Could one imagine such a discussion taking place in France? A (non-French) friend of mine told me of a recent visit to a Parisian market – he wanted to buy a lettuce, asking for “un laitue” (masculine). He received his lettuce, but was politely corrected by the stall-holder: “UNE laitue” (feminine!). I realise this is a point of grammar, not pronunciation, but it underlines how the French are genuinely proud of their language.

I am a British ex-pat living in Germany. The importance of pronunciation has been very clear since I came here – English has become the ‘world language’, and to minimise confusion it has always been vital for me to communicate with my colleagues (not just German, but also French, Romanian and others) in a clear, understandable English. Furthermore, I have a 2-year-old son. As he is surrounded by the German language, this is his main ‘mother tongue’, but I have always considered it vital that he gets a good grounding in English. That is an imporant role for me in his upbringing. From literally his first minute I have always spoken a proper, clear English to him – and he definitely understands what I say to him, although his active English is yet to develop to a similar level as his German. Growing up with two languages, he will get a ‘feel’ for languages and (in my view) proper communication from a young age. I only depair at language education in English schools where – as I understand it – learning a foreign language is now an option, not compulsory. English pupils will be worse off for it, and I can only envisage that my son, when he grows up, being able to communicate better than the English of his age group – so-called native-speakers of English.

There is no doubt that pupils should speak with Received Pronunciation. Also bring back at least one compulsory foreign language *and* the three Rs, then in about one generation we should see some signficant improvement.