Francophonie: Is Emmanuel Macron responsible for the decline of the French language?

Gauthier Delomez 7:16 p.m., November 19, 2022

President Emmanuel Macron is right to worry about the decline in the use of French around the world.

Invited to

on Saturday, while the Head of State is taking part in the Francophonie Summit in Tunisia, the novelist and academician Jean-Marie Rouart takes a look at the decline of the language of Molière, now fifth most spoken language in the world.

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For him, "what is boring with Emmanuel Macron is that he is still, himself responsible" for this decline in the practice of French, he thunders at the microphone of Peter of Vilno.

"Choose France", "start-up nation" ... Expressions that do not pass

While the president presented on Saturday a "project for the reconquest" of the language, the academician, author in particular of

(Gallimard editions), recalls that the head of state had used the expression "Choose France" for a summit of companies in Versailles, and that he used the expression "start-up nation".

Jean-Marie Rouart also mentions a report by the French Academy on institutional communication.

"In all ministries, administrations and institutions, it is Franglais" that is used, he denounces.

According to the academician, this mix between French and English "is contaminating everything and destroying the French language which in time, I tell you, will be a dead language", he assures on Europe 1.

"We are the first to destroy our own language"

"Francophones are sorry because they see the French language both undermined by Franglais, and not the non-resistance of the public authorities who constantly speak in Franglais", continues the academician, who recalls the period of the health crisis.

"At the time of the Covid, all the ministers were talking about a cluster", notes Jean-Marie Rouart, who also points to the arrival of inclusive writing.

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If the French language has always been enriched with new words from abroad, the writer denounces a harmful effect on the syntax.

“You will notice a monstrous thing, and I do not see Emmanuel Macron being indignant about it, it is the Sorbonne!”, he exclaims, before supporting: “It is not called the university of the Sorbonne, but 'Sorbonne Université', which is Franglais".

The novelist also lists the example of Metz-Nancy-Lorraine airport, which is called Lorraine Aéroport.

These formulas, for the academician, do not respect the Toubon law of 1994 relating to the use of the French language.

"Who is it to enforce them? It's up to the president, to the ministers!", Continues the academician at the microphone of Europe 1. "How do you expect the unfortunate French-speaking people to trust us? We are the first to destroy our own language", asserts Jean-Marie Rouart.