The World in Words 18: French in the past, present and future, immigrant slang and Rachid Taha

It’s an all-gallic lineup this week. First I wax unlyrical on the French language and American politicians. Then we hear why French is growing in global importance, at least according to a couple of Canadians. We stay in Canada after that to check in on the Quebec provincial government’s efforts to get immigrants to learn French. Then it’s on to the banlieues of Paris, where street talk that mixes several languages has resulted in a new dictionary. And finally we hear from French-Algerian pop star Rachid Taha on the challenges of singing in Arabic.