They want to remove spelling rules used by everyone – maybe our children will write like that

Renowned linguists and writers are calling on institutions to simplify several spelling rules. And the impacts would be numerous.

And if the spelling rules learned at home school were a little simplified? The French are very attached to their culture. their language but they are aware that it is difficult to use. learn and learn apply without making mistakes. A recent Ifop survey shows that In this regard, the French overwhelmingly declare themselves “sensitive to correct spelling, both when they write (93%) and when they read ( 88%). At the same time, "nearly one in two (45%) believe that the school system is not efficient enough in terms of learning. spelling".

So, should we make French more accessible? Several dozen experts, linguists, academics and cultural personalities – including Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux – have come from sign an op-ed in Le Monde to demand a "upgrade" day of our spelling". "You can be good at French, through the richness of your vocabulary, your creativity and your creativity. and his argument, and bad at spelling. And this is more and more the case today, they argue, highlighting that learning tedious rules takes teachers dozens of hours so that They are acquired, to the detriment of other learning, such as “creative writing and comprehension”.

The authors of the column emphasize that “spelling, born with printing, has continued, over time, to be reworked by the grammarians, printers, and by the French Academy until the end of the 19th century. And it would therefore be time to get back to it. "The idea is not to simplify everything or describe it phonetically, but to improve the graphics system to make it better. teach. Today, thinking is very advanced, we know what we can modify without harming the meaning or pronunciation, and without slowing down reading,” they write.

Several rules to follow review

Experts and writers believe that “the first step would be to reform the agreement of the past participle, and to agree to leave it invariable when it is conjugated with "have"". So finished "the story I read" or "the thing I did", place "the story I read" and "the thing I did". Curious ? It must be admitted that this COD rule placed before the verb is not well understood.

But another more common rule, learned by everyone everywhere, is a common rule. school, is called into question: thus, these intellectuals would like to “regularize plurals into “-s”, by renouncing the “-x” final". "Let us authorize new "pous" as "under", and "pius" like "tires". So finished "cabbages, jewels, toys, knees, pebbles, owls, lice, all these words would end with an -s, just like the plural of table would be written "tables".

"If you find that these Byzantine agreements and these strange exceptions give all the charm to our spelling, it is because it is the only version who has been to you taught from childhood, and that you attach a particular emotional charge to it. Our ancestors surely found "poet" and "laws" prettier than "poet" and "laws", further argue the authors of the column, who wish to quickly see "institutions, but also media, publishing houses, digital companies" offer "texts, messages, in new spelling".