
How France Tries to Keep English Out of Public Life - pseudolus
https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/08/french-culture-minister-riester-academie-francaise-franglais/595819/
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archaea_hao
I can understand wanting to protect your culture, but the benefits of having a
truly global language outweigh personal considerations of cultural pride.

~~~
mytailorisrich
It's not pride. It's identity and culture.

If you lose your language you lose your culture, you no longer exist as a
people.

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archaea_hao
That's partly true. I've always felt that language is the soil in which
culture grows. But different English speaking countries have very different
cultures. And culture is more fundamental than language. Language is more of a
barrier that leads to isolation, and it's in that isolation that distinct
cultures develop.

But my point remains. Your people living today may lament losing their native
language, but your children and their children will not, at least not as much.
In the long run linguistic unity far outweighs the current generation's
unhappiness.

~~~
mytailorisrich
OK, I'm sold. Let's all learn Chinese.

> _Your people living today may lament losing their native language, but your
> children and their children will not, at least not as much._

I haven't read something that arrogant and condescending in a long time.

~~~
corodra
Actually itd be smarter to force everyone to learn a long dead obscure
language. That way everyone starts from scratch rather than a group having a
leg up.

