2012 Olympic Games official language is...

[JamesAC]

Our government, elected by us (!!) to protect our interests, has passed laws to protect the interests of multinational corporations instead. The electorate, the Common People, are being put in the position of potential criminals simply because they choose to wear a piece of clothing, or drink a particular drink .. not just in the Olympic site, but anywhere within a several mile radius, in public and private spaces.

I hope it chucks it down with rain for the whole event, and the drains flood.

 

[Davidc]

French is always the official language of the Olympics, wherever it's held, and for the IOC. It was a frenchman who invented the modern olympics after all. It's also the official international diplomatic language but I can't imagine it's used much outside the French speaking world.

I speak French quite well enough to not give a damn. Any well paid jobs going doing interpretation and translation?

I view the corporatism and suppression of civil liberties as a much more serious issue.

Personal opinion? It is dying. A slow and lingering death but dying none the less.

A few centuries after proper (i.e. middle) English, which was killed by the first Elizabethans, who imported a load of Latin and French (and to a lesser extent other languages') words into what was previously a reasonably uncontaminated germanic language. Quite why I've never fully understood.

In 100 to 200 years time will Mandarin Chinese have displaced English and be creeping into all the worlds other languages? Or perhaps one of the Indian tongues?

 

[Andy in Sig]

Maybe people could just boo and whistle during the French speaking bits. This would also be a good way of ensuring that we don't get saddled with the olympics again at least for a hundred years or so.