You can’t blame De Gaulle

SO now we know, because Derek Gambie has kindly explained it to us (Connexion, July), the dearth of Frenchto-English translations within manuals and on packaging started exactly 72 years ago and can be regarded as a symbolic gesture on the part of the “intransigent” French, who are still smarting over the strategic sinking of the French fleet.

As an Englishwoman living in France since 2001, this quite staggeringly fatuous statement has made me writhe with irritation and embarrassment. How dare this man, who has of his own free will made his home here, express such deeply offensive opinions?

Do French people living and working in the UK express righteous anger over a lack of French translations on UK packaging? I think not. They accept that as residents of an English-speaking country they must acquire a working knowledge of the native language. You are living in France, Mr Gambie – as are you, Angeline Womack, who asked the question in the first place. So, how fluent is your French, either of you?