European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A the talk of Europe id Unju Riipi pm English usage inroads annoy the French by Sarah Raper National geographic m. Is #. Up a s Europe Aims for further economic integration by 1992, the emphasis has been on the number Quot one Quot a one Market _ one set of social welfare standards maybe even one currency. But one language out of the question say european Community planners linguistics experts and government officials. Yet English already has become the Standard language of european Commerce and often of diplomacy. Its importance dates from its acceptance As a diplomatic language along with French at the 1919 Versailles peace conference recent imports of British and american technology management techniques television shows and music have increased English usage sometimes to the extreme. The French newspaper be Monde recently published an article about a memo sent by one French company to another written in English. The company returned it kindly asking a in French a for a translation. Statistics confirm popular lore. A 1987 dec study showed that 51 percent of its citizens can speak English. Excluding those who speak English As a first language the figure is 35 percent significantly higher than any other language 27 percent have Learned French 14 percent German. In general europeans have two main fears says David Coyne coordinator of the eco a new Lingua program which Aims to develop better language teaching materials in 11 european languages. Quot those in larger countries worry that their language will no longer be taught As a foreign language and those in smaller countries such As Denmark worry that their language will become less  meanwhile British officials fear that English May not be sufficient to compete in 1992�?~s new single Market. The government recently said it would require All students Ages 11 to 16 to study at least one foreign language. Belgian linguist pm. Nelda agrees there s cause for concern. Quot one big mistake that Many european students Are making is to take Only English As a foreign language because they believe English Means automatically International Quot he says. Nelda is sceptical about what he Calls Quot forced Quot language planning but favors proposals for creating multilingual zones along Borders. Quot but i would never try to fight  not surprisingly that acceptance seems hardest National geographic at least during legislative sessions French still reigns supreme. Of europeans for whom English is not a native Tongue 35percent have Learned to speak it a significantly More than those who have Learned other languages. For the French. From Lille to Marseille French is a passion. Last year s nationally televised sorbonne Quot Dickee Quot Competition in which contestants master arcane grammar rules and spell obscure words in order to Complete a Tricky dictation Drew 200,000 participants. A it is True that 1992 will be a Challenge to French but there s no real menace to the language from a More unified Europe Quot says Laurent Personne of the venerable Academie Francaise. With nothing to fear he says it s business As usual at the Academie National geographic a melange of languages decorates the disco behind guitar strumming travellers in Frances c6te do Azur Region. With the approach of the 1992 target for economic integration of the european Community some francophone feel increasingly besieged by English language encroachments. Guardian of the purity of the French language since 1635. Quot it would be desirable for All the european countries to do what they can to support their neighbors languages Quot says Personne. Quot the Academie Francaise Isnit fighting against English. That has never been our goal Quot however the Academie charged vigorously into a highly publicized debate about the Pasteur institutes decision to change the French title of its Century old journal to an English one and to publish in English. The Institute Frances most prestigious health research Center explained that its decision was based on Quot a desire to become truly  the Academie branded the move a Quot resignation by the French scientific  on the sports front the International association of friends of the French language of olympics and sports demanded that the French federation of Tennis ban English terms such As Quot tiebreak Quot and Quot time Quot from the French open. Quot it was annoying to hear the Umpire speaking in another language than French a says Pierre Louis Mallen a member of the association. Quot if it were a question of repeating something in English when an american or an australian or an English player were on the court i would understand and Call it a Courtesy but English was being used when there was a swede or a German. At last summer s tournament French terms were substituted for English ones. Quot then i could really enjoy the championship Quot says Mallen. Quot next we Are going to work on  but prism can be taken to extremes warns Bernard Cerqui Lini a spokesman for the prime minister s commission on the French language. Quot i believe in bilingualism. We live in a tiny Europe. If we done to adapt and learn other languages our own country will become very  tuesday March 27,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13