Japanese man sued for insulting the French language
compensation and a public apology.
www.khaleejtimes.com . . .=
French teachers and researchers in Japan sued outspoken Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara on Wednesday for calling French a “failed language”, demanding compensation and a public apology.
In a suit filed at the Tokyo District Court, the 21 plaintiffs, many of whom run language schools or teach French, said Ishihara’s remarks had disgraced them. According to the suit, Ishihara said last October: “I have to say it is no surprise that French is disqualified as an international language because French is a language which cannot count numbers.” The governor made his remarks at a gathering in support of a new university in Tokyo, apparently to explain that there was no point to pursuing French, said plaintiff Brendan Marcus, who teaches at a private French school in Tokyo.
[...]
Sacré Bleu! French language teachers in Tokyo are suing outspoken Governor Shintaro Ishihara for damages for saying that French has proved to be a failure as an international language.
Twenty one plaintiffs, including translators as well as teachers, filed the suit this week. The Kyodo news agency quoted the petition as saying that Mr. Ishihara told a gathering on Oct. 19, "I have to say that it should be no surprise that French is disqualified as an international language."
French speakers were shocked. "It's unacceptable for him to insult French in this way," the leader of a French-language school in Tokyo, Malik Berkane, said at a news conference. "It's quite unacceptable," affirmed one of the plaintiffs, Brendan Marcus, a French teacher in Tokyo.
Mais non. Like any impoverished dowager who still wears the family pearls, many French speakers still cling to the idea that theirs is the "language of diplomacy." This has forced generations of students to drill on how to conjugate the "subjonctive" or the "passé composé." But for all its beauty and suggestiveness of savoir faire, French is heard at few diplomatic cocktail parties today. English is preferred. Even on its home ground, the European Union, French is losing terrain to English.
Referring to the fact that some numbers in the language used in France can be tricky (the word for 90 is "quatre-vingt-dix" or "four-twenty-ten," for example) Mr. Ishihara said that "French is a language which cannot count numbers." Even Belgium, a partly francophone neighbor to France, tacitly recognized this complaint by changing 90 to the shorter and logical "nonante."
Several past French leaders have been very rude about the Japanese. Former Prime Minister Edith Cresson said once that the Japanese reminded her of "ants," while Gen. Charles De Gaulle referred to a visiting Japanese prime minister as a "transistor salesman." Perhaps Mr. Ishihara is retaliating for these slights by hitting the French where it really hurts, with an insult to their cherished language. His was not the language of diplomacy either, but c'est la vie.
(The Wall Street Journal)
A lot more diplomats speak French than Japanese, so it's rather a case of people in glass houses throwing stones.
I agree the French language is the language of diplomacy.
It's used more and more in the US media and other international media, as well.
English is THE language for just about everything today. But in the world of diplomats, French is definitely running a very close second (it used to be in first place). It's just inertia, reflecting the waxing and waning influences of various cultures and their languages over time. English is taking over from French in diplomacy simply because it is taking over for everything else. But a surprising amount of written and spoken diplomacy still takes place in French. Turnover is very slow in diplomatic circles because diplomats are often quite old, and the older ones still are more comfortable in French than in English sometimes. The UN still has English and French as its two working languages.
Je serai très diplomatique ici.
Vive la langue anglaise et vive la langue française.
En fait, vive chaque langue!
End of.
Ooops.....forgot...this is the English thread. Och, who cares...I dinnae. Lovely summer's day and I'm awa' swimming. Cheers.
Es posible que ingles se use mas ahora que francés en el los negocios, pero no creo que eso demerite el valor del idioma francés, al contrario prueba la solidez del mismo al mantenerse como una de las lenguas favoritas en el ámbito internacional.
En lo personal me gusta la lengua francesa y me gusta la lengua inglesa también, cada lengua es importante y tiene lo suyo sólo que por razones prácticas una se usa más que la otra, pero eso no hace menos a ningún idioma.
Saludos
July 14, 2005) A group of 21 students and translators in Japan sued Tokyo's governor for insulting French. In their suit, plaintiffs accused Mr. Ishihara, one of Japan's most popular politicians, of saying: "French is a failed international language because it cannot be used to count numbers." Numbers in French can be mouthful, such as the word 90, which translates into "four-twenty-ten," or 70, which is "60 plus 10."
"I am disgraced and hurt," said renowned French linguist Jacque-ass Chirac, who is presently performing the functions of the president. "I always, always use French when describing numbers such as our low unemployment, fantastic economic growth rate, increasing productivity and almost non-existent taxes. Plus, I never had trouble counting French fries in French."
The proceeding will be conducted in Japanese and televised throughout the world with English subtitles. The suit seeks for $94,600 in compensation. French traditionally have been proud of their language, and at last we know the exact price of the pride.
The compensation will be paid in Japanese yens, because French franc is also a failed international currency.
The proceeding will be conducted in Japanese and televised throughout the world with English subtitles. The suit seeks for $94,600 in compensation. French traditionally have been proud of their language, and at last we know the exact price of the pride.
the suit was refused...
Brennus
Even Americans don't feel as much animosity toward the French as the British do and I think that geography has a lot to do with it. As an American having grown up among Americans I can testify to that.
come on..
get a life..
do not live in a cave..
American hates French very much, much more than British..
Brennus Moderator Fri Jun 16, 2006 5:43 am GMT
Guest,
"American hates ?" Sounds like you're the one that's been living in a cave. Should be "Americans hate." You also offer no supporting facts or examples to your statement: "American hates French very much, much more than British.. " rendering it basically worthless.
how about you, moron
your press spreads everywhere on internet about French Arrogant
your stament is baseless, you preten that American is good friend
America changes French fries to Freedom Fries..
They're technically Belgian fries anyway.
The phrase is French Fries. End of story.