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Warrington U3A

French

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THE NEW MILLIONAIRES

On 10th June, "Web 2.0" became officially the millionth word in the English language, making it not only the largest language there has ever been, but with nearly two billion speakers worldwide, the first truly global one.
At one time, it looked as though this honour was going to fall to French, as from the Treaty of Hastatt in 1714 until the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, French was the first international and diplomatic language, and had become the language of choice for the educated classes of Europe.
You may wonder why, in view of the pre-eminence of English, anyone would bother to learn a foreign language. Apart from the intellectual challenge, it is worthwhile being able to read some of the world's greatest writers (Baudelaire, Flaubert, Proust) and thinkers (Voltaire, Pascal, Sartre) in the original, rather than through the hazy glass of even the best translation.
Should you wish to explore this endlessly fascinating world, you can do so on a Tuesday afternoon at Penketh Tennis Club in term-time, where we await to wish you "bienvenu".
Report by John F. H.

Group Leader: Helen K.

Map showing the location of our venue, the Penketh Tennis Club.



Site editor's notes:
  • Click on The Surprise (a Daisy story), to see it translated as a simple parallel text in French & English.
  • This web site has its resources page for our language groups.
    It includes audio-visual links and web-based dictionaries.
Here are more Daisy Stories to choose from:





Acknowledgements: Warrington U3A Magazine Spring 2009 Page last updated 16 March 2009
For further information, about this or any of our groups, email here to get names and telephone numbers. Alternatively, you can attend a WU3A monthly general meeting and speak to a group representative.
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