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From: Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Re: [OT] Is English just badly pronounced French?
Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2024 14:11:53 -0400
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On Sun, 31 Mar 2024 20:16:46 +1300
Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:

> On 2024-03-31 06:06:45 +0000, anim8rfsk said:
> > Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote: =20
> >>=20
> >> I apologize in advance to Americans who are inevitably aggrieved
> >> by all things French just on principle but this video actually
> >> makes a pretty good case for saying that English is
> >> badly-pronounced French to a large extent.
> >>=20
> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DTUL29y0vJ8Q [18 minutes]
> >>=20
> >> When he explains all the English words that are borrowed from
> >> French with only slight spelling and pronunciation changes, you
> >> may well be persuaded by his argument. =20
> >=20
> > Once again, Cecil Adams had the answer:
> >=20
> > https://www.straightdope.com/21341920/what-s-the-international-language=
-of-business-french-or-english=20
> >=20
> >=20
> > What=E2=80=99s the international language of business, French or Englis=
h?
> > By  Cecil Adams    Aug 3, 1989, 11:00pm MST
> >=20
> > Dear Cecil: Our high school French teacher always insisted learning
> > French was important because it was going to become the
> > international language of business. Now I hear English is mandatory
> > in international aviation, and the Chinese students in Beijing
> > spoke English to the international media. Was our French teacher
> > shucking us? Merde! Les Petites, South Boston =20
>=20
> French comes in at number 20 in the current list of most widely
> spoken native languages. English comes in at number 3, just after
> Mandarin and Spanish.
>=20
>    Mandarin Chinese =3D 941 million native speakers
>    Spanish          =3D 486 million native speakers
>    English          =3D 380 million native speakers
>    ...
>    French           =3D  74 million native speakers
>=20
The video I linked at the start of this thread claimed 1.5 billion
English speakers, presumably including many who have it as a second,
third or fourth language. I expect different organizations may citr
different numbers.
>   =20
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_spea=
kers>=20
>=20
>=20
> For the astronauts, the two languages they have to know are English
> and Russian, because of course all launches to the International
> Space Station had to be done by Russia when the Americans dropped
> stupidly discontinued the Space Shuttle without any sensible
> replacement option.
>=20
>=20
>=20
> > Cecil replies:
> >=20
> > Now, now. He/she probably just didn=E2=80=99t know any better. French
> > teachers lead such empty lives as it is that no one has the heart
> > to tell them the awful truth, which is that French is a language on
> > the way down, not up. Once the language of diplomacy, French was
> > used in the royal courts of Germany, Russia, and Italy during the
> > 19th century. Fifty years ago Somerset Maugham called it =E2=80=9Cthe
> > common language of educated men=E2=80=9D (women too, one presumes). But
> > it=E2=80=99s been in a state of decline since World War II, having long=
 ago
> > been supplanted by =E2=80=94 you guessed it =E2=80=94 English.
> >=20
> > English is the primary language of more than 400 million people and
> > is the second language of hundreds of millions more. It=E2=80=99s essen=
tial
> > in science, technology, economics, and finance. It=E2=80=99s the offici=
al
> > language of airport control towers, might as well be the official
> > language of computer software, and of course is vital to a perfect
> > comprehension of MTV, Madonna, and other pillars of modern culture.
> > French is the primary language of maybe 114 million, including such
> > outposts of world commerce as Haiti, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso,
> > and is essential chiefly to reading menus at Le Cirque.
> >=20
> > The French have been desperately attempting to reverse this trend.
> > In addition to hosting international conferences of =E2=80=9CFrancophon=
e=E2=80=9D
> > (French-speaking) nations, France as of 1986 was spending $750
> > million per year to support 20,000 French teachers in 155
> > countries. It also employs language police to guard against
> > un-Gallic intrusions such as le compact-disc. But all in vain.
> >=20
> > Not that French doesn=E2=80=99t have its uses. Au contraire. It remains=
 the
> > language of international pretension par excellence, having a
> > certain je ne sais quoi that appeals irresistibly to the nouveaux
> > riches. Also, let=E2=80=99s face it, je t=E2=80=99aime sounds infinitel=
y classier
> > than =E2=80=9Cluv ya, babe.=E2=80=9D But French is more likely to come =
in handy in
> > the intimate hours after the business meeting than during.
> >=20
> > Cecil Adams =20
>=20
>=20



--=20
Rhino