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Pupil rings French PM Valls for homework help

A 16-year-old Parisian pupil ignored Wikipedia and Google and decided instead to call the personal mobile phone of France's prime minister Manuel Valls in an attempt to get some inside help for a school presentation on politics.

Published: 26 May 2015 12:33 CEST
Pupil rings French PM Valls for homework help
Prime Minister Manuel Valls speaks on the telephone. Photo: AFP
Who says the youth of today aren't resourceful?
 
One 16-year-old French school pupil showed unusual determination to get straight to the source for a school project about politics that his girlfriend was writing.
 
The boy managed to get hold of Prime Minister Manuel Valls's personal phone number a year ago from his friend's mother, who works as an MP, reported the Le Figaro newspaper. 
 
He even exchanged a few short texts with Valls at the time. 
 
Last week, when he realized he could do with a hand with the presentation, he decided not to trawl the internet as most pupils would have done, but to pick up his phone and give Valls a call.
 
“I said to myself: I'm going to call him and see what he has to say,” the young boy told the paper.
 
“If he doesn't respond then it's no big deal, I'll only have wasted five minutes of my life.”
 
Valls was quick to respond, the paper reported, but seemingly too busy running the country to be of any use on the project.
 
“I'm sorry but I can't help. If I did, I wouldn't be able to do my job,” Valls wrote. “But drop me a text message, since you have my number, and I'll see what I can do.”
 
The PM didn't get back to the boy again, however, and his girlfriend was left without the PM's inside word.
 
French prime ministers don't always leave students empty handed, however.
 
In early 2014, former PM Jean-Marc Ayrault responded to a student's plea for help on Twitter, sending him information about the Matignon Agreements – a set of agreements between trade unions and the French state in 1936 – and wishing him luck with his studies.

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Factcheck: Is France really trying to ban speaking English at the Paris Olympics?

A resolution by a group of French MPs to 'say non to English at the Paris Olympics' has generated headlines - but will athletes and visitors really be required to speak French?

Published: 3 May 2024 10:10 CEST
Factcheck: Is France really trying to ban speaking English at the Paris Olympics?

In a resolution adopted on Thursday, France’s Assemblée Nationale urged organisers of the 2024 Paris Games, as well as athletes, trainers and journalists, to use French as much as possible.

Annie Genevard, the sponsor of the resolution from the right-wing Les Républicains party, expressed alarm to fellow MPs that “the Olympic Games reflect the loss of influence of our language.”

The French MP’s resolution has garnered headlines, but does it actually mean anything?

Citing examples of English slogans in international sport, she added: “The fight for the French language … is never finished, even in the most official spheres.

“Let’s hope that ‘planche a roulettes’ replaces skateboard and ‘rouleau du cap’ point break (a surfing term), but I have my doubts.”

She’s right to doubt it – in French the skateboarding event is ‘le skateboard’, while the new addition of break-dancing is ‘le breaking‘.

But what does this actually mean?

In brief, not a lot. This is a parliamentary resolution, not a law, and is totally non-binding.

The Games are organised by the International Olympic Committee, the Paris 2024 Organising Committee and Paris City Hall – MPs do not have a role although clearly the Games must follow any French domestic laws that parliament passes.

The French parliament has got slightly involved with security issues for the Games, passing laws allowing for the use of enhanced security and surveillance measures including the use of facial recognition and drone technology that was previously outlawed in France.

So what do the Olympic organisers think of English?

The Paris 2024 organisers have shown that they have no problem using English – which is after all one of the two official languages of the Olympics. The other being French.

The head of the organising committee Tony Estanguet speaks fluent English and is happy to do so while official communications from the Games organisers – from social media posts to the ticketing website – are all available in both French and English.

Even the slogan for the Games is in both languages – Ouvrir grand les jeux/ Games wide open (although the pun only really works in French).

In fact the Games organisers have sometimes drawn criticism for their habit (common among many French people, especially younger ones) of peppering their French with English terms, from “le JO-bashing” – criticism of the Olympics – to use of the English “challenges” rather than the French “defis”.

The 45,000 Games volunteers – who are coming from dozens of countries – are required only to speak either French or English and all information for volunteers has been provided in both languages.

Paris local officials are also happy to use languages other than French and the extra signage that is going up in the city’s public transport system to help people find their way to Games venues is printed in French, English and Spanish.

Meanwhile public transport employees have been issued with an instant translation app, so that they can help visitors in multiple languages.

In short, visitors who don’t speak French shouldn’t worry too much – just remember to say bonjour.

Official language  

So why is French an official language of the Olympics? Well that’s easy – the modern Games were the invention of a Frenchman, the aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, in the late 19th century.

Some of his views – for example that an Olympics with women would be “impractical, uninteresting (and) unaesthetic” – have thankfully been consigned to the dustbin of history, but his influence remains in the language.

The International Olympic Committee now has two official languages – English and French.

Official communications from the IOC are done in both languages and announcements and speeches at the Games (for example during medal ceremonies) are usually done in English, French and the language of the host nation, if that language is neither English nor French.

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