French is the language of the future - really?

This sounds (or rather, reads) like an April Fool but it's apparently completely kosher.

The language of the future is...er...French.

Well, that's one way of interpreting a recent study carried out by the French (what else)  investment bank Natixis which indicates that there will be more people in the world speaking French in the year 2050 than any other language.

Ahead of Mandarin or English?

Cue that great French thinker of our time, TV reality "star" Nabilla Benattia (who, you'll doubtless be happy to know, has had her Wikipedia entry reinstated), "Allô ! Non, mais allô quoi!"

Apparently the Nataxis report predicts there'll be 750 million French speakers worldwide because that's the language spoken in countries with some of the fastest-growing populations - particularly sub-Saharan Africa.

A bit of a stretch for Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, writing in the business magazine Forbes, who questions the study's methodology because "it counts as French-speakers all the inhabitants of countries where French is an official language, which probably won’t be the case."

At the same time though, he concedes that "French is still a fast-growing, global language" and "will continue to be present on all continents by 2050."

Time to break out your "Bescherelle" and "Le Petit Robert"?

French parliament debates allowing some university subjects to be taught in English.

...and of course some academics get their proverbials in a twist

"Teaching in English - Let's do it" was the front page headline in Tuesday's edition of Libération, making it clear where the national daily stands on government plans to relax the law which prevents English from being used as a language to teach subjects (other than English of course) at French universities.

In fact the paper went further - its entire front cover was in English.

Libération front cover

The parliamentary debate opens today - and although the government is in favour, it's up against the usual head-in-the sand opposition from some academics.

Speaking on Tuesday's edition of La Matinale on Canal + the minister for higher education and research, Geneviève Fioraso, said a change in the 1994 law which currently prevents English being used to teach subjects at universities would attract foreign students and be of benefit to French students.

"It's a move which makes sense and in no way threatens the values or culture of the French language," she said.

"And it seems ridiculous to me that a blind eye is turned when it comes to les grandes écoles, which have ignored the law and taught subjects in English, while the rest of the country's universities have been prevented from doing so," she continued.

"It's a matter of making certain the law meets the needs of the country."

Geneviève Fioraso (screenshot from Canal + La Matinale)

Fioraso has the backing of some of France's leading academics - including a couple of Nobel prize winners - who wrote and signed an open letter in Le Monde supporting the idea.

But of course there are also those horrified at the thought that the proposal will "marginalise the French language" or worse! 

One of France's most distinguished (French) linguists, Claude Hagège, writing in Le Monde called the proposal "suicide" and "an act of sabotage" of the French language.

While Bernard Pivot, a leading literary figure in France, told Le Croix in an interview of the dangers of French becoming "banal, or worse, a dead language."

Er. M Pivot et al.

In the words of that modern French-speaking cultural icon, Nabilla, "Non mais 'allô quoi!"

La Matinale du 21/05 - Interview de Geneviève Fioraso

Wikipédia "Non, mais allô quoi"

Recognise the catchphrase?

The chances are, even if you're not a fan of reality TV, you'll have heard those words in one form or another over recent weeks.

They formed the now infamous moment of "glorious" telly after being uttered by a certain Nabilla Benatillia during an episode of "Les Anges de la télé-réalité" on NRJ12.
Lost already?

Nabilla (screenshot from "Les Anges de la télé-réalité")

Here's the quickest of recaps.

"Les Anges de la télé-réalité" is a reality TV show (surprise, surprise) first launched back in 2011 to "celebrate" a decade of the genre in France.

Whoopee!

It groups together "stars" (a lot of inverted commas going on here) of previous TV reality shows and allows them to pursue their dreams Stateside.

There have been four seasons so far and in the most recent Benatillia, who has found "fame" with just the use of her first name, uttered a phrase that quickly became something of a cult.

Nabilla, who first hit French TV screens in TF1's "L'amour est aveugle" (don't ask, but if you really want to find out more about that programme, click here, it's truly "fascinating") wanted to further her career as a "model".

And while taking giant steps "to become this country's answer to Kim Kardashian" (don't worry if you're not following any of this or aren't familiar with the names. A quick Internet search will reveal all you need to know) Nabilla spoke the words which were soon to create a buzz in France.

Talking about fellow contestants who had apparently forgotten to bring their shampoo with them (!!!), Nabilla said to camera, "Euh, allô! non, mais allô, quoi. T'es une fille et t'as pas de shampooing? Allô. Allô! Je ne sais pas, vous me recevez? T'es une fille et t'as pas de shampooing? C'est comme si je dis: t'es une fille et t'as pas de cheveux!"



Yes.

Well.

Er.

If you've been following the links in the piece so far, you'll have noticed that most of them are to pieces provided by those fine folk at Wikipedia - the English version that is.

And with good reason.

Because the French equivalent has decided Nabilla isn't newsworthy enough and has dropped her page.

Why?

After all, this is the very same Nabilla who put in such a stunning performance on "Le Grand Journal" on Canal + in mid-April.

Nabilla (screenshot "Le Grand Journal" Canal + April 11, 2013)

Her "catchphrase" was repeated and parodied by media "luminaries" such as journalist Audrey Pulvar and presenter Alessandra Sublet.

Heck even IKEA and Carrefour jumped on the bandwagon to use it in commercials.

But all that is apparently not enough for Wikipédia (French spelling) France as its president, Rémi Mathis, explained to (the culture section of) Le Figaro.

Mathis told the newspaper that to determine whether a person's entry was worth maintaining on Wikipédia, a vote was put to the site's most regular contributors and the outcome had been a 66:44 vote in favour of pulling Nabilla's page.

"It avoids the situation whereby Wikipédia simply seems to be 'peddling the buzz of the week'," he explained.

"Like all rules of Wikipédia, the eligibility criteria have been established by the community," he continued.

"Deleting a page is nothing extraordinary and happens several times a day and it can also transpire that an entry that has been removed, returns at a later date once the person has achieved a certain level of notoriety."

So there's hope yet for Nabilla and her legion of fans...because given a little more exposure (she'll be appearing in the fifth season of "Les Anges de la télé-réalité") and a few more choice expressions under her belt, she could make a return to Wikipédia France.

Just as a certain young Canadian singer did back in 2009, when his page was reinstated after being removed for a couple of months.

Ah. The price of fame!