French- The Language of Business

Informer   Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:05 pm GMT
French- The Language of Business

French is the preferred or official language of many international organizations and businesses. The US exports more to countries having French as a national language than to countries having any other foreign language. France is one of the four largest industrial economies in the world and is the world's second largest agricultural producer after the US.

The US is the largest direct investor in France and France is one of the three largest investors in the US. Among foreign countries doing business in the US, France employs the third largest number of Americans. Many popular US brands are actually French-owned.

French-owned brands and businesses
=========================
Airbus
Allegra (Aventis Pharmaceuticals)
Amtrak Acela (Alstom)
American Photo Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Beefeater (Pernod Ricard)
BancWest (BNP Paribas)
Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies (Alcatel)
BF Goodrich Tires (Michelin)
BIC
Blizzard Entertainment (Vivendi Universal Games)
Boating Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Bravo (Vivendi Universal*)
Bushmills (Pernod Ricard)
Car and Driver Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Chivas Regal (Pernod Ricard)
CNBC (Vivendi Universal*)
Crystal Springs (Danone)
Cycle World Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Dannon (Danone)
Decca Records (Vivendi Universal)
Deutsche Grammophon (Vivendi Universal)
DKNY (LVMH-Moët Hennessy- Louis Vuitton)
ELLE Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Evian (Danone)
Focus Features (Vivendi Universal*)
Geffen Records (Vivendi Universal)
Glenlivet (Pernod Ricard)
GRP Records (Vivendi Universal)
Hennessy (LVMH-Moët Hennessy- Louis Vuitton)
Home Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Interscope A&M Records (Vivendi Universal)
Island Def Jam Music Group (Vivendi Universal)
Jameson (Pernod Ricard)
Kahlua (Pernod Ricard)
Krups (Groupe SEB)
Lea & Perrins/Worcester (Danone)
Lost Highway Records (Vivendi Universal)
Magellan GPS (Thales/Alcatel)
Martell (Pernod Ricard)
Massive Entertainment (Vivendi Universal Games)
MCA Nashville (Vivendi Universal)
Mercury Nashville (Vivendi Universal)
Mercury Records (Vivendi Universal)
Metropolitan Home Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Michelin Tires
Mikasa Crystal
Motel 6 (Accor)
Moulinex (Groupe SEB)
MP3.com (Vivendi Universal)
MSNBC (Vivendi Universal*)
mun2 Channel (Vivendi Universal*)
Naya (Danone)
NBC (Vivendi Universal*)
NBC Universal (Vivendi Universal*)
Nissan Motor (Renault owns 30%)
Pernod Ricard
Philips (Vivendi Universal)
Polydor Records (Vivendi Universal)
Popular Photography & Imaging Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Premiere Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Radical Entertainment (Vivendi Universal Games)
RCA (Thomson Electronics)
Red Roof Inns (Accor)
Renault
Road & Track Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Rogue Pictures (Vivendi Universal*)
SCI-FI Channel (Vivendi Universal*)
Seagram's (Pernod Ricard)
Sheaffer Pen Company (BIC)
Sierra Entertainment (Vivendi Universal Games)
Sofitel (Accor)
Sound & Vision Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)
Stolichnaya (Pernod Ricard**)
Stonyfield Farm (Danone)
Swordfish Studios (Vivendi Universal Games)
TAG Heuer Watches (LVMH-Moët Hennessy- Louis Vuitton)
Technicolor (Thomson Electronics)
Telemundo (Vivendi Universal*)
T-Fal/Tefal Cookware (Groupe SEB)
Thales (Alcatel)
Uniroyal (Michelin)
Universal Motown Records Group (Vivendi Universal)
Universal Pictures (Vivendi Universal*)
Universal Studios (Vivendi Universal*)
USA Network (Vivendi Universal*)
Verve Music Group (Vivendi Universal)
Vivendi Universal
Wild Turkey (Pernod Ricard)
Wite-Out (BIC)
Woman's Day Magazine (Hachette Filipacchi Media)

* An NBC Universal Company in which Vivendi Universal owns a 20% share and General Electric owns an 80% share
** US distribution rights

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/french/business/business.htm
You are wrong   Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:51 pm GMT
-French- The Language of Business

No. You are wrong. It is English



-France is one of the four largest industrial economies in the world and is the world's second largest agricultural producer after the US.

No. You are wrong. The four largest industrial economies in the world are USA, Japan, China and Germany.

The four agricultural producers are China, India, USA and Brazil.




-The US is the largest direct investor in France and France is one of the three largest investors in the US.

No. You are wrong. The most important economic partners for USA are Canada, Mexico, Japan, China and Germany.
You are incorrect   Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:01 pm GMT
<< No. You are wrong. The four largest industrial economies in the world are USA, Japan, China and Germany. >>

No. You are incorrect. The four largest industrial economies in the world are USA, Japan, and Germany.

<< The four agricultural producers are China, India, USA and Brazil. >>

The top agricultural agricultural producers are USA and France.

<< No. You are wrong. The most important economic partners for USA are Canada, Mexico, Japan, China and Germany. >>

No. You are incorrect. The most important economic partners for USA are Canada, Mexico, Japan, China and Germany.
OP is right AND wrong   Mon Oct 26, 2009 5:26 pm GMT
OP's facts may be correct (based on good faith), but OP's interpretation and subsequent conclusion regarding the facts is WRONG.

Next please...
Evinória   Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:00 am GMT
<< No. You are wrong. The four largest industrial economies in the world are USA, Japan, China and Germany. >>

Correto.

<< The four agricultural producers are China, India, USA and Brazil. >>

Os 5 Maiores produtores agrícolas do Mundo, segundo a OMC são: China; India; EUA e Brasil.


<< No. You are wrong. The most important economic partners for USA are Canada, Mexico, Japan, China and Germany. >>

Segundo consta, o maior parceiro economico dos EUA é o Canadá, seguido de longe pelo México em segundo, China em terceiro, Japão em quarto e Inglaterra em sexto. A França nem sequer eu vi na lista!
German guest   Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:44 am GMT
Thanks, Evinoria.

These Frogs always lying!
German Visitor   Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:19 am GMT
<< Thanks, Evinoria.

These Frogs always lying! >>

If there's anybody here is lying it could only be the HIPSANIC DUNG BEETLE just like you.
Evinorie   Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:32 am GMT
<< Os 5 Maiores produtores agrícolas do Mundo, segundo a OMC são: China; India; EUA e Brasil. >>

World Top 10 - Agriculture Exporters Countries - In Million Dollars
===========================================
United States - 42,826
France - 24,262
Netherlands - 19,780
Germany - 13,842
United Kingdom - 11,613
Canada - 10,107
Australia - 9,824
Italy - 9,446
Belgium - 9,013
Spain - 6,621

http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-agricultural-exporters-map.html

<< Segundo consta, o maior parceiro economico dos EUA é o Canadá, seguido de longe pelo México em segundo, China em terceiro, Japão em quarto e Inglaterra em sexto. A França nem sequer eu vi na lista! >>

The post talks about "The US is the largest direct investor in France and France is one of the three largest investors in the US." not trading partners.
German Visitor   Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:33 am GMT
Thanks, Evinoria.

These HISPANIC DUNG BEETLES are always enviuos and ever lying!
You are incorrect   Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:36 am GMT
<< -The US is the largest direct investor in France and France is one of the three largest investors in the US.

No. You are wrong. The most important economic partners for USA are Canada, Mexico, Japan, China and Germany. >>

BOBO. You reacted with different interpretation of what had been posted. It has something to do with INVESTORS not TRADING PARTNERS.

READ AGAIN BOBO! The US is the largest direct investor in France and France is one of the three largest investors in the US.
Flemish power   Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:39 am GMT
<<France is one of the three largest investors in the US. >>

YOU ARE LYING LIKE ALWAYS. YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO PROMOTE FRENCH LANGUAGE. IT IS A SHAME!

The 3 largest investors in USA, asshole, are Japan, UK and Germany.


http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Laenderinformationen/01-Laender/UsaVereinigteStaaten.html


PD. French is a language in free fall in USA and the World. Don't waste your time promoting French and read several good webpages.



I recommend you this one. I really think you can enjoy:

http://theworldwidedeclineoffrench.blogspot.com/
@Flemish Power   Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:46 pm GMT
Yours is a very interesting site.
It says English is expanding because it is the favourite language os Islam:`
[about Lebanon] :

"Fluency in French is still highly prized in the affluent Ashrafiye district of Beirut, for example, a neighbourhood mostly populated by Maronite Christians, for whom the language of Voltaire continues to imply good breeding and high economic status.
The country's large Shia Muslim community, meanwhile, is said to be the sector of Lebanese society most drawn to English"

So, French is for the wealthy and the Christians, and English is for the ragheads.

Thanks :-))

http://theworldwidedeclineoffrench.blogspot.com/2009/10/english-pushes-aside-french-as-language.html
Guarani Power   Tue Oct 27, 2009 1:25 pm GMT
To: Flemish power Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:39 am GMT

*******************************************************

YOU ARE LYING LIKE ALWAYS. YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO PROMOTE SPANISH LANGUAGE. IT IS A SHAME!

France is one of the 3 largest investors in USA, YOU STINKING AND ROTTING SHIT. Don't use Germany, UK and Japan because we're talking about between French and Spanish speaking worlds. Just because Spain is not one of the leading investors in the US because it has nothing to invest. Use Spain not those country to attack France.

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/french/business/business.htm

This site is neutral becuase it was made by an American not by a German

PS. Spanish is a language in free fall in USA, Hispanic America and the rest of the world. Don't waste your time promoting Spanish and read several good webpages.

I recommend you this article. I really think you can enjoy:

Spanish is fragmenting and eroding in Hispanic America

Language policy in Spanish-speaking Latin America deals with challenges to the status of Spanish as the official language, a status inherited from the colonial administration of the New World. THESE CHALLENGES COME FROM SEVERAL SOURCES: THE ASSERTION OF THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS GROUPS, THE ‘DANGER’ OF FRAGMENTATION OF SPANISH INTO A MULTITUDE OF LOCAL DIALECTS, THE GROWING PRESTIGE OF ENGLISH AND INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATES, AND ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF BRAZIL, CONTACT WITH PORTUGUESE.

In the initial phase of colonization, the Catholic Monarchs and later Charles V required all of their new subjects to learn Spanish, just as their predecessors had imposed the learning of Castilian on the conquered Arab territories in order to bind them more closely together in the nation governed by Castile. However, it soon became clear that the linguistic diversity of the New World was too great to allow for the immediate implantation of Spanish, and some allowance had to be made for the usage of indigenous languages in teaching and evangelization. In 1570 Phillip II reluctantly authorized a policy of bilingualism in which instruction could be imparted in ‘the’ language of each Viceroyalty: Nahautl and in New Spain and Quechua in Peru, with the consequent extension of these two languages into territories where they were not spoken natively. Even this measure was not enough, however, and in 1596 Phillip II recognized the existent multilingualism: Spanish for administration and access to the elite, and a local indigenous language for evangelization and daily communication in indigenous communities. This policy lead to a separation of colonial society into a minority of Spanish/creole Spanish-speakers governing an indigenous majority speaking one of many indigenous languages. The separation became so great that it all but halted the Hispanization of rural areas and created local indigenous elites with considerable autonomy from the central adminstration. A reassertion of central authority commenced in 1770 when Carlos III declared Spanish to be the only language of the Empire and ordered the administrative, judicial and ecclesiastic authorities to extinguish all others. After Independence, the new nations and their successors maintained the offical status of Spanish as a means of strengthening national unity and pursuing modernization through education. This tendency was reinforced at the turn of the century through the 1940’s with notions of Social Darwinism, in which the vigorous hybrid groups of Latin America would eventually overcome the ‘weaker’ indigenous groups. It is only since World War II that this policy has suffered any substantial change.

Several processes converged in the post-War period to shake the linguistic status quo. One is the growth of industrialization, which requires an educated workforce and thus lends urgency to effective education. Another is agrarian reform, which raises the social status of the farmer while increasing his need for vocational training. These two processes create a growing pressure to learn the language of technology and mechanization, Spanish. As a counterpoint to this pressure, there was an understanding among policy makers of the failure of the pre-War incorporationist policies to acheive their goal of Hispanization. The confluence of these tendencies was a shift towards the usage of indigenous languages in primary schools to ease the transition to Spanish. Moreover, the dynamic of questioning the entire model of development grew, a dynamic that was reinforced by the emergence of indigenous activists educated in the new national schools. These contradictions came to a head during the labor and peasant movements of the 1950’s and 60’s, where calls for the preservation of indigenous languages served as a vehicle for the preservation of entire indigenous societies. The subsequent official response to these movements had diverse outcomes throughout Latin America. In Mexico, the new indigenous consciousness continued to grow unabated, as it did among the Bolivian Aymara and Ecuadorian Quechua, and to a lesser extent among the other Quechua speakers of Bolivia and Peru. Elsewhere, many organizations were driven into marginality or outright armed resistence, with the paradoxical result that often the only officially-tolerated supporters of indigenous languages were foreigners: scholars pursuing linguistic or anthropological fieldwork, linguists trained by the Summer Institute of Linguistics for the translation and dissemination of Christian texts, or members of other non-governmental organizations engaged in aid or relief work.

Only recently have indigenous defensors of indigenous languages found any standing on the national stage. This new tolerance has been said to reflect the neo-liberal reforms required as conditions for loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund since the early 1990’s, with the threat of Communist takeover having receeded. There are now a multitude of protective measures that go from bilingual primary education (Honduras), to constitutional protection (Columbia), to the establishment of indigenous languages as co-official with Spanish (Guatemala).

With respect to the status of Spanish among native speakers, Independence lead to the creation of national educational institutions and a desire to reform Spanish orthography so as to facilitate its learning by American speakers, as well as to foster a literary tradition independent of Spain. Such reforms come to little in the face of the turbulence created by Independence, but a second round of standardization began as part of the modernization process initiated around 1870. Increasing immigration to Latin America and the strengthening of trends towards democratization lead to the fear among the intellectual elite that the linguistic unity of Latin America would collapse into a cacophomy of local variants, much as the Latin of the Roman Empire fragmented into the variety of Romance languages.

THE FINAL THREAT TO THE OFFICIAL STATUS OF SPANISH IS THE GROWING CONTACT WITH OTHER EUROPEAN LANGUAGES: WITH ENGLISH THROUGHOUT LATIN AMERICA, AND WITH PORTUGUESE ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF BRAZIL. CONTACT WITH ENGLISH ARISES THROUGH MIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES FOR ECONOMIC OR POLITICAL REASONS OR SOJOURNS FOR BUSINESS OR EDUCATION. THIS CONTACT IS PARTICULARILY ACUTE IN THE CASE OF PUERTO RICO, WHERE ITS ADMINSTRATIVE DEPENDENCY ON THE UNITED STATES HAS LED TO AN EXTENSIVE DIFFUSION OF ENGLISH, AS WELL AS THE THREATENED IMPOSITION OF ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE SHOULD PUERTO RICO EVER GAIN STATEHOOD. THIS THREAT HAS SPARKED INTELLECTUAL DEBATES THAT ECHO THE SPANISH-VS.-INDIGENOUS-LANGUAGE DEBATES HEARD ON THE MAINLAND: LANGUAGE IS AN EXPRESSION OF IDENTITY, PERHAPS THE FUNDMENTAL EXPRESSION OF IDENTITY, AND IT SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN UP LIGHTLY.

Selected references
Angel Rama (1996) The Lettered City. Duke University Press.
[spelling reform after independence, p. 43ff; foundation of Spanish American Academies, Cuervo, Caro & Bello p. 59ff]
Julio Ramos (1989) Desenceuntros de la modernidad en América Latina. Literatura y política en el siglo XIX. Tierra Firme, México.
[Ch. II sobre Bello]
Julio Ramos (1996) Paradojas de la letra. Ediciones eXcultura, Caracas, Miami, Quito.
[Ch. 1 sobre Bello]

http://www.tulane.edu/~howard/Pubs/LALangPol.html
Guarani Power   Tue Oct 27, 2009 1:29 pm GMT
An article in the Toronto Star notes what most of us already know: In Lebanon, French is taking the backseat to English as the “language of status”. But are the Lebanese ready to let go of the Language of Hugo?

French is the first language I ever studied. As a Lebanese living abroad, my parents made sure I studied in a Lycée. In fact, until I went to college, French was the language of my entire education. Yet, like many other Lebanese bloggers, I choose today to write in English and I can only think of one brave francophone Blogger who chose to ignore Shakespear’s assault.

Things have to be seen in perspective. In Lebanon, the concept of “foreign language” is not the same as in the rest of the world. As the article notes, many billboard, TV and Radio ads are made only in English in a country where the official language is Arabic. I often found it difficult to explain to foreign reporters why I wrote in English instead of Arabic, and why I don’t think that my blog is only for “elites”.

But is French really heading down? is Rambo really replacing Rimbauld as Mr. Christian Merville, an editorial writer at L’Orient Le Jour puts it?

Not if I have anything to do about it.

When I have kids, I know that I’m going to put them in a Lycée despite all what is being said about French losing its worldwide influence. I guess I’m not quite ready to let my kids miss out on Tintin and conjugaison.

I try to rationalize this seemingly sentimental behavior by saying that it’s always easier to learn English after Learning French than the other way around. Besides, have you ever heard Carrie Bradshaw try to speak French? That’s not what I want my kids to sound like!

35 comments for “Zut! Lebanon Is Dropping French For English”

What are the greatest universities in the Arab world?

Why should they not be places where the English and French clamour to send their children ?

Posted by Andrew The American | October 8, 2007, 1:33 pm


Steph, your story tells me your family’s and your own language choice is a personal matter. Most Lebanese privilege French out of fascination and infatuation with the culture, not for any functional purposes. One cannot say as much with regards to the rest of the francophone world, where the French language was mainly the result of the French colonial enterprise.

The ascendency of English today is part of a global trend; English the language of “success”, not a cultural choice per se. I don’t think the issue here is one of “dropping” one language for the other, or privileging one over the other. Lebanon is by its very definition a polyglot mishmash of cultures etc.., and French has been for centuries–possibly since the Crusades if you are to believe Selim Abou’s “Le Bilinguisme Arabe-Français au Liban”—Lebanon’s prestige language… So, if quantitatively French has ceased being the “dominant” language, qualitatively, I think, it remains untouched.

Posted by Snake the Jake | October 8, 2007, 2:00 pm


Mustapha,

In my own personal belief, a language determines the mode of our thinking, not the other way around. This is in direct contrast to what French philosophers, from Descartes onwards have believed until the recent years of Jacques Derrida. In Heidegger’s words “Language is the house of Being”.

Having said this, I reflect upon our Lebanese language, and the rest of the languages we accumulate throughout our lives. French gives you a certain outlook onto life, whereas Lebanese, English, Arabic, Korean, give you another.

In my opinion, you want your children to learn French, because you want them to share a language with you, and for you to pass on a part of yourself, of your thinking, to them. It is a very personal approach, and actually has nothing to do with language per se.

You should check out my website for an understanding of the Lebanese language, and its relation to the oldest language on these shores. I think that the root of our problems in Lebanon lies in language, in our use of our Lebanese language, and in our lack of its understanding.

Posted by Maroun Kassab | October 8, 2007, 2:27 pm


There is also Ibrahim Tyan blogging in French http://lettresduliban.blogspot.com
and Marie-Josée Rizkallah
http://blog.libnanews.com/mariejosee/
and Aaradon
http://libanisme.typepad.fr/

Khawta is blogging in Arabic
http://khawwta.blogspot.com/

Soon, I will create my own blog in Arabic, French and English :)

Posted by kheireddine | October 8, 2007, 3:38 pm


I must remind that most of the newspapers in Lebanon are in Arabic. I remember that when I was in Lebanon, I was the only one at work out of 25 employees at work to read L’Orient-Le-Jour. In paradox, now that I live in Canada, I read more Arabic newspapers & listen to Arabic songs and music than I used to do when I was in Lebanon.

Posted by kheireddine | October 8, 2007, 3:57 pm


Beep, beep.

Paging Dr. Harfouche, paging Dr. Harfouche.

Posted by JoseyWales | October 8, 2007, 4:03 pm


Josey, where did he disappear? He said he was going to Lebanon but that was more than two month ago!

Posted by kheireddine | October 8, 2007, 4:13 pm


Maroun Kassab,
Did you formualte your whole commnent on a completely the french/english issue post by mustapha, just to impress on the rest of us that you view Lebanese as a non-arabic language? Pity every unpolitically biased linguistic expert on Earth disagrees with you. Wake up and join the rest of us in the Middle East. YOu speak arabic wether you like it or not, and like all other forms of arabic, it is heavily influenced by the preceding languages in the area, hence the northern african version of arabic has alot of berber, our version of arabic has a lot of aramaic, the egyptian version of arabic is heavily influenced by coptic. If you think you still speak “aramaic” I suggest you watch “passion of christ” and see if you understand anything.

Posted by Arabic speaking Lebanese | October 8, 2007, 5:19 pm


I was walking down the street the other day, and there was a little kid walking behind me and counting to himself. He went: “un, deux, trois, arab9a, khamse, sitte, sept, huit, tis9a…” It was cute.

Less anecdotally, I’ve always found the centuries-old French belief that there is a connection between French culture and the French language interesting. The argument is: if you can talk like us, you’ll think like us. I expect that it’s probably shared by more than a few liberal-minded people worldwide, and that is the reason the French language will be slow to fade away entirely.

Posted by David Kenner | October 8, 2007, 5:59 pm


Arabic speaker, please feel free to call your language whatever the hell you wish. If Maroun calls it Lebanese, then that’s his prerogative, isn’t it!?

And don’t you be deploying your silly “linguistic” threats and arguments about so-called linguists calling “Lebanese” this, and that, and the other thing. Those same linguists also call French a “dialect of Latin”! Silly pompous linguistic verbiage changes nothing to the fact that the “French dialect of Latin” remains French through and through to those who speak it. I have yet to meet a silly frenchman running around parading himself as a “latin speaking Frenchman”.

Now, if labeling Lebanese “Arabic” does something to your Arab national erection, then power to ya, brother, call it whatever you want, but don’t call me late for dinner.

btw, WHAT on God’s earth are “unpolitically biased linguistic expert[s]“? WTF, man?

Noam Chomsky is an “unpolitically biased linguistic expert”? Hell, I don’t know if there are any more POLITICAL linguists than the Chum! You have to have done a couple of rounds of crystal meth and dropped quite a bit of acid to think linguists are apolitical! Either that, or you don’t know wtf you’re talking about.

For the rest, and if indeed you KNOW wtf you are talking about, tell me what is APOLITICAL about Developmental linguistics, Diachronic or Historical linguistics, Evolutionary linguistics, psycholinguistics, or Sociolinguistics, which in fact goes to the core of the canard you’re advancing about being an “Arabic speaking Lebanese.”

Arabic speaking dude, in case it escapes you, all aspects of society, including cultural norms, ethnicity, cultural references and expectations, religion, gender, and various contexts in which language is used, ALL affect and transform language. So, if Maroun claims that he speaks Lebanese, NOT Arabic, then I bet you EVERY “unpolitically biased linguistic expert on Earth” will feel compelled to agree with him. Of course, ideologically “innocent” rabid arab nationalists like you, hiding behind shoddy “linguistic expertise”, won’t! But the whole world already knows that about your possessive thuggish and negationist culture.

Whether you like it or not, Arabic speaking little man, linguistics overlaps considerably with politics and ideology. Wasn’t it George Bernard Shaw who said “a language is a ‘dialect’ with an army and a navy behind it”? Wasn’t it Sati3 Husri who said “Anyone related to anyone who speaks arabic is an arab, whether he likes it or not”???

Hell, you and your Arabs have all the armies and the navies you want to suppress Middle Eastern cultures and civilizations who do not conform to your blinkered world view. And now, you seem to have recruited shoddy linguistics to help “intellectualize” your silly arguments and your spent ideology.

Mabrouk khalo!

Posted by Snake the Jake | October 8, 2007, 9:38 pm


I concur with your opinion, ‘Arabic speaking Lebanese’

Posted by kheireddine | October 8, 2007, 10:54 pm


I suggest you watch “passion of christ” and see if you understand anything.

I watched it a while ago and I understood a couple words.

Then again, when I listen to someone speaking Arabic who’s not from Lebanon/Syria/Palestine, I only understand a couple words.

But maybe my personal experiences should take a back seat to your unpolitical experts.

Posted by whywesteppin | October 8, 2007, 11:04 pm


If the french language `aficionados´ congratulate themselves of mastering the complex French grammar with all its hanging C `cedille´, the `circonflexe´, the `trémat´, the aigu and the grave.

Today´s french intellectuals are introducing l`anglicism´in their vocabulary. You notice it even when french news anchors are reading the headlines. Moreover, internet,cell phones,Ipods etc; have created a new Jargon exclusively english. The tech world is predominantly affecting all other languages. I always asked myself if the US was french speaking would it have succeded in creating a fast moving technological infrastructure or would it have been slower. Imagine now if the US was arab speaking, technology would have taken another 100 years to appear, only for the simple reason (and also the reason why arabs are still struggeling)that the language we speak greatly differs from the language we write.

Posted by Dory | October 8, 2007, 11:27 pm


I agree with you, Dory. English is a more practical language than French and Arabic. However, it is not the languange of the heart; I don’t want to see the whole the world speaking English as a first language. French has its flavor, as well as Arabic whith its numerous spoken varieties.

Posted by kheireddine | October 8, 2007, 11:35 pm


Why not have a balance between the two? I mean the ‘three’ languages. You can start by blogging in the languages you speak, if you can’t change what’s happening in your country about French and English.

Posted by Lalla Mira | October 8, 2007, 11:58 pm


I would like to point out that a lot of Lebanese don’t master French and/or English enough and need to switch back to Arabic to finish their sentence. I can assure you that most of the North African immigrant in Quebec speak a better French than most of the Lebanese.
By the way, nice blog Lala Mira ;)

Posted by kheireddine | October 9, 2007, 12:34 am


If God, by its purest form of bilinguilism (hebrew and arabic) succeeded in enslaving the whole populace’ and submit to its power and glory, why the hell do we human have to be any different?

Posted by dory | October 9, 2007, 12:37 am


Kheiruddine, you’re “concurring” with shoddy views and usubstantiated claims, and you are hoping against hope! You are to be commended on your convictions, and I respect you if only for that; your convictions… faulty as your premise and that of the Arabic speaking Lebanese is.

This sentimentalism and idealized image of the noble savage, the idea that this noble, Arab, savage and his language are essentially good, essentially untainted, and essentially perfect and complete, is not only unrealistic and fault, it is also condescending and patronizing of others, non-Arabs in the “universe” of Arabs, who do not belong in your blanket reductionist labels. Indeed Kheiruddine, your noble Arabs and their language have indeed been he’s an ignoble, irrational, brutal, paranoid, repressive, bull-headed and bullying, bereft of objectivity and unable of critical thinking, unwilling to recognize the legitimacy of others and allow for the interests of others. War, massacres, conquest, repression, inhumanity, and yes GENOCIDE, ALL HAVE BEEN COMMITTED by Arabs and in the name of Arabs and the Arabic language. It is time you fine folk recognized that.

Posted by Snake the Jake | October 9, 2007, 12:50 am


What are you talking about, Snake the Jake & who talked to you? I don’t care about your comments that is why I did not respond to your ranting.

Posted by kheireddine | October 9, 2007, 1:47 am


As a foreigner to Lebanon, it has always seemed that the French is more preferred (though not always properly spoken) by Christians while the Muslims would lean towards English. A simple illustration would be the welcoming signs in little villages: “Bienvenu a/Merci pour votre visite” versus “Welcome to/Thank you for your visit”. Choice of language in these cases would seem to be along political/religious lines.

However, well educated Muslims, for whatever reason, also tend to prefer French. See Sandra Mackay’s book “Lebanon: A House Divided” where she notes that Muslims in higher social classes send their kids to French schools and speak French possibly better than the French themselves.

What is a pity IMHO is when the love of foreign languages would hurt the knowledge of Arabic. Many times, I’ve been to social events where people wouldn’t know the Arabic word but would know the English/French word without a problem. “Shoe lace” was one of the words no one knew in Arabic during such an occasion. And they were all well-educated, mid to higher social class Lebanese.

It wouldn’t be my position to tell the Lebanese living in Lebanon that they should know their own language, but I can’t help but feeling sad for those who don’t. So, Mustapha, I can only hope you not only teach your children French, but Arabic as well.

Posted by Riemer Brouwer | October 9, 2007, 5:49 am


You have to have done a couple of rounds of crystal meth and dropped quite a bit of acid to think linguists are apolitical! lol tis realy funny. It sound like you have done more than couple rounds your self snake the jake :)

Posted by zane | October 9, 2007, 6:16 am


Riemer Brouwer, Muslim upper classes send their children to ”French” schools because them, their parents and grand parents went to those schools. French education is not the monopoly of a certain community and I agree with you that we should not forget our mother tongue: Arabic.

Posted by kheireddine | October 9, 2007, 6:32 am


Riemer:

Shoelaces in Arabic:
In the North we say: “Shuwwayytaat”
In the rest of Lebanon: “Shreet Sibbaat”

I hope that was useful ;)

Posted by beirutspring | October 9, 2007, 7:35 am


mustapha,
Tintin is published in English and Arabic too, so don’t worry about your children missing out :)

Posted by Lalebanessa | October 9, 2007, 7:49 am


Hola!

What do you think about Tokio Hotel? >:)

Posted by CandyShopGirl | October 9, 2007, 8:14 am


Hello Moustafa

sorry for the delay in commenting back ;)
i was a little bit out from blogging lately.

It is true that french is having a huge retreat in term of audience. However, I believe that this decrease is compensated by the quality of the readers and of the few blogs Kheireddine gave as links.

This decrease is not only concerning the blogs but as well the governemental’s websites. We look to Egypt that is belonging as well to the francophonie organisation. They have governemental versions web sites in french. This is not the case in lebanon and when it is the case like for the tourism ministry, it is really a shame with all the mistake they do when they write.

In the beginning of my blog, I was both using english and french. However, I choosed to continue in french only as I was feeling with my english university education to loose my french. I was trying then to make an english version of frencheagle, but i cancelled it as I did not find the time and moreover, the pleasure to write. french has a sort of poetry we do not find in another langage.

Now I ll write something on my blog, it is time to go on after on week of interruption:)

Best regards and see you on the blogsphere :)

Posted by frenchy | October 9, 2007, 9:32 am


How Sad!!

I refuse to acknowledge that speaking english in Lebanon is a sign of status. Au Contraire! Beyrouth’s social elite have always spoken in French, and regardless of the American media, I doubt very much how the Lebanese perceive english.

As a blogger myself, I do write in English, and ashamed of it.

Mustapha I fully agree with you!! I refuse to let my Children have a broken english accent when they speak french.

Frenchy, you set the example for Lebanese bloggers. Please do not stop, we loose sort of half of ourselves and “part” of Lebanon’s identity.

Posted by Jester | October 9, 2007, 1:01 pm


As usual, an innocuous post, dealing with the ostensibly innocent issue of language choice in Lebanon, generates a jaundiced debate around Lebanon’s identity.

I am shocked (but perhaps shouldn’t be surprised) by my old buddy Kheir’s adamant refusal of some balance of perspective. But I am also heartened by the depth and discernment of some of the commentators defending Lebanon’s distinctness.

Mustapha, perhaps you’ll care to know that after a short visit to Lebanon this past summer, I had decided to zone out on Lebanon and on blogging. Your always provocative commentary and sourcing have perhaps tempered that decision; at least for the time being…

Posted by Louis-Noel Harfouche | October 10, 2007, 1:15 am


Welcome back, LNH, I missed you, I really did. We might disagree and we might not change our minds, however it is good to talk as everything we are discussing today was somewhat taboo in the past…as long as we are civil to each other.

cheers

Posted by kheireddine | October 10, 2007, 5:49 am


“English is a more practical language than French and Arabic. However, it is not the languange of the heart;”

English is certainly practical, but it is also the language of the heart. If the English can be proud of anything, it is their poetry and literature.

But French is a beautiful language and it would be best if possible to know both. Perhaps it is not as practical as English, but the French too can be proud of their poetry and literature. And they had better painters.

I don’t know any Arabic but I wish I did.

Posted by Don Cox | October 10, 2007, 6:05 pm


Hello jester.

It is not that i ll stop, i ll go on.

But sometimes we are feeling to be useless to repeat the same things.

Posted by frenchy | October 11, 2007, 11:08 am


[...] I do love French, but I think that’s one lame argument to promote a dying language [...]

Posted by Is The French Language More Peaceful Than English? | The Beirut Spring, a Lebanese Blog | April 17, 2008, 1:08 pm


I am from Haiti. My wife is Lebanese. In Haiti our mother tongue is creole. The language we learned in school is French. In today’s world the language of business is English. In Haiti 5% of our population are french speaking arabs (Mostly lebanese and Syrians). I just think it would better for my country to switch to English too. USA is only 1 hour by plane for 150 dollars rountrip. lol

Posted by Richard De Jacmel | August 8, 2008, 12:43 pm


Hello Everyone

Just want to ask where they are giving french courses or teaching french in beirut other then the CCF?
plz let reply

Posted by Sarah | September 27, 2008, 3:13 pm


You think that French’s status is going downhill?

It is not that it is going down hill. It just that France has no more colonies or slaves in Lebanon,Syria,Vietnam,Carribbean.

The countries of Lebanon and Syria were whipped into shape by the French and made inferior through colonialmism. Even after the outright abuse and disrespect the Lebanese have received historically , I still find it baffling that the Lebanese are so eager to keep French alive. I mean when was the last time you saw France even encouraging people to learn languages like Arabic? The French were in Lebanon for a mere 25 years, not long enough to implement a complete culture change. One shouldn’t put so much value on the people who were once their masters.

Posted by Anonymous | February 17, 2009, 8:51 am

http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/10/08/zut-lebanon-is-dropping-french-for-english
Guarani Power   Tue Oct 27, 2009 1:30 pm GMT
Paraguaigua noñe'êkuaáiva guarani pytaguarôguáicha hetâme

May 1, 2001

"A Paraguayan who can't speak Guaraní," opines this proverb, "is like a foreigner in his own land." In fact, between 90% and 95% of Paraguay's 5 million inhabitants speak Guaraní (pronounced "wa-ra-NEE," with a guttural rasp on the "wa"). That makes this indigenous language not just Paraguay's dominant language (by comparison, only 75% of Paraguayans speak Spanish), but also the only First Nations language on the planet to enjoy majority-language status, as well as the only one spoken on a large scale by non-aboriginals. (About half of Guaraní speakers are of European descent.) Finally, Guaraní earns Paraguay membership in that most restricted of clubs, the Officially Bilingual Nations of the Americas, a distinction it shares only with Canada and Haïti.

Victory in conquest
At contact, Guaraní cultures dominated northern Argentina, eastern Bolivia, and southern Brazil and Paraguay. In fact, after Arawakan, Guaraní may have been the most geographically widespread language in Latin America. But unlike every other native people in the Americas, the Guaraní managed to remain influential in Paraguay even after Spanish conquest. So influential were they in fact that the newcomers found they had to learn the local language to get by. Modern Paraguayans call Guaraní ñe'engatú ("dear speech"), or abá ñe'é ("common man's speech"). Traditionally relegated to a vernacular role in Paraguayan society, until recently Guaraní was not taught in schools or used in formal contexts in spite of its superior demographics. Today, thanks to a growing Paraguayan identity movement, it is poised to assume more substantial responsibilities in Paraguay and in the world.

The term "Guaraní" actually refers to a group of dialects of the Andean-Equatorial language family. (In addition to Guaraní, Andean-Equatorial languages include Quechua, Aymara, and Tupi, indigenous tongues that remain influential across most of modern South America.) Paraguay encloses several Guaraní dialects, among which two dominate. Mby'a is the dialect of rural aboriginals; most European and mixed-race Paraguayans speak Yopará. Although Yopará has absorbed many Spanish influences, it remains squarely Guaraní and is mostly intelligible to Mby'a speakers. And although Yopará accounts for most Guaraní communication on the national level, Mby'a is considered the "pure" tradition, insofar as it remains largely unadulterated by hispanicisms.

Though more Paraguayans speak Guaraní than Spanish, and songs and popular literature have been composed in it since colonial times, Guaraní had no official status in Paraguay until the 1992 Constitution recognised it as an official language. Though some Paraguayans still consider Guaraní a vulgar medium, many have embraced it as a patriotic touchstone. (The Paraguayan monetary unit is also called the guaraní.) Increasingly, Guaraní scholars are refuting old canards about its supposed inadequacy for 21st century communication, and are calling for academic supervision to halt the entry of Spanish words and bad neologisms into the language. Others propose that Mby'a be accepted as the scholarly standard (Guaraní has heretofore had none), that Yopará become the language of national life, and that Castellano (Spanish) be taught chiefly as a means of enabling Paraguayans to communicate with foreigners, rather than as a national medium. A Congreso Nacional de Lengua y Cultura Guaraní has been founded to oversee these and other issues, such as developing media and academic models.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/world_languages/67586
US Visitor Fri Oct 23, 2009 3:01 pm GMT
Spanish is fragmenting and eroding in Hispanic Amerrica

Language policy in Spanish-speaking Latin America deals with challenges to the status of Spanish as the official language, a status inherited from the colonial administration of the New World. THESE CHALLENGES COME FROM SEVERAL SOURCES: THE ASSERTION OF THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS GROUPS, THE ‘DANGER’ OF FRAGMENTATION OF SPANISH INTO A MULTITUDE OF LOCAL DIALECTS, THE GROWING PRESTIGE OF ENGLISH AND INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATES, AND ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF BRAZIL, CONTACT WITH PORTUGUESE.

In the initial phase of colonization, the Catholic Monarchs and later Charles V required all of their new subjects to learn Spanish, just as their predecessors had imposed the learning of Castilian on the conquered Arab territories in order to bind them more closely together in the nation governed by Castile. However, it soon became clear that the linguistic diversity of the New World was too great to allow for the immediate implantation of Spanish, and some allowance had to be made for the usage of indigenous languages in teaching and evangelization. In 1570 Phillip II reluctantly authorized a policy of bilingualism in which instruction could be imparted in ‘the’ language of each Viceroyalty: Nahautl and in New Spain and Quechua in Peru, with the consequent extension of these two languages into territories where they were not spoken natively. Even this measure was not enough, however, and in 1596 Phillip II recognized the existent multilingualism: Spanish for administration and access to the elite, and a local indigenous language for evangelization and daily communication in indigenous communities. This policy lead to a separation of colonial society into a minority of Spanish/creole Spanish-speakers governing an indigenous majority speaking one of many indigenous languages. The separation became so great that it all but halted the Hispanization of rural areas and created local indigenous elites with considerable autonomy from the central adminstration. A reassertion of central authority commenced in 1770 when Carlos III declared Spanish to be the only language of the Empire and ordered the administrative, judicial and ecclesiastic authorities to extinguish all others. After Independence, the new nations and their successors maintained the offical status of Spanish as a means of strengthening national unity and pursuing modernization through education. This tendency was reinforced at the turn of the century through the 1940’s with notions of Social Darwinism, in which the vigorous hybrid groups of Latin America would eventually overcome the ‘weaker’ indigenous groups. It is only since World War II that this policy has suffered any substantial change.

Several processes converged in the post-War period to shake the linguistic status quo. One is the growth of industrialization, which requires an educated workforce and thus lends urgency to effective education. Another is agrarian reform, which raises the social status of the farmer while increasing his need for vocational training. These two processes create a growing pressure to learn the language of technology and mechanization, Spanish. As a counterpoint to this pressure, there was an understanding among policy makers of the failure of the pre-War incorporationist policies to acheive their goal of Hispanization. The confluence of these tendencies was a shift towards the usage of indigenous languages in primary schools to ease the transition to Spanish. Moreover, the dynamic of questioning the entire model of development grew, a dynamic that was reinforced by the emergence of indigenous activists educated in the new national schools. These contradictions came to a head during the labor and peasant movements of the 1950’s and 60’s, where calls for the preservation of indigenous languages served as a vehicle for the preservation of entire indigenous societies. The subsequent official response to these movements had diverse outcomes throughout Latin America. In Mexico, the new indigenous consciousness continued to grow unabated, as it did among the Bolivian Aymara and Ecuadorian Quechua, and to a lesser extent among the other Quechua speakers of Bolivia and Peru. Elsewhere, many organizations were driven into marginality or outright armed resistence, with the paradoxical result that often the only officially-tolerated supporters of indigenous languages were foreigners: scholars pursuing linguistic or anthropological fieldwork, linguists trained by the Summer Institute of Linguistics for the translation and dissemination of Christian texts, or members of other non-governmental organizations engaged in aid or relief work.

Only recently have indigenous defensors of indigenous languages found any standing on the national stage. This new tolerance has been said to reflect the neo-liberal reforms required as conditions for loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund since the early 1990’s, with the threat of Communist takeover having receeded. There are now a multitude of protective measures that go from bilingual primary education (Honduras), to constitutional protection (Columbia), to the establishment of indigenous languages as co-official with Spanish (Guatemala).

With respect to the status of Spanish among native speakers, Independence lead to the creation of national educational institutions and a desire to reform Spanish orthography so as to facilitate its learning by American speakers, as well as to foster a literary tradition independent of Spain. Such reforms come to little in the face of the turbulence created by Independence, but a second round of standardization began as part of the modernization process initiated around 1870. Increasing immigration to Latin America and the strengthening of trends towards democratization lead to the fear among the intellectual elite that the linguistic unity of Latin America would collapse into a cacophomy of local variants, much as the Latin of the Roman Empire fragmented into the variety of Romance languages.

THE FINAL THREAT TO THE OFFICIAL STATUS OF SPANISH IS THE GROWING CONTACT WITH OTHER EUROPEAN LANGUAGES: WITH ENGLISH THROUGHOUT LATIN AMERICA, AND WITH PORTUGUESE ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF BRAZIL. CONTACT WITH ENGLISH ARISES THROUGH MIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES FOR ECONOMIC OR POLITICAL REASONS OR SOJOURNS FOR BUSINESS OR EDUCATION. THIS CONTACT IS PARTICULARILY ACUTE IN THE CASE OF PUERTO RICO, WHERE ITS ADMINSTRATIVE DEPENDENCY ON THE UNITED STATES HAS LED TO AN EXTENSIVE DIFFUSION OF ENGLISH, AS WELL AS THE THREATENED IMPOSITION OF ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE SHOULD PUERTO RICO EVER GAIN STATEHOOD. THIS THREAT HAS SPARKED INTELLECTUAL DEBATES THAT ECHO THE SPANISH-VS.-INDIGENOUS-LANGUAGE DEBATES HEARD ON THE MAINLAND: LANGUAGE IS AN EXPRESSION OF IDENTITY, PERHAPS THE FUNDMENTAL EXPRESSION OF IDENTITY, AND IT SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN UP LIGHTLY.

Selected references
Angel Rama (1996) The Lettered City. Duke University Press.
[spelling reform after independence, p. 43ff; foundation of Spanish American Academies, Cuervo, Caro & Bello p. 59ff]
Julio Ramos (1989) Desenceuntros de la modernidad en América Latina. Literatura y política en el siglo XIX. Tierra Firme, México.
[Ch. II sobre Bello]
Julio Ramos (1996) Paradojas de la letra. Ediciones eXcultura, Caracas, Miami, Quito.
[Ch. 1 sobre Bello]

http://www.tulane.edu/~howard/Pubs/LALangPol.html