The Anglicisation of France: A Language Under Siege by Its Own People

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The Anglicisation of France: A Language Under Siege by Its Own People

 

France is witnessing a striking transformation, not at the hands of external forces, but by its own institutions and citizens. The recent renaming of the national lottery from FDJ to FDJ United has stirred controversy, renewing longstanding debates about the increasing dominance of English in French life. While critics decry this anglicisation as grotesque and idiotic, many believe the root cause lies not in foreign influence, but in a French inferiority complex towards Anglo-American culture.

 

 

Paul Rondin, director of the Cité Internationale de la Langue Française, a center dedicated to celebrating the French language, doesn’t mince words.

 

 

“My hypothesis is that it’s an inferiority complex. Not so much towards the English language, but towards Anglo-American culture,” he says. Rondin describes this linguistic shift as a form of cultural submission. “I think we need collective group psychotherapy,” he adds. “Why is it that all these French people, who are supposed to be so arrogant, so sure of their culture and their history, are spending their time transforming words into an anglicised name? What does that mean? I don’t have any hypotheses or answers to give you at this time, but there’s something deeply troubling going on here.”

 

Senator Mickaël Vallet echoes the frustration but directs his ire at those within French business and branding circles. “These are people who were paid to come up with a new name, and are lazy and, in general, just idiots,” he states bluntly. “They’re people with no inventiveness whatsoever. They’re paid a lot of money not to think.” For him, FDJ United’s new name is “totally ridiculous.”

 

The rationale behind the rebranding, according to FDJ CEO Stéphane Pallez, was to reflect the lottery group’s growing international footprint, particularly after acquisitions in Ireland and Sweden. “Today, our group is beginning a new chapter in its history, more diversified and more international,” Pallez explained.

 

Despite French being the fifth-most spoken language globally, its influence is shrinking. In Africa, once a bastion of francophone culture, countries like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have distanced themselves from the French language amidst political tensions. In Europe, hopes that French might reassert itself post-Brexit were dashed, as English retained its dominance across EU institutions, particularly among officials from the Baltic and Scandinavian regions.

 

What truly alarms French language advocates is not just the presence of English, but the widespread use of "Globish"—a simplified form of English with a narrow vocabulary. “Globish is a code. It’s not a language,” says Vallet. “And when I speak to someone, I want to speak to them with a language, not with a code.” He argues that this creates a chasm between elites and the public, fueling far-Right populism. “The far-Right thrives on rifts between the elites and the people… when those in power no longer speak a language that can be understood by those they represent.”

 

The Académie Française has similarly condemned what it calls the “invasive anglicisation” across French institutions, warning in a 30-page report that such trends risk “a proportional impoverishment of the French lexicon” and could increase societal divisions.

 

Even President Emmanuel Macron isn’t exempt from criticism. Louis Maisonneuve, co-founder of the collective Dare to Speak French, points to Macron’s frequent use of English in his speeches and at major events like “Choose France” and “One Planet Summit.” Maisonneuve sees this not as a benign embrace of internationalism but as a form of cultural surrender. “It’s the French who are bowing down in front of everything that comes from the Americans. We’re rolling out the red carpet for the Anglo-American language.”

 

Maisonneuve’s group has taken action, filing legal complaints to ensure multilingual signage includes languages beyond English, like Spanish. “It’s not a criticism of English expression. It’s a criticism of those who only use English,” he says.

 

 

Linguist Bernard Cerquiglini goes further, highlighting that many English words are, in fact, derived from French. “My book is part of that reaction. I say to the French, ‘You’re stupid. You want to abandon French in favour of American English, without realising that English comes from French.’” With his book The English Language Doesn’t Exist – It’s Just Badly Pronounced French, Cerquiglini underscores the irony of France abandoning a language that has, in many ways, shaped English itself.

 

“Anglomania has existed for a long time,” Cerquiglini notes, “but at the moment, it’s taking on an astonishing aspect. With [Donald] Trump right now, I don’t feel like being American.”

 

Based on a report by The Telegraph  2025-04-07

 

 

[Purdey]

When I was a teen, the French were up in arms about the use of Le Weekend. English has adopted words from many languages - verandah comes from India for instance. Thais have made their lives easier by using the English word computer, although there was an official Thai word created by the Royal Institute: เครื่องอิเล็กทรอนิกส์คำนวณและประมวลผล meaning "An electronic device for calculating and processing."

I guess people do prefer easy over official words.

[Dionigi]

Some French people have a desire to freeze their language, little understanding that languages evolve over time. That is why English has so many French words, and Scandinavian words and Arabic words, in fact any that we could use and co-opt.

[LosLobo]

1 hour ago, Dionigi said:

Some French people have a desire to freeze their language, little understanding that languages evolve over time. That is why English has so many French words, and Scandinavian words and Arabic words, in fact any that we could use and co-opt.

English has absorbed words from many languages, but largely because of specific historical events—Roman occupation brought Latin roots; Viking invasions contributed Old Norse vocabulary; the Norman Conquest in 1066 introduced a heavy layer of French, especially in law, governance, and aristocracy.
 

Later, German influence came through the Saxons and again via British monarchs of German origin, particularly the House of Hanover in the 18th century. 

Some Arabic words entered English indirectly through trade, science, and translations during the Middle Ages—like "algebra," "alchemy," and "alcohol"—mostly via Latin or Spanish.
 

So yes, English evolved by absorbing from other languages—but mostly through conquest, migration, and political rule, not casual borrowing or cultural openness.

[RayWright]

 

3 hours ago, Dionigi said:

Some French people have a desire to freeze their language, little understanding that languages evolve over time. That is why English has so many French words, and Scandinavian words and Arabic words, in fact any that we could use and co-opt.

French as a modern language has it's origins in the languages that was spoken historically across France. In the middle ages, the language of Southern France / Northern Spain / Monaco / North West Italy was Occitan, i.e. the  area referred to as Occitainia. In fact Occitan is still the official language of Catalonia today.

Northern France's language is referred to as "langue d'oïl", however this is more a dialect, as Francien was the language spoken around what is modern Paris, other regions were Germanic, due to the ruling Frank's.

Over the years France has been invaded by the Moors, Romans, The Vandals (origin Poland), Visigoths (Germanic), Phoceans (Greek), Franks (Germanic) etc.

So if the French in their usual Gaulic flare are getting all uppity with Anglo-American influences, at what point in their history is the true original French language the definitive version. 

Most probably the same as other countries, e.g. when we learnt to "bang the rocks together".

 

[Harrisfan]

Wee wee its a retarded language. Just use English.

[rattlesnake]

I am French. The biggest issue isn't so much the vocabulary, but the dumbing down of the syntax, which is clearly a consequence of the English-driven integration into the "global market". French is a truly beautiful language with a multitude of unique intricacies, but much to my dismay, fewer and fewer people are actually able to speak it properly. And AI certainly isn't helping.

[candide]

Those who continuously use English words are often unable to speak proper English. 

[merck]

6 hours ago, Purdey said:

When I was a teen, the French were up in arms about the use of Le Weekend. English has adopted words from many languages - verandah comes from India for instance. Thais have made their lives easier by using the English word computer, although there was an official Thai word created by the Royal Institute: เครื่องอิเล็กทรอนิกส์คำนวณและประมวลผล meaning "An electronic device for calculating and processing."

I guess people do prefer easy over official words.

The Royal Institute words for computer you quote is a definition of a computer, not an equivalent.

[impulse]

Like it or not, English is the language used in the vast majority of international trade.  For that reason, it's probably the second language of more people than any other.  I'm always amused in the airports and hotels when I see 2 people conversing in English and neither one is a native speaker.  But it's the one language they both know.

 

France can accept that, or loose bigly in the global trade world.

 

[proton]

French has had more influence on English than German, more than 25% of English has French origins