I
really like the French language.
I like the way it sounds; the accent, the mellifluous flow of it, and the way it is occasionally accented with the
rolled Rs
and other auditory nuances that English seems to be lacking.
But this article says that the UK is speaking the language of
business
and
opportunity
. Young frenchmen and women who are anxious to make their mark in the working world go to the UK to do it.
At least some do. Well, a lot actually. Fifteen thousand per year, at least, the article says. It quotes the French embassy as saying there are
270,000 French people living in the UK.
Not nearly enough to populate a city but a decent-sized town has only a tenth that number of people living in it. That is a lot of people. That many people can do a lot of work, and start a
lot of businesses.
There was an interesting article on the BBC News website that I read today. It was written by Clare Davidson, a BBC business reporter in Chelsea England.
BBC NEWS | Business | French youth seek jobs in Britain:
Job security is often deemed a sacred part of French life, yet this perception might be based on myth.
French workers say short-term contracts, which offer no job security at all, are the norm for the young in France.
It was this unpredictability that finally prompted Agnes-Prune Sene, 29, to quit Paris after having signed 39 short-term contracts in three years.
The odd thing is, France really defends its culture against change - especially dilution. Yet it exports the freshest, most vital part of its culture - the young people who create one aspect of its flavor and have a taste for entrepreneurial business - to England.
Tis a bit strange because one thing the French do not like - I gather from reading articles about the banning of the name
Le Big Mac
- is the taking over of part of their language by British words.
But the way a country loses its language over time is
not just by being infiltrated by a single word here or a handy phrase there.
It is by
losing the people who speak it - while doing things that
really matter, leaving a lasting mark.
That mark will bear a caption, soundtrack, text, sound bite, or quotation in some tongue - the one they are using at that time.
Their children, most likely will grow up speaking the language of the land where they are born, play, and grow up. The one where their parents settle down, work, live, and raise a family.
One can lose a culture war at two ends.
I hope France does not lose the people and keep the words. I think no matter what the the words are, the flowing of french speech will always sound mellifluous.
