Internet users will be familiar with those little "click bait" panels telling us how people learned 7 languages in 5 days or whatever. It seems that British Brexit negotiators will be clicking through to brush up their French because the chief EU negotiator is French and has suggested that he would like the talks to be in his native language. UK press has suggested that Michel Barnier wants the talks in French "to put the British at a disadvantage". Sounds a bit unsporting. He should surely put himself at a disadvantage by speaking English.
Until now EU politicians and bureaucrats have relied on a system of simultaneous translation from skilled and impartial interpreters to keep each other informed, and documents are issued in various languages. So perhaps this could be used in the talks rather than relying on M Barnier's grasp of a non-native language or expecting Boris's boys to understand the nuances of the language of Moliere.
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