Je parle français, donnez-moi un bisou

Una muy querida profesora en la facultad nos decía siempre que un idioma es importante si la gente que lo habla es importante. Yo creo que tiene razón, pero una vez que se lo comenté a un amigo español casi me saca un ojo con un tenedor.

Muy interesante reseña de The History of French, un libro sobre la historia del francés de dos autores canadienses:

Their latest offering, "The Story of French," is similarly provocative and counterintuitive, contending that la langue française may be "declining as an international language, but it has an enduring hold on the world, a level of influence that in many ways surpasses - and is even independent of - France's."

French, they inform us, is spoken at least occasionally by some 375 million and is one of just 15 languages with more than 100 million speakers. Perhaps more important, it has official status in 33 countries, making it second only to English.

In their wide-ranging and colorfully written account, Nadeau and Barlow give a history of the development of French (and the generally unacknowledged influence of English on French), the French Academy which polices the language but which cannot enforce its rules, the role of imperialism in spreading the tongue and much more.