French vs. English as World/Global Languages

[Grant Barrett]

On dimanche 1 octobre 2000 23:22, JIM.WALKER at WANADOO.FR wrote:

>Sure, you can find plenty of
>English-speakers in the streets of Paris - I fail to understand
>the advantage of that. OK if you're looking for the public
>toilets or a shop to buy a roll of film, I suppose.

I mention English-speakers in Paris because that is where I live
and those are the French people I encounter and because it's the
largest population center in the country. I didn't write "in the
streets" but probably should have written "in bars, restaurants,
cafés, brasseries, private homes, parties, student areas, buses,
the métro, universities, offices, dubbing studios, parks,
museums and on the sidewalks." I have no doubt (and have been told so
by several people who should know) that the presence of English
outside of Île de France is far less, excepting heavily-touristed
areas. The British have to belly up to the sun somewhere.