[LINK] "Shakespeare leapfrogs Moliere in Lebanon"

[rfmcdonald]

Agence France-Presse, interestingly enough, reports that English is surpassing French as the language of choice in Lebanon.

Once the language of choice in Lebanon, French is rapidly being overtaken by English in a tiny country considered to be a bastion of Francophonie in the Arab world.

"French has taken a back seat to English in terms of communication, spoken or written, even though Lebanon remains Francophone culturally speaking," said Georges Dorlian, a professor of French literature at Balamand University in northern Lebanon.

He said that while traditionally Lebanese grew up learning Arabic, French and English, the language of Shakespeare has an increasing appeal to new generations.

"For several years now, Anglophone universities have become more attractive and even students from French schools look toward institutions such as the American University of Beirut or Lebanese American University," Dorlian said.

"For these students and their parents, English represents the future and easier access to the workplace," he told AFP.

While most schools in Lebanon still teach French as a second language, the number of students learning it has fallen by nearly 10 percent over the past decade, according to the education ministry.

"French schools mistakenly marginalised English in the past and the results were catastrophic," Dorlian said.

"Today, there are a lot of new English-language schools and many schools that follow the French programme are opening English departments."