Parley vous

RE "H.D.S. Greenway's Nov. 18 op-ed column "The fading French connection": As representatives of the governments of Canada, Quebec, Switzerland, and France in Boston, we disagree with Greenway's assessment that "the French language isn't doing so well." The connection that French provides to peoples and nations all over the world is not only alive, but highly valued in a world where countries and communities can feel isolated.

French is spoken across five continents by 200 million people. More than 85 million people learn French every year. The International Organization of Francophonie includes 56 members.

Greenway should have looked around him. French is the daily language of 250,000 New Englanders. The region's history is marked by the explorer Samuel de Champlain and by French-Canadian communities. Most of Boston's 80,000 Haitians speak French. Two years ago City Hall published an emergency plan that was translated into, among other languages, French.

One language is said to disappear every 14 days. At this rate, more than half the world's 7,000 languages will have disappeared by 2100.

Recognizing the value and importance of a language is not about nationalistic pride or nostalgia. Preserving cultural diversity has to do with transmitting a wealth of sounds, ideas, and sentiments to our children. It is also a shining ode to tolerance.

Neil Le Blanc
Consul general of Canada in Boston
France Dionne
Québec delegate to New England
François Gauthier
Consul general of France in Boston
Pascal Marmier
Consul of Switzerland, Boston