The Linguist

@CIOL_Linguists WINTER 2022 The Linguist 31 OPINION & COMMENT and reputation. There have even been reports of managers emailing staff in English to avoid making mistakes in French. Common errors include failing to add an 's' to words in the plural or an 'e' in the feminine; confusing the verb a and the preposition à; and mixing up the future (j'irai; 'I will go') and conditional (j'irais; 'I would go'). In a poll by Voltaire-Ipsos, 75% of employers reported that their staff made errors in French on a daily basis, and that French skills are a more important recruitment criterion than English skills. "We do take the French skills of applicants into account," says Jérôme Friteau, Director of HR and Transformation at French pension scheme CNAV. "We routinely test them by asking them to write a short piece when they visit our offices as part of the selection process." Good French skills have been particularly important since the Covid crisis began because staff have been sending more emails, with many working from home, he told me. The online course Projet Voltaire helps people from all walks of life to hone their skills in French, from school children to business managers. When Friteau decided to offer his 14,000 colleagues the chance to take advantage of the scheme, a third of them signed up. While developing curricula in English, business schools in France have also been encouraging students to work on their use of French. Vandevelde-Rougale says this focus on formal language skills may have to do with a growth in the training and skills development sector, with many apps and courses being advertised, rather than with a key element of communication, namely sharing meaning. "Improving their formal language skills may be seen as a way for students to stand out when they enter the job market," she explains. Beatrice Murail has worked in radio and online journalism for the BBC, trained journalists for Internews, and now does monitoring, writing and media translation work. Council member Anita van Adelsbergen MCIL joined our proofreading team earlier this year, and her Chow Chow Jenny has since become a fan. Whether you prefer your paper copy or the digital download, let us know where you read your Linguist by sending your snaps to linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk. Across 1 From Oceanic languages, this means prohibited, or forbidden, on cultural grounds. (4) 3 The Arab capital of Israel, and Jesus's boyhood home. (8) 9 Dravidian language spoken in southwest India. (7) 10 Acronym standing for a focused light beam. (5) 11 A language continuum spoken across the far north of America and into Greenland. (5) 12 The only example of a dead language successfully revived. (6) 14 To imprison behind a wall. (6) 16 Language famously used by the US code talkers of WWII. (6) 19 Dravidian language spoken in Balochistan. (6) 21 Someone who speaks the Nahuatl language in Mexico. (5) 24 It could be classical, vulgar or pig! (5) 25 Faint light, or remote possibility. (7) 26 Inhabitants of Hispaniola who speak French or their own creole. (8) 27 Greek muse of history, or a make of Renault car. (4) Down 1 Creole language from Papua New Guinea. (3,5) 2 A large group of languages spoken in central, southern and southeast Africa. (5) 4 Language spoken by Cochise and Geronimo. (6) 5 To perform without a script or preparation. (2-3) 6 The Basque language. (7) 7 In Greek 'protector', someone like Achilles or William Tell. (4) 8 Turkic language spoken in west- central Russia and the -stans, or a fearsome or violent person. (6) 13 Piece of music for one or more solo instruments and orchestra. (8) 15 Indo-Aryan language spoken in Mumbai. (7) 17 Semitic language could be seen in naskh or kufic script. (6) 18 Simplified means of communication developed between groups which don't share a language. (6) 20 Major language written in devanagari script. (5) 22 An official language of Sri Lanka, together with Sinhala. (5) 23 Onomatopoeic word for nonsense, meaningless talk. (4) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Crossword no.33 Solution, page 19 Caught reading The Linguist

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