The following is in followup to my previous post about French language laws, in order to prevent the increasing intrusion of English-isms.
There was an article in the Le Figaro (online version) concerning text messaging (sending and receiving SMS) within France; it refers to the use of all languages other than French when texting.
“As of Friday, April 5th, the new law dictates that a maximum of 12% of all SMS traffic within the French telecommunications system in foreign languages will be allowed (Loi 2872bis, Décret 842a, 18 Mars 2013, Loi concernant l’utilisation des langues étrangères dans les télécommunications). Apparently, expressions such as ‘le weekend’, ‘le parking’, ‘bye bye’, ‘email’ and ‘ciao,’ that have become firmly implanted in the French vocabulary, are targeted. In addition, for ‘email’ the French equivalent ‘courriel’ is now expected.
The most worrying part of the new law is the fact that once daily quotas are full, texts in entirely (or partly) foreign language and even using a single non-French word will be blocked.
A member of the French parliament has followed this up by proposing that all websites based in France must now contain a minimum of 33.3% French language content! Plus, all foreign language sites must offer the possibility of full availability in French. He has also suggested that chat rooms and other facilities have limits similar to the mobile telephone regulations. It remains to be seen if this becomes law as well.”
En principe, I understand the desire to maintain French heritage and culture, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out en réalité!
(Source: Le Figaro)
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