More than ever the French language is at the crossroads of multiple issues. There is no doubt that the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will celebrate the French language, for our fellow citizens and Francophones around the world, while welcoming languages in all their diversity.
It is enough, to be convinced, to remember that the values of Olympism follow the dream of a reconciled humanity. This dream, which took shape in Athens in 1896, honours the French, since it is in this language that Pierre de Coubertin expressed it and convinced his partners of all nations.
The celebration of 30 years of the Toubon law, a founding text that allows our fellow citizens to express themselves and receive information in their language on a daily basis, will also be a highlight of the year. But our language policies also make room for cultural diversity and multilingualism, for which digital innovation opens up new perspectives.
Moreover, language proficiency is fundamental for each of us, individuals and collectives. Our place in society, our relationship to work, our ability to understand our rights, our duties, our opportunities to meet… Here, illiteracy is the scourge that must be fought.
Finally, the promotion of French and the Francophonie in the world remains a fundamental objective for which it is necessary to develop an ambitious strategy.
Interview with Paul de Sinety, General Delegate for the French Language and the Languages of France at the Ministry of Culture, on the occasion of the publication of the Report to Parliament on the French Language.
Why a new Report to Parliament on the French Language ?
The purpose of this document is to inform and raise awareness. The French language is everyone’s business (elected officials, administrations, public bodies, associations, experts and the general public). Obviously, it plays a major role in our society (it is the indispensable tool to learn, train in a technique, know its rights and duties, assert them, undertake, explain, convince, find a job, meet the other...).
With its new data, the report continues and enriches this dual function of informing and raising awareness. These analyses, accompanied by expert testimony, indeed, refine our knowledge of the situation of the French language, in France and in the world. They also make it possible to measure the progress made by our public policies.
What were the highlights of 2023?
Obviously, the inauguration of the Cité internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts by the President of the Republic, October 30 was a great moment. Embodying our renewed language policy, the Cité will host two flagship projects in the field of technological innovation: a European reference centre for language technologies (ALT-EDIC) and its national component, the LANGU:IA project.
Let us also mention the preparation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024. You know that the French language was, from 1896 to 1972, the only official language of this global event created by Pierre de Coubertin. It is a language rooted in sport for a long time, as in fencing, a notable example. Based on the Toubon law and on the « Legacy Plan ” in which the Ministry of Culture participates, we have emphasized the particular care that the Paris Olympic Games will have to take to promote the use of its first official language.
What are the major challenges for the French language?
First, to amplify the interdepartmental mobilization to support the implementation of the law of August 4, 1994 on the use of the French language, known as the Toubon Law.
It should be noted here that the Commission d'enrichissement de la langue française (CELF), which celebrated its 50th anniversary on March 21, 2023, continued its work, so that our language continues to express all the realities of the contemporary world. In 2023, 300 new terms were published in Official Journal and joined the database FranceTerm !
Another major issue is digital. The future of the French language, the Francophonie and multilingualism, as well as our linguistic and cultural sovereignty, depend on it. France intends to play a leading role in this area. The mission launched with our Quebec friends for an online discoverability of French scientific content is an illustration of this.
Then, inclusion: with 2.5 million French people illiterate, mastery of the French language is a priority confirmed to me by the Minister of Culture. Efforts in this regard have not been relaxed, particularly through the annual program «Action culturelle et langue française» deployed by the Ministry of Culture. The signing of new linguistic State-territorial collectivities pacts has also made it possible to strengthen cooperation at the local level: Seine-Saint-Denis and Reunion joined this mechanism in 2023.
As such, the promotion of regional languages is also a factor of inclusion. The work undertaken by the National Council of Regional Languages and Cultures, chaired by the Minister of Culture, participated, with the foreshadowing of a digital portal «Languages in France». It will be a single point of access to all available data on the languages spoken in France.
And isn’t raising youth awareness of these issues also essential?
Yes, it is a fundamental axis. That is why, on the youth side, we are pleased with the success of the operation “ Tell me ten words ” (20,000 participations, nearly 100,000 people affected in the territories and around the world). The French Language Week Every year, the Francophonie is a great opportunity to bring together young audiences around our language.
What are the prospects for 2024?
In pursuit of this dynamic, 2024 will be an opportunity to celebrate the French language at three major events:
- The Olympic and Paralympic Games that will take place in France this summer, during which both the French language and multilingualism will be honoured around the objective of Tell and experience the Games in French and other languages ".
- The 19th Summit of the Francophonie which will be held on October 4 and 5, 2024 in Villers-Cotterêts and Paris to «Create, innovate, undertake in French». In particular, we will contribute to the francophone digital component.
- We will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Toubon Law, a major text for our social cohesion, an opportunity to measure its impact in recent years. Should the legal framework be changed? This is a subject that parliamentarians could address.
Finally, we undertake a thorough work to gather and support the cultural actors who work in our territories for a better mastery of the French language among audiences in situations of linguistic insecurity generally distant from the cultural offer.
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