Wednesday 26 March 2008

Sarkozy Speaking English



Nicolas Sarkozy is paying a state visit to the UK this week. He'll be a guest of the queen at Windsor Castle and will address both Houses of Parliament (in French). He won't have any difficulty communicating with the queen who speaks fluent French (let's hope he keeps his Blackberry in his pocket this time) but his British counterpart Gordon Brown unlike his predecessor, Tony Blair does not speak good French.

English is Sarkozy's bĂȘte noire. At the age of 24 he was rejected by the Institut des Sciences Politiques because he failed the English exam.

Apparently Sarkozy has finally realized that knowing English might be an important attribute for a politician on the world stage. So he has started taking intensive English lessons. Where he is taking them we don't know and I can categorically deny that I am his Professeur d'anglais in Paris.

If the Embedded video is anything to go by then President Sarkozy is in dire need of English lessons. If he manages to learn English then perhaps it will act as a beacon of hope to the millions of English students out there struggling with the language. If he can do it then anyone can.

1 comment:

David said...

Well, if he was just speaking off the top of his head, I'd give him a little more leeway. But since it appears that he's reading it, I'd say he's got quite a ways to go with his studies and may yet fail again.