As one will defend to my death (well, maybe to a minor flesh wound....) redanman's right to be both a francophile and an iconoclastic sceptic of the cult of Flynnism, I feel it is appropriate (in the name of fairness) that I offer the following, from today's (London) Times.......
"SENIOR French ministers admitted yesterday that they were taking English lessons to avoid being isolated in international meetings and ignored by global television networks.
Their comments appeared to contradict in principle President Chirac’s increasingly energetic campaign to halt the spread of the English language and of American culture.
While the head of state is fighting to protect and promote French, his ministers say they are “perdus sans l’anglais” — lost without English. Cabinet members say that they receive few invitations to speak on international TV channels and are unable to hold informal discussions without interpreters.
They say that politicians from other European countries, such as Holland, Germany and Spain, tend to be far better at English. “It’s a real problem, a big handicap in international relations,” said Elisabeth Guigou, the former Socialist Justice Minister.
According to a survey published by Le Parisien newspaper yesterday, only three French Cabinet members — Dominique de Villepin, the Interior Minister, Jean-François Copé, the Government spokesman, and Claudie Haigneré, the European Affairs Minister — speak fluent English. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Prime Minister, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the Finance Minister, are among those whose English is poor, the newspaper said. Several ministers have started lessons, including M Sarkozy, Michel Barnier, the Foreign Minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, the Defence Minister, Serge Lepeltier, the Ecology Minister and Xavier Bertrand, the Health Service Minister.
“I didn’t think that as Health Service Minister, I would need English,” said M Bertrand. “I was wrong. At the last European Council meeting for health service ministers, I realised that my counterparts speak it very well. Of the 25 ministers present, only five of us needed an interpreter to understand English. We stood out. Outside the official bits, I also realised it was a real problem for all the informal things: it’s impossible to have a chat with your colleagues during the coffee break. When I got back to the ministry, I said to myself I had better get down to learning it.”
M Bertrand now has 90 minutes of English lessons a week and reads the English- language International Herald Tribune every day. “Whatever your area and whatever the nationality of your counterparts, English enables you to communicate directly,” he said. “If you need an interpreter, you lose spontaneity.”
Laurent Hénart, the Minister for Professional Training, agreed, saying: “Part of our job involves human relations. It’s a huge advantage to speak English.” His words illustrate the debate in France between idealists, who want to encourage use of the French language, and realists, who are bowing to the dominance of English.
Earlier this month, on a visit to Vietnam, M Chirac, who speaks good English after spending several months in the US as a young man, threw himself into the argument with an outspoken attack on what he described as the Anglo- Saxon sub-culture. “In a world where there was only one language and only one culture, our ability to think would shrink,” he said.
According to a recent survey, seven per cent of French companies employ English as their official working language, and 50 per cent are likely to follow suit."
PS--we all known that Armstrong (or anybody else) never set foot on the moon--the whole Apollo program was a Hollywood spoof filmed at Area 51 in Nevada.
PPS--I've heard that Flynn built a great golf course out there, too, in the 1930's. Makes Shadow Creek look like Fernandina Muni. I also hear that the Alien record is 7 for 18 holes (amazing what a little telekinesis can do for your score...).