In the light of the traditional post-examination debate about the state of British education, readers may be interested in an article published on September 5 in Le Monde that gives a five-point plan for French education to create a “dynamique vitale” in the study of language and literature. I give a summary below and let it speak for itself:
* To reintroduce the study of grammar in primary schools using, from the age of 11, Latin as a support, which will help in the future learning of foreign languages.
* To develop memory skills and logical reasoning, leading to the writing of dissertations at 17.
* To discover French literature from the Middle Ages to the present, since literature shapes the individual and its study leads to competence in analysis.
* To relate written works to their historical period, in order to understand them properly.
* To make classical Greek and Latin literature available in the original languages. No emancipated education should deprive future citizens of this knowledge.
Michael Bulley 20 Rue de Traves 71100 Chalon-sur-Saone France
