To successfully memorize all the current rules, all the nuances and exceptions that confirm or refute certain meanings of the French language, it might take several lifetimes… And even then, because with each new reform, there’s sometimes enough to make you lose your Latin… and your Greek at the same time!
The first two videos you watched explained just how much the French language is a victim of its own rules, established under shifting historical, social, and political conditions that have ultimately not yet allowed for any simplification… As a result, numerous subtleties have accumulated instead of helping to make the successive reforms coherent, readable, understandable, and efficient.
The most recent one—the one worth taking a closer look at—how long ago do you think it was? 5 years, 10 years, 20 years? Why is this so unclear in our minds as teachers? Perhaps there’s a reason…
A brief historical and political overview of the timeline of this rather unusual reform:
So, the most recent spelling reform dates back 32 years!!!!
This “new” standard is supposed to have been in effect since 1990…
Why isn’t it actually in effect?
Here’s the official PDF: (good luck…)
https://www.academie-francaise.fr/sites/academie-francaise.fr/files/rectifications_1990.pdf
And a simplified version: (phew… thanks)
https://www.orthographe-recommandee.info/enseignement/regles.pdf
Where does this resistance come from? Is it just karma?
In France, the slightest comment or change regarding the French language triggers a wave of outrage, indignant outcries, condemnations, public denunciations, and even decision-makers being dragged through the mud.
And that’s more or less what happened:
The reform, prepared throughout François Mitterrand’s first seven-year term and supported by a progressive left-wing government, also benefited from the fact that a large number of teachers who had become members of parliament were seated in the National Assembly: the conditions were therefore entirely favorable for implementing this reform, a strong sign of a shift toward a supposed simplification of the French language… In 1988, François Mitterrand was re-elected, and the reform could thus be implemented. It was enacted in 1990, sparking debate in society because the reform lacked consensus, and time passed… Until March 1993, when the legislative elections reversed the trend and handed power to the right: the “cohabitation” arrangement established a government that was no longer at all supportive of this reform. It was thus consigned to oblivion… Until when, you might ask? Well, as long as the right remained in power—that is, until 2012… Nearly 20 years of radio silence for our reform, which never seems to materialize in practice. Thus, in May–June 2012, a few weeks after François Hollande took office, all French teachers received a letter from the Minister of National Education, Vincent Peillon, urging us to take into account the elements contained in the 1990 reform when grading the middle school diploma and the high school diploma exams.
Consequently, we have been strongly encouraged by our institutional superiors to implement this new code, and this pressure will continue every year until 2017… Indeed, under the current government, a tenuous consensus on the subject has led to the following official preamble on the ministry’s own website…: “It is not the role of the Ministry of National Education to determine the rules governing the French language. This task has fallen to the Académie française since the time of Richelieu.”
Here’s where teachers can—regardless of the situation—either start tearing their hair out or relax: this is what OFFICIALLY underlies the spirit of this “real-fake” reform: “These corrections affect approximately 2,400 words. However, they cannot be enforced, so both spellings remain correct.”
Here we are—that’s the crux of the matter: what stance should a teacher—who is supposed to know and thus serve as the guardian of the “orthodox view”—adopt? But which “orthodox view” are we talking about, since there are clearly several of them coexisting at the same time?
That of the ruling power, which now changes every five years? In which case, the teacher becomes an accomplice to the prevailing system—whatever it may be—to the point of having to promote contradictory approaches on a cyclical basis, every time the government shifts its stance, to the point of absurdity… through those infamous paradoxical injunctions…
Or the prevailing wisdom of the “old guard,” who draw on the history of the language and its traditions to establish a reassuring framework with tried-and-true—and sometimes grueling—methods…?
At other times, the prevailing wisdom of the “moderns,” who promote a more efficient, more flexible, and more accommodating approach—sometimes to a fault…?
And then, beyond that, yes, there are the users who flout the rules to reinvent their own language on every street corner, even turning the rules on their heads… Let’s face it: there isn’t a single French language set in stone, but rather many French languages that are eminently alive—and sometimes elusive—and that is why we are all so attached to it, because of its complexity, its richness, its nuances, and its accents. Thank you to each and every one of us for serving it through thick and thin—through often headwinds and shifting tides…
And to conclude, here is a brief reflection from yours truly on the concept of error, a topic dear to Jean-Pierre Astolfi… in order to help DE-DRAMATIZE the issue…
To further your reflection, here’s an essential resource: http://www.cafepedagogique.net/lexpresso/Pages/2018/06/29062018Article636658542933698078.aspx