Le Pen would bring a greatly needed dose of reality to France, something that the French have lacked since the Revolution.
- kgbarrett, Bexleyheath,UK, 16/1/2012 5:19 147

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Cast your mind back ten years to when Marine Le Pen's father, Jean Marie, qualified (unexpectedly) for the second ballot to become President of the French Fifth Republic. He was soundly beaten by Jacques Chirac, the right-wing candidate. All reputable French political leaders and their advisors will be fully aware of the implications of losing the French Triple-A rating. However, Mme Le Pen is the only one who might seek to gain electoral advantage. Jean Marie Le Pen is now in his eighties, long past it, and has handed over leadership of FN to his daughter, who is half his age. The French National Front is famous, among other things, for being Holocaust-deniers. This might be fair enough for Daily Mail readers, but is beyond the pale for decent people, including people with right-wing views. It is pertinent to point out that Nicolas Sarkozy has Jewish ancestors - look out for a particularly dirty election campaign in France in 2012.

- guy, east midlands, 16/1/2012 14:56

I think those pupils who don't learn other languages are making an entirely sensible decision. Learning foreign languages is a pleasant form of intellectual self-improvement: a genteel indulgence like learning to embroider or play the violin. A bit of French or Spanish comes in handy on holiday if you're the sort of person who likes to reassure the natives that you're more sophisticated than the rest of the tourist herd. But there's absolutely no need to learn any one particular language unless you've got a specific professional use for it.
......
There is, however, one language that does perform the magic trick of uniting the entire globe ... This magical language is English. It unites the whole world in the way no other language can. It's arguably the major reason why our little island has such a disproportionately massive influence on global culture: from Shakespeare to Harry Potter, from James Bond to the Beatles.

All those foreigners who are so admirably learning another language are learning the one we already know. So our school pupils don't need to learn any foreign tongues. They might, of course, do well to become much, much better at speaking, writing, spelling and generally using English correctly. But that’s another argument altogether.

Why do the English need to speak a foreign language when foreigners all speak English?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... z1kJeYvInL

Why do the English need to speak a foreign language when foreigners all speak English?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... z1kJeYvInL

Why do the English need to speak a foreign language when foreigners all speak English?

Global reach: English is the second language of 85 per cent of Europeans, and the default tongue of the European Union

"A bit of French or Spanish comes in handy on holiday if you're the sort of person who likes to reassure the natives that you're more sophisticated than the rest of the tourist herd"