http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=362401&cc=5901 Hey guys, Just wondering what some of our French speakers think about FIFA's decision to make English the official language between referees and players. To be honest, English is my first language, but I don't think this is right.
English is the most dominant language in the world. It is lingua franca to most countries. What's the problem with that? Choosing a language that most of the world can understand?
I think its another example of American imperialism and the subversion of world culture through the exportation of the mass media and corporate influence through an indoctrination of the world's population by means of a capitalist free market economy which marginalises local traditions, languages, and peoples. Thats what I think! Oh yeah.... Vive La France!
I don't see why we need to institutionalize a certain language as the "official" one. The system has worked fine thus far. Who cares if the common language between the ref and team captains is Spanish? Let them speak whatever they want and get on with it.
Well when France play Togo in the World Cup and the referee in charge happens to be from Belguim - I doubt he will start using English.
Refs barely speak anyway. They use gestures and the cards most of the time. And, unless they are colorblind, the players know what they mean.
True. If you watch any match (especially in England, which is probably the most diverse league in Europe) players and refs communicate just fine. Players know when they've commited a foul by a simple whistle, and football is simple to the point where hand gestures or pointing get across 99% of everything needed. And besides, English, besides Mandarin Chinese (which doesn't really apply here), is the world's most widely spoken language.
Exactly, and I'm sure FIFA knows this, so why the hell officially establish English as the language to be used? Again, the system is fine as it is...
Correction its the most widely spoken first language. And doesn't have lingua franca status throughout the world.
Surely you mean English imperialism??? Otherwise the referees will be calling each other dog and they would be hanging 10, 24/7!
I think this was a thread started merely to perpetuate the stereotype that the French hate to speak English.
not so fast... first of all, it doesn't affect what language the refs will speak on the pitch. the priniple of putting together refs that speak the same language is already in use. it's unfortunate that this is going to be a criterion for selecting officials, but most top level refs already speak several languages at the level they need to do their job; for example, collina's french was pretty good, and his english probably better. and don't forget what FIFA stands for... what really gets me is that the WC has to have an official everything, from a barfy official mascot to an official aspirin. but the worst of the worst of the worst? the official beer... budweiser! in germany! now that's, sick!
Amen. I'm surprised the Germans aren't rioting in the streets over that one. Hell, I feel like rioting myself!
The idea being that the thread was started with the hope that it would stir up the French board into a WTF is this shit type of argument. Since nobody here really cares what language the officials speak, that never materialized now did it?
1. England has about 500 times the soccer economy of the US 2. The English wrote the rulebook and an Englishman, by regulation, is one of the 3-person panel that must OK any rules changes 3. I don't think that's what you think, I think it's what someone else thought, and wrote, and you are repeating. Anyway I agree with you all, in seeing no need for any "official language"