Open Gardens goes from strength to strength From just four gardens in 2013, Open Gardens is on course to have 150 this year, raising €25,000 >> Page 6 for local charities.
Dordogne March 2016 - Issue #33
Know your ognons from your oignons? The French public has reacted angrily to the news that the spelling of 2,400 words is to be changed in all textbooks from the next school year. Gone is the "i" in "oignon" as well as the circumflex from a host of other words.
T
he circumflex is dead, long live the circumflex. From the next school year, the circonflexe will no longer appear in a host of French words... but it is also OK to keep using it! The move is part of a raft of changes aimed at simplifying 2,400 words in the French language. In the English-speaking world, the furore would no doubt be clumsily known as “circumflex-gate”, but in a digital, post-Charlie Hebdo France, the public’s anger has taken the form of the hashtag #JeSuisCirconflexe. What is perhaps most confusing about the current controversy is that the changes were first approved by the notoriously fussy Académie française way back in 1990 - and even then the Academy was just ratifying a reform put forward
by the Conseil supérieur de la langue française (High Council of the French Language). Since 1990, although the “revised spelling list” was not obligatory, dictionaries were advised to carry both old and new spellings, and schools were instructed to use the new versions but accept both as correct. In 2008, advice from the education ministry suggested the new spelling rules should become “the reference” to be used, but it appears few people took notice. In November 2015, the changes were mentioned again in another ministry document about “texts following the spelling changes... approved by the Académie française and published in the French Republic Official Journal on 6 December 1990”. Again, the news went unremarked. Most English speakers will have first been introduced to
>> continued on page 7
INSIDE > > > NEWS - Cyrano de Bergerac is back
A local enthusiast has launched a project to develop the Cyrano myth into a point of reference for locals, visitors and tourists. >> Page 3
NEWS - 'Lazy' French work most overtime
Contrary to popular belief, the average French worker does more overtime than almost anyone else >> Page 9
Bilingual - The patron saint of Ireland
We take a bilingual look at the story behind Saint Patrick and look at whether or not he did actually drive all the snakes from Ireland >> Page 15
The Bugle Business Directory
Tesco has announced that it will now only be selling straight croissants... to increase ‘spreadability’ >> Page 10
We all have bad habits. Develop a healthy one that actually saves you money!
3 pages of listings for local English-speaking businesses - your essential guide to finding just what you’re looking for >> Pages 17-19
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