How do you feel about...

[VikingVagine]

... children speaking in other languages than the official one (of the country they are in) in school hallways and playgrounds?

I think it's racism at play here rather than any proper concerns

Fudge

RTFT

Fudge, please RTFT before jumping in like that.

WTF Fudge?

Anyway, the official argument is that English, Spanish and German are fine as they're the three languages taught in the school, so it's considered to be educational. I just really get the impression it's thinly veiled racism against the Arabic community and it pisses me right off.

Euphemia - have reread your post, and I see what you mean now. Glad you didn't mean what I thought you meant! :)

I've heard children go from one language to another within a sentence, and I'm just in awe. It boggles my mind - I would love to have fluency in another language.

Viking - it seems more like overt racism than thinly-veiled.

I need a couple of Italian (not one of the taught languages) kids to enrol at the school so I cam text my theory!

I think it depends on whether the children are able to speak the language of the country they're in or not.

If they can then I don't see that it matters which of their two languages they choose to speak.

If they can't then I think they should be encouraged to be practising.

We have a small cohort of Spanish children at our school and we are supposed to break up small knots of them that we find chattering away in Spanish and send them off with English children. Their parents have sent them hear to learn English so that's what we try and make sure happens.

Plus, they apparently swear a hell of a lot in Spanish and get away with it!

How long have you been in France?

I fear this is something you may have to become inured to, if you choose to stay. France is institutionally and unapologetically racist and xenophobic, and the treatment of the Arabic population is horrendous.

[I am not saying, BTW that every French person is a racist]

I think it's really brilliant.

I think it would depend entirely on context. A group sitting in the playground chatting to each other is fine. If involved in a learning activity, or when in a group of students who do not speak that language, then that is less fine. Using it to deliberately bully (eg laughing and pointing at a student whilst speaking to each other) is not on, but that applies regardless of what language they are speaking.

I've been in France for almost 20 years. It's actually really getting me down, that me the current marches going on to "protect family values" .

Sorry that should read " that and the current"

It does wear you down. I guess you are in a city? I managed a dozen years, but I was in La France Profonde, where attitudes really are so backward it is excruciating. Absolutely wonderful people on an individual level, real salt-of-the-Earth types, but with a fear of anything different or new tatooed on their souls.

I ultimately found it too oppressive to bear

Nope, small town, national front as far as the eye can see