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Subject:Re: Official languages From:Helena Jerney <hjerney -at- HUDSONBAY -dot- BITNET> Date:Thu, 20 Jan 1994 16:04:42 +0800
> 2) Out of curiosity, if the US _did_ make English "official," whose standards
> do you suppose they'd use? Would the legislators pick a favorite dictionary?
> Favorite syntax? Would they write their own? How have other countries with
a> n official language deal with the problem?
France and Quebec, Canada have government departments called
"L'Office de la langue francaise". Spain has the same setup.
What these departments do is review words as they make it into
the language and add them (or not) into the "official" spoken language.
This guides the language as is used in government materials including
road and traffic signs, and perhaps how the language is taught in schools.
