a plan to teach English to French three-year-olds

Inside Europe | 05.02.2011 | 07:05

France's Sarkozy promotes English for kids

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:

La Grande Nation has always been very proud of its cultural heritage and its colourful language, so proud in fact that in the past it even introduced laws which banned the use of un-translated English words in advertising or stipulated that 40 percent of songs on French radio must be in French.

But now President Nicolas Sarkozy in a bold move has announced a plan to teach English to French three-year-olds. And as John Laurenson points out in this postcard from Paris, French linguistic purists are not amused.

• France's Sarkozy promotes English for kids