Sarkozy takes English lessons
Thursday, 27th March 2008
It's been whirlwind week for Anglo-French relations with Nicolas Sarkozy's much anticipated state visit to the UK.
He wooed the British parliament yesterday with a speech in his native language, praising Britain and proposing joint action on key issues such as global warming, nuclear energy and immigration.
Ahead of the visit, Sarkozy had been taking intensive English lessons so that he could impress the Queen, although her French language skills are apparently pretty adept. We can only speculate about how his conversation came across at the state banquet last night, but his commitment to forging closer relations with the UK through language is clear.
Sarkozy also seems keen to emulate Blair, who always gave political addresses in near-perfect French. Gordon Brown’s skills are pretty dire in comparison, so perhaps he’ll also be reaching for the text books in the coming months.
It’s just a shame that more isn’t made of Carla Bruni’s intelligence and language skills - a native Italian, she also speaks perfect French and English. The international media seems more obsessed with her footwear and certain naked shots that have been dredged up from her past this week - quel surprise!
Tags: english, french, languages, lessons, speech, sarkozy, carla bruni
Posted by Lucy under In the news,
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