Thread: French Angry at Latest 'Intrusion' of English Language

This is just to darn funny, guess they know now how we feel with all our Spanish "Intrusions"


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351560,00.html


PARIS — To the barricades! That's the message of language purists aghast that the lyrics of France's entry in a hugely popular European song contest are — mon Dieu! — in English.

Critics, including the French government, are adamant: Sebastien Tellier should not perform "Divine" at Eurovision — unless it is in French.

"A song represents the soul of a country," said Marc Favre d'Echallens, who heads a group dedicated to defending French against the growing use of English.

"It appears logical that a song representing France be a French song sung in French," he said, denouncing cultural "uniformity" and the "hegemony" of the English language in the world today.

It's the latest battle in a war France has waged for decades to defend French against the encroachment — some call it the invasion — of the English language.

The televised May 24 Eurovision contest, with entries from Andorra to Russia, drew some 100 million viewers last year — when France placed 22 out of 24 finalists, with 19 points.

Serbia's Marija Serifovic won with 268 points and a heart-wrenching rendition of the ballad "Molitva," or "The Prayer" — sung in her native language.

France's losing entry mixed English and French, with the lyrics "L'amour a la francaise let's do it again, again, again, again."

Wildly popular in Europe, Eurovision has lifted artists from obscurity to celebrity. ABBA won in 1974 with a song that spoke of another French defeat — "Waterloo." And Celine Dion's win in 1988, singing "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi" (Don't Leave Without Me), helped launch her career.

This year's contest features performers from 43 countries. Eurovision bills itself as one of the longest-running television shows in the world, with the first contest in 1956. France has won 14 times.

France's entry, "Divine," — with only two lines in French — was chosen by France-3, the public television station.

France's minister for cooperation and Francophonie, or French speakers, issued a strongly worded statement Wednesday reflecting his disapproval.

"When one has the honor of being selected to represent France, one sings in French," Alain Joyandet said. He has urged Tellier and France-3 to consider changing the song.

Joyandet was scheduled to meet Thursday with an official of Tellier's RecordMakers label, Stephane Elfassi.

Tellier was not immediately available to comment on the uproar. However, his producer, Marc Teissier du Cros of RecordMakers, said the singer "is quite amused."

After writing the song in English, Tellier "tried to adapt it in French but it didn't work out," du Cros said.

"For me, this is yesterday's debate," he said. "Today an artist ... has the right to choose the language in which he wants to sing."

Still, Eurovision statistics show English holds sway in the contest, in which viewers pick the winner by phone and text message. English or mostly English songs have won 22 times.

More than half of this year's Eurovision contestants — 25 — will sing in English.

Lawmaker Francois-Michel Gonnot of President Nicolas Sarkozy's governing conservative UMP party, set the nation's indignation in motion, asserting that he has received mail from French-speakers as far away as Vietnam and Africa, urging him to take a stand.

"'Be careful,' they wrote. 'If you, the French, don't defend the French language, who will?'" Gonnot told Associated Press Television News. "France has the will to be a great power, and it relies on its history, a culture and a language that today is spoken by 175 million people across the world."

But, he added, French is a "threatened language."

Ironically, English, too, may be losing ground if the lyrics of Tellier's "electro" tune are any indication. Their meaning may test the linguistic mettle of even some native English-speakers: "Oh oh oh / I'm alone in life to say / I love the Chivers anyway / 'Cause Chivers look divine." The meaning of Chivers is unclear.

In 2006, then-President Jacques Chirac stormed out of a European Union summit when a French industrialist spoke in English — and called it "the language of business."

"We fight for our language. It is in our international interest," Chirac said.

For years, English words have crept into the French language: le look, le weekend, le hotdog. But these days, everything from the soundtracks for television commercials to the lyrics of French pop songs are in English.

In France, some words have now been legislated into French, like "logiciel" for "software."

Indeed, kings and emperors preceded staid lawmakers in deciding how the French should talk. In 1510, Louis XII ordered that legal investigations be written in French.

Favre d'Echallens said one possible riposte to the "Divine" song would be withholding public funding for France-3 television. He said the broadcaster, by picking an English song, was failing in its public service missions, which he said include an obligation to promote French.

"It is the French who pay (the taxes) ... Maybe the French want to hear a song in French," Favre d'Echallens said.

Maybe.

Parisian Robert Tordjman, 73, said he just hopes Tellier wins for France.

"If it allows him to win the contest, then let him sing in English," Tordjman told APTN. "We'd accept it."

e-mail I received. I find the responces excellent and true.
Last one is great reason to make English our legal national language.


When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of 'empire building' by George Bush. He answered by saying,"Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders.The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return." It became very quiet in the room. ************************************************** **********

Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?" A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?" Once again, dead silence. ************************************************** ***********

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?' Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German. You could have heard a pin drop.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

I love it MyAmerica!!!

GOD BLESS AMERICA and AMERICANS....there is none other like it or its people on the face of this earth......

But just say NO to destroying our country and we are labeled "HATERS" NOW ISN'T THAT APPRECIATION FOR YOU! NOT!!