4 ms·

I can see the logic, since UK isn't part of the EU anymore, but considering over all amount of people who can speak and understand English vs France EU wide thi

I can see the logic, since UK isn't part of the EU anymore, but considering over all amount of people who can speak and understand English vs France EU wide this is pretty silly show of power. After all even if EU matters were done purely in french it wouldn't be "the killer feature" to make french be taught much more in schools since english is the universal business language. And even if EU states decided that they needed to start teaching another language besides english to their kids to prepare them for future employment I would actually go for chinese instead of french. Because that will be the next actual global language by the end of this century unless humanity nukes it self out of existence.

dzonga 5y ago
as a non-chinese person, in Taiwan currently I would say otherwise. with Chinese learning english to remain competitive. And currently english schools demand a premium. And likewise foreign english teachers are paid more than locals. Taiwan for example wants to become bilingual by 2030. though, personally, I don't see that happening. Majority of business communication worldwide is already in english so are technical docs. well, unless it's electronic stuff which is in chinese | german. Culturally america's most known exports are in english. So yeah, what France is pushing is largely stupid, though i'm an ardent listener of French hip hop.
kergonath 5y ago
> After all even if EU matters were done purely in french That is not going to happen. Nothing is done purely in one language in the EU. The language rules are deeply embedded in the treaties; changing this would require quite a lot of countries to agree formally. The three work languages of the Commission are English, French, and German, and that’s not going to change. What can change is which one of these is used the most.
Cu3PO42 5y ago
Ireland, however, is still a part of the EU.
3836293648 5y ago
The UK left, sure. But Ireland still exists
- mahkeiro 5y ago
  But Ireland did not choose English as their EU language, they chose Irish.
s17n 5y ago
I think English as the universal language is probably a done deal at this point. Then again people probably thought that about French back in the day.
jobigoud 5y ago
> even if EU states decided that they needed to start teaching another language besides english to their kids It's already the case that we learn another language beside English in most (all?) of the EU. Typically French, German or Spanish. It's also an explicit goal of the EU that every citizen speak two additional languages besides their own native language.

dzonga 5y ago

as a non-chinese person, in Taiwan currently I would say otherwise. with Chinese learning english to remain competitive. And currently english schools demand a premium. And likewise foreign english teachers are paid more than locals. Taiwan for example wants to become bilingual by 2030. though, personally, I don't see that happening. Majority of business communication worldwide is already in english so are technical docs. well, unless it's electronic stuff which is in chinese | german. Culturally america's most known exports are in english. So yeah, what France is pushing is largely stupid, though i'm an ardent listener of French hip hop.

kergonath 5y ago

> After all even if EU matters were done purely in french That is not going to happen. Nothing is done purely in one language in the EU. The language rules are deeply embedded in the treaties; changing this would require quite a lot of countries to agree formally. The three work languages of the Commission are English, French, and German, and that’s not going to change. What can change is which one of these is used the most.

Cu3PO42 5y ago

Ireland, however, is still a part of the EU.

3836293648 5y ago

The UK left, sure. But Ireland still exists

mahkeiro 5y ago
But Ireland did not choose English as their EU language, they chose Irish.

s17n 5y ago

I think English as the universal language is probably a done deal at this point. Then again people probably thought that about French back in the day.

jobigoud 5y ago

> even if EU states decided that they needed to start teaching another language besides english to their kids It's already the case that we learn another language beside English in most (all?) of the EU. Typically French, German or Spanish. It's also an explicit goal of the EU that every citizen speak two additional languages besides their own native language.