At the start of the week, Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the Cité Internationale de la Langue Française in Villers-Cotterêts. “ A language that brings us together in our unity and diversity », in the words of the Head of State. Yes, but how is French? “Very good thank you”, as Les Linguistes Atterrés say in a leaflet published by Gallimard… Or “Not so good, alas”, as specialists judge in a column published in Le Figaro. Disagreement on the health of the language… while it is now accepted that mastery of French spelling is declining among the youngest. So do we need more dictations, this French specificity? Should we modernize the French language to make it more accessible and more adapted to our times?
To debate it
-Anne Abeilléprofessor of Linguistics at Paris Cité University, member of the collective The dismayed linguists, co-author of the manifesto French is very good, thank you », published by Gallimard and a column published around the world “ Why it is urgent to update our spelling. Co-director of the work, The Great Grammar of French, Actes Sud editions
– Viviane Youxpresident of the French Association for French Teaching (AFEF)
– Rachid Santaki, writer, journalist, screenwriter and organizer of a large itinerant dictation throughout France. Next dates: November 4 at the University of Nanterre and November 15, 2023 at Rouen station. Author of the book A dictation can change everythingÉditions Marabout.