A Stitch in Haste

How ironic that English is the lingua franca while the franca are going arabica (and I'm not talking coffee):

A report calling for all school children in France to learn English has started a heated debate. The report, part of a review of the French education system, said English should be made compulsory. According to Le Monde, it says pupils should leave school with the language of "international communication".

The Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is said to back the proposal, but some politicians are against it.
...
France's report said standards of English in schools were poor and worsening. Its conclusions have been challenged by some politicians, including one deputy from the ruling UMP party, Jacques Myard. He told Le Monde: "English is the most-spoken language today, but that won't last." He said Spanish, Chinese and Arabic were all growing in importance. "If we must make a language compulsory, it should be Arabic," he said.
...
During a trip to Vietnam earlier this month, President Jacques Chirac was quoted as saying he was against a world "where we speak only one language".

I'll give the French credit for one thing -- at least their kids learn some foreign language.

"In Canada, people are bilingual...in America, we're not even 'lingual.'" -- Ray Romano

"Naturally I am biased in favour of boys learning English; and then I would let the clever learn Latin as an honour and Greek as a treat. But the only thing I would whip them for is not knowing English. I would whip them hard for that." --Winston Churchill

Hat tip to LGF.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, Captain Ed reports that the French haven't quite given up on that whole lingua franca concept just yet.

(Cross-linked at Outside the Beltway.)