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March 2006
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French Reflections

Saturday was dominated by the weather: It was rainy.

While it wasn’t heavy, it did discourage me from taking the not free Cold War walking tour of Berlin from the same company that offered the free Berlin tour that I took Friday.

Instead I picked up The Guardian and had breakfast at Café Berio, which was a 5 minute walk away from my flat. I ate in the heated and covered front patio enjoying the news about French President Jacques Chirac, who stormed out of a meeting when a French Businessman started speaking in English—the “language of Business.”

Now I could go on a long anti-French rant, but I won’t. Rather I will observe that while Europe’s second language is English (used to conduct business, government, and lubricate social interactions), the second language is the States is Spanish, and the President of the United States speaks the language, and his predecessor (as I recall) made efforts to speak it on occasion.

Amusingly, as the newspapers revealed, Chirac actually speaks English, but has, in the past, forced Tony Blair to act as a translator between him and George W. Bush. If I were an average Frenchman, I would be voting this fool out of office because he’s clearly out of touch with global realities.

Of course, one could say the same thing about the average US voter in 2004.

5 comments to French Reflections

  • Ed

    I agree with everything you said. I sure hope the voters will try something new this election. That is to think for themselves and vote for the ones who will help them have a better life even if they are poor. Even though we have the upper class outnumbered they always seem to get their way. I think they have learned how to persuade the illiterate poor to support their agenda by using religion as a weapon. It is a shame that we the people can’t make our own decisions.

  • ChrisC

    Ed, they keep the “little people” in line by using fear. Anytime the opposition starts getting traction with something the Repugnatant-ones (Republicans) pull out the 9/11 card and remind these folks that the terrorists want to eat their children. Then they let them also know that the Democrats are evil and will eat two-children for each one the terrorists eat. It’s taken about 5-years, but I think the electorate is catching on that it’s a smoke-screen.

  • i heard that the French are equally proud and they really wished that it could have been French as the universal language rather than English. By the way, thank you very much for the kind words you left on my blog

  • Anonymous

    Sadly, the majority of the french probably gave Chirac kudos for his little conniption fit.

    The majority of french citizens speak at least a little english, but you’d never know it when you visit… they’re so proud of their language that they almost refuse to speak anything but french.

  • It makes sense. Any minority group worries they will lose their identity if they lose their language.

    I don’t know about France, but I was told I’d better speak French before going to Montreal. I never had a problem though. Even the most militant francophone laughed when I’d apologize: “Je ne parle pas francais. Je suis un American stupid.”

    (I have no idea if that’s spelled correctly.)

    Then they’d help me in English or find someone who could.

    You’ll see a lot of Americans complaining as Spanish becomes the norm here. It’s already happening in Florida.