "borrowed" English words and their origins.
Vincent,
You're right about Occitanie literature. I have noticed some in (contained within) old French poetry books but I wouldn't really know as I don't live in France. But doesn't its disappearance boil down to the same argument: that it isn't "incorporated" like French is? (which is something the government can control to some extent)
I don't know any Occitanie but let me guess what you wrote...
Hélas, mais sache qu'on va pouvoir(?) passer l'occitan la même chose qu'avec l'hébreu: le ressusciter. Tout dépend de la bonne volonté des occitans. Cette langue qui est la nôtre, qui est la de(pour?) qui(?) la réclame comme la sienne(?), est notre trésor commun.
'Salut!
might mick,
o as tot comprengut, you're right!
prestige, Lpa. You don't speak English, dummy!
Viva la linga del mio pater!
The question should be: Would the English like to see French speaking English in a few years?
Jarec: a short answer: NO!
No reasonable English (or Scottish as I am.. as I keep saying with what now seems to me to be ridiculous frequency!) person would like to see the French abandon their language! It's just stupid to contemplate that eventuality. If any language dies it is a tragedy. Like people dying.
Vive la langue francaise
Never ever they going to speak....
Let me sum up.
If no one disagrees, than we can close this post.
(A motion to adjourn, is always in order.)
We believe that French will be around for a long time to come.
And well there may be an increase in Bilingual Speakers who know English as well as French, we don't expect this increase to be dramatic.
One reason is that France has a strong culture and a large number of native speaker, and not just just in France (Belguim, Switzerland, Monaco). French has an incredibly rich cultural history with a very rich literature.
The other reasons are.
French is Lingua Franca in many areas of the world, and has high prestige everywhere except perhaps the United States.
The Government encourages the use of french, and discourages the use of other languages. The French Government supports an institution to implement gradual improvements to French vocabulary.
The average frenchman considers it rude, disrespectful for even foreigners to not use French in France.
The French Language translation programs are getting so good on the Internet, a unilingual French speaker is not totally at a disadvantage, even on the English Internet.
Regards, Paul V.
P.S. Still a siege mentality, does not keep a language alive and growing.