British Expatriate Network

http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4840160.stm

Jaques Chirac walks out of an EU meeting becuase a Frenchman spoke English. The whole of Paris is up flames because young people want to be guaranteed jobs for life. Am I the only one who thinks the French are out of tune with the world?

Certainly my time in Europe has made me think beyond the UK. I don't think anyone has it easy now however well educated are or entitled you feel. (I'd say back in Europe 30/40 years ago posh people got good jobs and a university degree guaranteed a decent job)

My thoughts are reflect those of Peter Mandelson (thanks Guardian), Britain's European commissioner, who accused many European countries of failing to wake up to the challenge of globalisation. "I don't know whether we're witnessing the death throes or the birth pangs of protectionism ... People are coming to terms with new forces in the global economy. We're not going to come to terms with that by trying to shelter ourselves from the global economy and what is changing in it. Sometimes you listen to people and wonder if they just imagine that if they bring a comfort blanket over their heads far enough and firmly enough all that is happening in the world will pass them by and they can reemerge and carry on business as usual as if nothing has changed in due course. That, to put it mildly, is an unrealistic assumption."

I certainly agree. I find globalization very exciting and a positive thing. I also think its great that the UK political leaders (of all parties) understand what is necessary to create jobs and give people hope. Whatever the gripes and groans in the UK I'd say we're in better shape mentally and strucutrally than the French, Germans and Italians..

Is this any different to the wars between Britain and France? apart from the lack of a bloody bath that is!

France are getting their knickers in a twist because they see it as the British winning, again.

I wonder how the British reacted when it was French that was the main business language? Did any of the British businessmen speak French? Did any of the other countries make the effort and speak French? did any walk out because a fellow countryman didn't use their native language to address the union?

Do you think? English is no longer a 'British' thing - it's quiet simply the global language (for business and many other things) in the same way that the metric system and the roman calendar are they way we measure time and money...

Will Tony Blair storm out because some English bloke starts talking about 'kilometres.' I just don't get the French..what's going on in their head. The days of a Franco centric world are long gone but somehow theyare always looking for special treatment.. don't give them an inch!

Seems a silly thing to get so het up over - although it is also a touch insulting to English speakers of the world, not to mention the Frenchman who was presenting at the time and made the choice of that language as the best one to get his message over.

Chirac is pretentious - it's not even as if he doesn't speak English.

Especially for a former fork lift truck driver !!

I think that is the way the French see it - as a British thing. Let's face it, how did English get around the world? The only reason why America speaks English is because the French lost. I'm not saying that it is a war between the French and English but what I am saying is that that is the way the French may see it. No different to the supid argument over the name of the station that the chunnel train leaves from in London having to be changed because it offends the French. Why should we change the name of Waterloo Station just because the French lost?

And that was my point regarding would you find any British person speaking a foreign language to them being seen as betraying their home country. No - we would see it as them actually making the effort to include other nations and that we all belong to the human race.

I don't believe Chirac would have had the same reaction if the businessman spoke German or Spanish. Do you?

The French see their culture being overwhelmed by the anglo-saxons of the world and are trying to retain their gallic culture. Remember when they tried to ban "le weekend" and other anglicisations?

For us English speakers globilization means the spreading of our way of speaking and doing things. I can't think of anything in the last 50 years that we have taken onboard from abroad (maybe the metric system). For everyone else it means the imposition of a foreign way of doing things or of foreign objects/icons (Coca-Cola, Mickey Mouse etc).

I like France, it's just a shame the French live there.

This is another reason the EU will eventually fail. The French will only like the EU if they are at the centre calling the shots, ask them to give something up and thats a big NO from them.
The French bent some rules this week in regard to a company take over. They earlier turn down a bid from an Italian company, but then turn around and accepts a bid from a French Company. This has created a big political arguement within the EU.
No matter what you say, each country will protect what it see's as in its own interest and to hell with the rest. The Fench just seem to be doing alot of it lol

No the french have a lot of things to do with everyday life .

french fries ( eating )
french letters ( fucking )
french kissing (also fucking )
French windows ( housing )


what more do they want ?? lol lol lol

English is the new international language because the English speaking peoples seem to be unable to learn any other language; if the man hadn't spoken English, half the people there wouldn't have understood a thing. If you need to do business with the USA, and most do, speak English or forget it.

Globalization is the worst thing that has happened for the vast number of people in the world, there have been a few winners, the exploiters, and many losers, the exploited. It is a war between the elite of the world on one side and the non-elite on the other side.

That other funny little man from Texas, Ross Perot, told us what to expect, and he was correct.

Indeed so, although i would substitute "unwilling" for "unable". I can testify to many a conversation with non-Welsh people who moved to Wales to live.

Question: Will you be learning the language?
Usual response: Certainly not, everyone understand English, don't they!

Interestingly enough, apparently Spanish is more widely spoken than English. I found this from a Google search:

I found this by "googling":

The Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) Ethnologue Survey (1999) lists the following as the top languages by population:
(number of native speakers in parentheses)

Chinese* (937,132,000)
Spanish (332,000,000)
English (322,000,000)
Bengali (189,000,000)
Hindi/Urdu (182,000,000)
Arabic* (174,950,000)
Portuguese (170,000,000)
Russian (170,000,000)
Japanese (125,000,000)
German (98,000,000)
French* (79,572,000)

Maybe we should all learn Chinese or Spanish. :lol:

However, if you look at most commonly spoken languages in Europe, the results would be somewhat different, I think.

Regards speaking English in Wales..... ....English is still an official national language of Wales, isn't it? P

But that's native speakers, not total number of people in the world who speak English, very few people speak chinese as second language compared to secondary english speakers.

I did try to find the total number of proficient english speakers, but was unsuccessful

Yeah, I can't remember the figures but for all those that don't have English as their first language, English is more likely to be their second than any other language spoken. However, a lot of that is because of the British Empire.

English, to speak, is relatively easy compared to other languages. Writing it is another issue :wink:

You just validated my point! 8)