07 December 2007

The money is...

The smallest part of the problem...
Councils should be able to translate fewer documents and signs into foreign languages in future, according to new government guidelines.

Having materials converted into other tongues discourages some people in the UK from learning English, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears is due to say.

Last year, a BBC investigation suggested local authorities could be spending £100m annually on the process.
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RELATED: Meanwhile, back at the ranch
For the past decade, statistician Charles Castonguay has been predicting the demise of francophone communities outside Quebec.

Now, with census data showing a continuing slide in native French-speakers outside Quebec, he says it's time to cut off federal government life-support to the shrinking francophone outposts.