On paper, it seems obvious: the 2024 Paris Olympics represent a golden opportunity to highlight the French language. Won’t the whole world have its eyes on our country for several weeks? A sense of reality, unfortunately, calls for caution.
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Let’s start with a little historical reminder. The preeminent place reserved for our national idiom in this event like no other obviously owes a lot to Pierre de Coubertin. It was he who, by relaunching the competition at the end of the 19th century, gave French its status as an official language. A privilege of which he maintained a monopoly for a long time, before having to share it with the English, from 1972, at a time when the International Olympic Committee was dominated by the Anglo-Saxons – this is not exactly a coincidence.
In any case, since this date, these two languages are supposed to be systematically used in official documents and signage but also during the announcements of the events, the progress of the ceremonies, the press conferences of the members of the International Olympic Committee ( IOC) and its armed wing, the organizing committee of the Olympic Games (Cojo).
Presence on our soil obliges, an additional effort has even been planned this year, including the distribution of a Guide to good linguistic practices for French-speaking sports stakeholders. Above all, impressive terminology work has been carried out, in order to have a French vocabulary for the most used gestures and movements. “As it was impossible to do everything, we favored the four new sports of Paris 2024: breaking, surfing, climbing and skateboarding,” specifies Daniel Zielinski, the senior French language official for sport. . It is therefore recommended to use “team” instead of crew ; “challenge” instead of battle ; “opener” instead of road setterAnd so on.
While the effort is commendable, it remains insufficient. Indeed, the Olympic charter only applies to the IOC and the Cojo in the strict sense. Which means that the Paralympic Games, for example, are not required to respect it, any more than the Youth Olympic Games. Result: we resort almost exclusively to the language of Shakespeare. The same goes for the international federations which, too, are free to communicate as they see fit and, with rare exceptions, do not shy away from it. “Surfing speaks exclusively English, including when an event is organized on our soil,” regrets Daniel Zielinski. The president of this federation told us bluntly: “Do you want comments in French? You just have to pay!”
Made for sharing…
It is true that the place of French in the Olympic Games is not always understood, and for good reason: English is the language understood and used by the majority of participants, whether they are athletes, officials or journalists. It is therefore he who, in fact, largely dominates the exchanges, far from the theoretical equality set out by the Olympic charter. We even saw the organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games choose the slogan Made for sharing, whose relationship with the French-speaking world, we will agree, is quite tenuous. An initiative which, however, fizzled out, as the outcry was immense.
What strategy should you follow in this context? For Daniel Zielinski, it is clear. “If we wish to strengthen the status of French at the Olympic Games, it is essential to fight upstream, within the international federations. And to choose our battles carefully: there is no longer any point in trying to replace soccer by “bullet at the foot”. On the other hand, there is still time to act in new sports and digital tools. This is what we obtained for the Olympics site, where French terminology will be given priority. If, for example, a French-speaking Internet user asks a question about the skate board, the dialoguer will respond by talking about “skateboard””.
Obviously, this strategy would bear more fruit if it were relayed by the media and French politicians. Alas…. A major sports newspaper told Daniel Zielinski bluntly. “French? Who cares!” As for policies… In a speech given on the occasion of the presentation of a sports equipment plan, Emmanuel Macron disdained the French equivalents proposed by the terminology commissions. Amélie Oudéa-Castéra went even further. During a press conference organized in Paris the day after the football Champions League final, the French Minister of Sports spoke exclusively… in the language of Shakespeare.
How do you say “score an own goal” in English?
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The ninth Quartier du Livre festival will take place from Wednesday May 29 to Wednesday June 5, 2024. Sponsored by Daniel Picouly, this year’s theme is “On the adventure”. I will have the pleasure of dedicating on Thursday, May 30, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., my last two books “Let’s save regional languages” and “Let’s cultivate the French language” (both published by Héliopoles).
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Why do we say “custard”, “English key” or “English cape”?
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Considered one of the oldest in Europe, the Basque language has long declined, to the point of being classified “in danger of disappearing” by UNESCO… However, Basque courses have experienced real popularity in recent years, and the desire is strong, locally, to keep this language alive on a daily basis.
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