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FRANCE EXPLAINED

Worst in the EU? Just how well (or badly) do the French speak English?

France has been ranked the worst in English proficiency out all all EU countries in a new international ranking, but the real picture is a bit more complicated depending on where you are in France.

Worst in the EU? Just how well (or badly) do the French speak English?
A Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is displayed in a bookstore (Photo by Tim Boyle / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)

If you are looking to take a holiday in France sometime soon, and you feel less than confident about your French, you might be a bit shaken by France’s ranking as the least English proficient country in the EU. 

The global scores for the Education First English Language Proficiency test  have been released, and they showed that France remained in the “moderate” grouping, though with lower scores than many of its European counterparts, including Spain and Italy – countries it has outperformed in previous years.

But the real picture is more complex, as some French cities faired better than others. Paris, for instance, had a higher English proficiency score than both Madrid and Rome. 

READ ALSO: ‘I feel ridiculous’ – Why the French dread speaking English

And within France, there were some interesting trends. Bordeaux came out on top in terms of English ability – three points higher than Paris, in fact, who ranked third. It was the city of Toulouse that came in second place.

EF EPI Factsheet France 2022

Six French regions ranked “high” instead of moderate on the test, and the best scores (in order) were from Île-de-France (the Paris region), Pays de la Loire, Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azure, Grand Est and Centre-Val de Loire.

While most cities scored “high” instead of “moderate,” two trailed behind the others with the lowest scores – those were Marseille (in second-to-last place) and Montpellier, who performed the worst out of all French cities. 

Regionally, the regions with the lowest English levels in mainland France were Burgundy, Brittany, and Hauts-de-France.

And if you go up to anyone on the streets of France, hoping they speak a little English, the study also found that those aged 26 to 40 were most likely to score “high” instead of “moderate.”

EP EPI Factsheet France 2022

Overall, France did see a slight decrease in its general English proficiency – last year the country came in 31st place internationally, but this year it fell to 34th. The national average dropped about ten points on index, while in comparison, France’s neighbour, Italy, gained 13 points and moved up from 35th to 32nd on the global ranking. 

When taking a more detailed look at France’s score, a representative from the EF EPI organisation told The Local that French scores specifically “went down in the 18-20 and the 21-25 age groups.”

The representative added that this could be related to the pandemic, though the organisation does not collect specific data on why language proficiency might be changing.

READ ALSO: Why the French struggle at English so much

“This decline in the youngest adults was already visible last year (France’s overall score also dropped last year). A decline for 2 consecutive years in only the youngest age groups which were previously either stable or improving seems to point to a pandemic effect,” said the representative.

Out of all European countries – not just members of the EU – France came in 26th place, right ahead of Ukraine and behind Spain, meanwhile the Netherlands topped the charts coming in first place for the fourth year in a row.

A colour-coded map of Europe based on English proficiency, with blue being “highly” proficient and green being “moderate” proficiency (credit: EF EPI)

Why are the French so poor at English compared to other countries?

Native English speakers can hardly criticise the French for being bad at a foreign language but there are reasons why the French struggle compared to other countries.

Speaking to The Local previously Education First’s Adeline Prevost said: “There are a few reasons we struggle to learn English, and I think one of the main ones is that we lack exposure to English here in France. For example we don’t get many films in VO – because French is a widely spoken language, we get translations without a problem.

“In other countries, for example Sweden, where the language is not spoken around the world, translations from English are not available so easily so people have more exposure to English.”

Teachers have also criticised the quality of English language teaching in French schools.

But Francette Popineau, Co-General Secretary and spokesperson of the largest teacher’s union FSU-Snuipp suggested to The Local that perhaps children in France should be learning less English.

“This English hegemony bothers me a little bit,” she said.

“It’s a very practical language, but it’s not necessarily the language the children are speaking.”

Rather than pushing for a reinforced universal English training, Popineau believed the government should reinforce the languages children in France already spoke at home.

“It could be Chinese, Arabic or Spanish. No language should be set aside to make room for another,” she said.

“Besides, after Brexit, perhaps it’s time to ask ourselves to reconsider the place we are giving English in Europe.

“Is the European language really going to be that one of a country that is no longer there?”

Member comments

  1. Visiting a local doctor in France (displaced hip joint, thank you for asking – it’s fine now), and he complimented me on my French, which is at a reasonable conversational level.
    He then asked, ‘Do you know what the French is for someone who speaks two languages?’ And of course, I responded, ‘Someone who is bilingual – Une personne bilingue’.
    ‘And do you know what the French is for someone who speaks one language.?’
    I essayed, ‘Une personne monolingue?’
    ‘No’ he said, dryly. ‘A Frenchman.’

  2. Francette Popineau should do her homework. The Republic of Ireland has always had English as its main language. Even in the Gaeltacht few people speak only Gaelic.

  3. Just a quick reminder that English is an official language of 2 EU countries – Ireland and Malta – so I’m not sure Popineau’s last question is terribly pertinent.

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POLITICS

The 3 reasons that French presidents leave office early

French President Emmanuel Macron has ruled out resigning, whatever the result of snap elections he has called for later this month - so what are the circumstances when a French president's term might come to a premature end?

The 3 reasons that French presidents leave office early

Macron has called snap parliamentary elections for the end of June, in an attempt to counter the rise of the far-right. The elections don’t directly affect the office of president since in France presidents and parliament are elected separately.

Although a loss for his party in parliament would be humiliating for Macron, he says he will not resign, telling Le Figaro: “The institutions are clear, the place of the president is clear, and it is also clear whatever the result.”

Listen to the Talking France team discuss the snap elections mean for France, for Macron himself and for foreigners living here in our latest podcast episode.

But do French presidents ever leave office early?

Under the constitution of the Fifth Republic there are three official ways that a presidency can end early, and two of those have happened since 1958.

The three routes are; resigning, dying in office or being impeached.

Dying

This one is pretty clear cut – a presidency obviously comes to an end if the president dies in office. This has happened once during the Fifth Republic, in 1974 Georges Pompidou died of cancer mid-way through his presidential term.

Further back in France’s history president Félix Faure also died in office. His sudden death reportedly occurred when he was in flagrante with his mistress.

In the case of the death of the president, the leader of the Senate takes over as interim president until fresh elections can be arranged – in 1974 this was Alain Poher who served as temporary president until the election of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing a month later.

The President of the Senate takes this role because it is possible to dissolve the Assemblée Nationale, but not the senate. As such, the continuity of the presidential office is ensured.

However, the President of the Senate does not have all presidential powers. For example, they would not have the ability to submit a bill for a referendum, dissolve the Assemblée Nationale, or propose changes to the constitution.

Resignation

The president also has a choice to submit their resignation, whether that is for personal or political reasons.

Again this has only happened once during the Fifth Republic – in 1969, French President Charles de Gaulle resigned following a failed referendum he had initiated. 

De Gaulle’s presidency reached crisis point during the mass strikes and protests of May 1968 and he even briefly left the country, worried for his personal safety. However the general fought back and convincingly won elections later in 1968.

The following year, however, he resigned following the loss of a referendum on the less-than-enthralling subject of proposed reform of the Senate and local government.

As with the death of the president in office, if the president resigns then the president of the Senate steps up as an interim – in 1969 this was again Alain Pohler.

Impeachment

The third scenario where a president may leave office before the end of their term would be impeachment – destitution in French.

This is a relatively new invention in France, as it was first added to the constitution in 2007, in the form of article 68 – and has, so far, never happened.

Impeachment can be triggered “in the event of failure [of the head of state] to fulfil his duties manifestly incompatible with the exercise of his mandate”. For example, this may be a refusal to sign laws, according to French media Ça m’interesse.

According to the French government site Vie Publique, the breach of duty may be political, but it may also be the private behaviour of the president, if his/her actions “have undermined the dignity of his office.”

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: How does the French Senate work?

The dismissal procedure can be triggered without any criminal offence. The procedure must be proposed by at least 10 percent of the Assemblée or the Senate – meaning at least 58 députés or 35 senators. 

Then the impeachment is voted on by secret ballot, with the two chambers serving as the High Court. In order to be accepted, there must be a minimum of a two-thirds majority reached in each chamber. 

During the duration of the procedure, the president would continue in office.

No French president has been impeached during the Fifth Republic, but in October 2016 the Les Républicains party attempted it against then-President François Hollande, accusing him of divulging national security secrets to two journalists who were writing a book about him. The vote was easily defeated. 

There is a separate procedure from impeachment – it is called l’empêchement and it is outlined in Article 7 of the French constitution – which is intended to be used if a president becomes mentally unable to govern.

In this case, a president can be prevented from exercising her or her mandate, but it would be up to the Constitutional Council to determine whether their mental or cognitive faculties are impaired.

Similar to death or resignation, it would be the President of the Senate who steps in while the president is incapacitated.

Military coup

It’s not an official way to end a presidency, but of France’s five (so far) republics, most have ended violently due to wars, invasion or military intervention.

This hasn’t happened during the Fifth Republic but it came close in 1961 – right-wing and military figures, furious at the French colony of Algeria being given independence by president Charles de Gaulle plotted the violent overthrow of his regime. Their plan was defeated and De Gaulle remained in office.

Since 1961 things have been a little calmer on the military coup front, but France is a country of endless surprises . . .

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