French Minister of Higher Education attacked as "lover of the English language" and compared to Nazi sympathizers in French regional elections !

 KUDOS to the CERCLE HERNANI for the nuttiest campaign inFrance's regional elections.

The  slogan?

THANK YOU FOR NOT VOTING FOR VALERIE PECRESSE, LOVER OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!

Ms. Pécresse's crimes?

She is an "Obsédée d'anglais" (loosely translated as "English-loving maniac), recipient of the  PRIX D'INCIVILITE LINGUISTIQUE (prize for linguistic incivility) for her effforts to improve English language skills among university graduates.

The Cerle Hernant begs voters to reject Ms. Pécresse in the regional elections: "IN THE NAME OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE, THE FRANCOPHONIE, THE STRUGGLE AGAINST ALL-POWERFUL ENGLISH AND IN GENERAL FOR THE RESPECT OF DIVERSITY IN LANGUAGES."

It goes so far as to compare her to Nazi sympathizers and to call her a "poison" to the French language.!

 I swear I do not make this up.

 To see this remarkable diatribe against the Minister of Higher Education, click here.

An extract in the orginal French (so offensive I don't feel like translating it).

Bref, comme au temps de la milice dans les années 43-45, où certains Français étaient plus nazis que les Nazis eux-mêmes, nous avons aujourd'hui avec Mme Pécresse, une « Française » farouchement partisane du tout anglais, plus zélée peut-être encore en la matière que les meilleurs agents de la CIA.

 Cette dame est donc bel et bien un réel POISON pour la cause de la langue française et de la Francophonie. 

Who dares to compare Mme Pécresse to Nazi sympathizers? According to CERCLE HERNANI site,  the tract was published by the ASSOCIATION FRancophonie AVenir (A.FR.AV),  une association apolitique de résistance linguistique et culturelle.  2811 chemin de Saint-Paul - Parc Louis Riel - 30129 Manduel  Site : www.francophonie-avenir.com - Courriel : afrav@aliceadsl.fr ")

TO SEE THE TRACT DISTRIBUTED BY THE ASSOCIATION FRANCOPHONIE AVENIR CLICK HERE.

Comments

[kaygee]

The "francophonie" contingent is a little crazy but French has lost out in certain places like Vietnam where it used to be the main European language taught in the schools. So -- although their comparisons are extreme -- I can understand their "angst".
As for Pécresse, she has been far from a model of civility in the dirty race that is being held in Ile de France. Ségolène Royal is really a cut above that particular "politicienne" and has managed to clean up the race in Poitou Charentes where she has kept her focus on the fundamentals.

French speakers have a death grip on English teaching in the French school system. I think the net is probably compensating for that. Still in all, I heard a colleague of mine pronouncing the word "crash" as "crush". The kid had gotten it right and the teacher was actually forcing the kid to adopt an incorrect pronunciation. The author of the manual we're using has a little exercise for "have got" where you have to fill in the verb: "I _______ _____ black eyes and my mother _________ _______ black eyes, too." ... black eyes! Why is this person allowed to write manuals?