Is French on the decline

Colette   Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:29 pm GMT
Haitian Creole was first recognized as separate language by Cuba. Nobody aside from Cuba recognized that Hatian Creole was different from French and in fact it is not the same as French, it's a language on its own and I agree with Cuba because it deserves to be recognized and promoted despite the French don't like the idea. Haiti is a puppet state of Cuba and thus the French influence is minimal.
Coleta   Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:53 pm GMT
Admit it or not but Cuba is getting Haitianized and its on the brink of turning back to the Spanish language and embrace Haitian Creole.

Imagine lots of Cubans are learning it just for the sake of Haitian refugees instead of the other way around.

Cuba is a puppet state of Haiti.
Visitor   Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:13 pm GMT
<< Most Germans also learn English as first foreign language in schools. Sometimes French or Latin are taught first, but usually it is English, with Latin and French as common second or third foreign languages, as well as Spanish. Ancient Greek, Italian, Russian, Polish, Dutch, or other languages are also learned in schools (often depending on geographical location).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Germany >>

The above text was again edited by a hispanic and inserted the "as well as Spanish" when it should be behind Russian and Italian.

These Hispanics no longer feel guilty and ashamed of altering the articles in Wikipedia just to give false information in order to elevate the status of Spanish.

Do they think that the Germans are willing to adopt the Spanish language in lieu with English, French, Russian, and Italian? Germanic people are not subordinates of Hispanic world for the Hispanic's information as much as they're no subordinates of English, French, Russian, and Italian. But if they are to be subordinates it's more likely of the four not of Hispanics. As far as I can remember during World War II, Spain under Franco played a subordinate role to Germany and Italy and now these Hispanics are trying to make it appear to the entire world theat they have subjugated the Germans.

If they want then they should have altered the "Languages of Spain" article stating that German is required subject in Spain on par with English and French.
Informer   Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:30 pm GMT
Norman French is still used in the Houses of Parliament for certain official business between the clerks of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and on other official occasions such as the dissolution of Parliament.

Forms of French are, or have been, used as an official language in the Channel Islands, e.g. Jersey Legal French.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_Kingdom
Margareth Thatcher   Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:07 pm GMT
In Spain one million of UK citizens resides permanently , it's normal that they learn Spanish because it's more useful for them than French.
Visitor   Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:13 am GMT
Anthem of Métis people (Canada)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUebuT9j7U4
iNFORMER   Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:06 am GMT
When a pope addresses the United Nations, he knows he is speaking to the world. John Paul II said as much when he went before the UN General Assembly on October 5, 1995 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. “In coming before this distinguished Assembly, I am vividly aware that through you I am in some way addressing the whole family of peoples living on the face of the earth,” he said in opening remarks. “My words…echo the voices of all those who see in the United Nations the hope of a better future for human society.”

His language was of human dignity and a universal moral law that protects all persons equally, words that echoed again when Pope Benedict XVI took to the floor of the UN General Assembly last week and spoke of the need for a “new humanism” that respects religious freedom and morally informed voices......

What most of them missed was the deeper message of the Pope’s elegant words. His opening remarks were in FRENCH, THE LANGUAGE OF THE UNITED NATIONS. By the second paragraph, he made an affirmation: “The United Nations embodies the aspiration for a ‘greater degree of international ordering’…inspired and governed by the principle of subsidiarity, and therefore capable of responding to the demands of the human family through binding international rules…” And then he made a challenge: “This is all the more necessary at a time when we experience the obvious paradox of a multilateral consensus that continues to be in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few, whereas the world’s problems call for interventions in the form of collective action by the international community.” The phrase “decisions of a few” is key to that thought, and he returns to it later.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articleS/view/pope_benedict_at_the_un_a_moral_grammar_of_rights/
Informer   Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:07 am GMT
When a pope addresses the United Nations, he knows he is speaking to the world. John Paul II said as much when he went before the UN General Assembly on October 5, 1995 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. “In coming before this distinguished Assembly, I am vividly aware that through you I am in some way addressing the whole family of peoples living on the face of the earth,” he said in opening remarks. “My words…echo the voices of all those who see in the United Nations the hope of a better future for human society.”

His language was of human dignity and a universal moral law that protects all persons equally, words that echoed again when Pope Benedict XVI took to the floor of the UN General Assembly last week and spoke of the need for a “new humanism” that respects religious freedom and morally informed voices......

What most of them missed was the deeper message of the Pope’s elegant words. His opening remarks were in FRENCH, THE LANGUAGE OF THE UNITED NATIONS. By the second paragraph, he made an affirmation: “The United Nations embodies the aspiration for a ‘greater degree of international ordering’…inspired and governed by the principle of subsidiarity, and therefore capable of responding to the demands of the human family through binding international rules…” And then he made a challenge: “This is all the more necessary at a time when we experience the obvious paradox of a multilateral consensus that continues to be in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few, whereas the world’s problems call for interventions in the form of collective action by the international community.” The phrase “decisions of a few” is key to that thought, and he returns to it later.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/pope_benedict_at_the_un_a_moral_grammar_of_rights/
Informer   Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:12 am GMT
Pope Says There's No Ideal Political Model

Invites 11 Envoys to Cultivate National "Genius"

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says there is no ideal political model, and that each country needs to cultivate its own national spirit.

The Pope affirmed this today when he addressed 11 new envoys to the Holy See, representing Malawi, Sweden, Sierra Leone, Iceland, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Belize, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Bahrain and the Fiji Islands.

In his FRENCH-LANGUAGE ADDRESS, the Holy Father said, "The diversity of where you come from brings me to give thanks to God for his creative love and the multiplicity of his gifts, which never cease to surprise humanity."

"Sometimes diversity makes people afraid," he acknowledged. "That's why we shouldn't be surprised if the human being prefers monotony and uniformity."

Certain political-economic systems, the Pontiff continued "attributing to themselves or claiming pagan or religious origins, have afflicted humanity for too long, trying to make it uniform with demagogy and violence."

"They have reduced and reduce the human being to an unworthy slavery at the service of one ideology or an inhumane and pseudo-scientific economy," he said. "All of us know that there is not just one political model, an ideal that has to be absolutely fulfilled, and that political philosophy develops in time and in its expressions, according as it is polished by human intelligence and the lessons taken from political and economic experience."

The Pope contended that "every people has its genius and also its own 'demons.'"

He expressed his hope that "each people cultivates its genius, enriching itself as much as possible for the good of others, and that it purifies itself of its 'demons,' controlling them to the point of transforming them into positive values and creators of harmony, prosperity and peace to defend the greatness of human dignity."

© Innovative Media, Inc.

http://www.zenit.org/article-24616?l=english
Pope   Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:21 am GMT
Yes, there is ideal political model: a teocratic State like the Vatican or Saudi Arabia.
Visitor   Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:01 pm GMT
<< The Pope affirmed this today when he addressed 11 new envoys to the Holy See, representing Malawi, Sweden, Sierra Leone, Iceland, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Belize, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Bahrain and the Fiji Islands. >>

Just the envoys of Luxembourg, Madsagascar, and Tunisia are Francophones all the rest are either anglo/russo/arabophones and yet French prevailed in this gathering.
Informer   Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:07 pm GMT
Pope Benedict speaks ten languages, including German, Italian, English, and ecclesiastical Latin. He is also fluent in French and is an associate member of the French Académie des sciences morales et politiques since 1992. He is an accomplished pianist with a preference for Mozart and Beethoven.

http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/people/benedict_xvi.htm

In addition to his native German, Benedict XVI fluently speaks Italian, French, English and Latin, and has a knowledge of Portuguese. He can read Ancient Greek and biblical Hebrew. He has stated that his first foreign language is French. He is a member of a large number of academies, such as the French Académie des sciences morales et politiques. He plays the piano and has a preference for Mozart and Bach.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI
Informer   Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:16 pm GMT
Colette   Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:29 pm GMT
Does Wikpedia says Pope Benedict XVI speaks Spanish?
Informer   Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:45 pm GMT
<< Does Wikpedia says Pope Benedict XVI speaks Spanish? >>

I don't know because when I google search about his speeches in French, the link containing the Wikipedia article appeared and then I click it and copy paste that text. Maybe he speak Spanish just like Pope John Paul II, and it can be inserted.