Wednesday, December 06, 2006
'The language is not the point'
France is launching its own international version of CNN, France 24. They say it's not about the language, but rather about the French point of view. Perhaps. But French is no longer a dominant language and I find it hard to believe, the French being French, preservation of the language isn't a huge motivating factor for France 24. ...
Update -- From Brighton Reader:
France is launching its own international version of CNN, France 24. They say it's not about the language, but rather about the French point of view. Perhaps. But French is no longer a dominant language and I find it hard to believe, the French being French, preservation of the language isn't a huge motivating factor for France 24. ...
Update -- From Brighton Reader:
I just started reading "The Story of French," a history of the French language. It's by two Canadians, one anglophone and the other a francophone. One interesting note so far: a "language law" was instituted first not by the French, but the English! The "Statute of Pleadings" forbade the use of Anglo-Norman, the tongue that had developed after the Norman conquest, and made English the legal language of the kingdom.FYI: The book blurb from the link above indicates it's pretty hard to separate the French language from the French view of things.
