Anyway, to the point....
O then spent a while discussing the rise and fall of King Eric (that's footballer Eric Cantona for the uninitiated).
For sure it's great debates here as well (seagulls, sardines etc...)
I think the French (as a nation) were, for many years, implored not to speak English and dutifully followed the official dictat. More recently the digital revolution and desire to travel has buried this unwritten rule and the desire to learn is winning the battle. There silence to avoid getting it wrong has been replaced with the kudos of getting it right. There are many more French people prepared to speak English than English people willing to attempt French....by a fair margin I'd guess.
That's for sure, there's absolutely no doubt about that. But they don't need to speak French, none of the song they listen to the radio are written in French (the last one might be "Michelle" by the Beatles). None of the technical books they have to borrow from the library are written in French...
Of course the nephew can say yes or no, but not much, The same way probably you used to speak French when you 1st came in France. But they are Young, for some of them it's their 4th year of English at school. The landlady I live with has a little boy (about 6) and he fancies speaking a little French (the digits from 1 to 10, bonjour, bonsoir, bonjour monsieur ou madame, no more). They are absolutely unable to answer when on Skype. Not even "how are you little boy". They don't use English in an English speaking country. French has a use for you, you had to speak French. They don't. They just don't care. It will be an handicap later, and they'll learn a bit better later, but now...They even don't care about the lyrics of the song and sing "Dookie" by Green day as if it was not ridiculous. But as I said they speak a fairly good Spanish, that they learn at school from 6 or 7, go on holidays in Spain, speak on a regular basis to the old Spanish expats from the war. If I tell them, "go and spend 2 weeks in Brighton, all expenses paid" They wouldn't go. We would have paid for that when we were young - O tempora, O mores, said the old pirate (french comics joke)
But again, it's a personal story and maybe I generalize.
And also, from what I remember, when we used to learn English at school, we were not able to use contracted forms such "I wouldn't" instead of "I would not" because it was not real English. The only acceptable pieces of litterature were Shakespeare, and the Beatles at the end of the year, as a threat. It was in the 80's. It was a shock when I was to come here for living.
