Language protection) does anybody know this as first hand?

Question

(Language protection) does anybody know this as first hand?
Is it true that France has a particular law on protection of French language?
Has any other nation similar law?
If so How strict is legislation about it in your country?


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may I spell officially in Belgium or Switzerland 73 as 70 3 or have I tell 60 13 ?; I know common people understand both;

Answer 1

Yes, it is true. France has an official "language protection" organisation (The French Academy) that decides if a word will be incorporated in modern parlance and included in dictionaries. For a very long time it has also specified the correct use of grammar and was totally inflexible. It tried to ban American/ English terminology in areas where there was a French equivalent, for instance it would advocate the word "Parcage" instead of "Parking". However, a language is a living thing that advances with circumstances and new inventions. Also certain rules were totally misunderstood and therefore a more flexible approach was adopted in recent years, with the acceptance of words like "Email" rather than "Courrier électronique", simplification of some words and of certain "plural" application rules in hyphenated words.
The stark truth is that the majority of French people make horrendous spelling mistakes, and measures to simplify the language and make it easier to write correctly had to be introduced. Also the infiltration of English terminology could not be resisted simply because people used it irrespective of its correctness.
For futher information on the French Academy follow the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acad%C3%A9mie_fran%C3%A7aise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_policy_in_France
I hope you find this useful.

Answer 2

Quebec (a province of Canada) has a law to protect the French language within Quebec.

It requires, for example, parents to prove their children's eligibility for schooling in English (generally by having one or both parents who were schooled in English in Canada); otherwise, they must go to school in French. It insists that signage in stores be predominately French (any other language must be no more than half the size). It guarantees the right of French speakers to not have to work in English (there are a few exceptions).

The current laws are actually a watered-down version of the original ones; some parts (the signs were supposed to be ONLY in French; parents had to have gone to school in English in Quebec, not elsewhere in Canada) were declared unconstitutional because Canada is officially bilingual.

Answer 3

I don't think that France has a special language protection...
It's just that all documents has to be written in the official language but I think it's like that in every country...
Here in Belgium we have three official languages, namely Flemish (Dutch) , French and German. Depending were you live, you will receive all official documents only in the language of that community...
In town halls and so on they are supposed to speak only the official language of the community but people (functionaries)don't really mind taking in an other language...

Answer 4

I know about the Quebec one...They even have signs posted in Hotels and Business by the Office québécois de la langue française that the establishment promises to speak French at all times.


I had to check wiki for the actual spelling, but I have seen these signs in person.