Francophonie
My colleague, Pierre des Indies, writes an interesting blog about his life as an expatriate Frenchman in India, often illustrated with wonderful photographs he has taken. He recently made a very radical post (English version) which examines the language barrier that prevents many young, mobile Indians from considering spending some part of the their studies and/or career in France. He ends with the suggestion that the top French educational establishments should ease this problem by teaching in English. When I read this suggestion, I feared for his safety at the hands of the provisional brigade of the Académie française; clearly he has been away from France for too long.
However, reading the Economist recently, I found that Pierre is not so avant garde; the "Toulouse School of Econonics" (sic), a graduate school of the University of Toulouse 1 which has English only teaching opened recently.
Perhaps, after all, Pierre will make it back to India alive from his current vacation in his homeland.
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2 comments:
As I recall, English has long been a primary language in French academia. When I did my work there many, if not most, lectures and seminars I attended were given in English (of course, this was to a degree self-selecting). And I never really encountered any problems day to day. My own French being lamentably poor and my colleagues preferring to speak in English.
The only challenge that I really faced was that during my defense the committee insisted upon asking their questions in French. To which I could only respond intelligently in English.
The title of the thesis also caused a little fracas. They preferred the English version and, irritated, the Chair ferociously scratched out the French version. Apparently I had allowed the poetic side of me wax a little too lyrical.
So far, reactions I've received from compatriots are not too conservature, much less than what I was expecting. Less than what they would have been 10 years back.
Mindsets are evolving (that's maybe why I've been safe since that post...)
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