Oh là là – who needs masculine and feminine to learn French?

GENDER-NEUTRAL French is being taught by a leading language app to promote “diversity and inclusion”.

The online education company, Babbel, has introduced new policies on the teaching of grammar and vocabulary to be more inclusive of racial, sexual, and gender identities.

Gender-neutral alternatives in languages with masculine and feminine forms are being taught to overcome their “limitations” and a 150-page diversity guide instructs staff to “opt for genderneutral language whenever possible”.

In French , for instance, where the suffix “e” typically denotes feminine words, Babbel uses a punctuation mark called an “interpunct” to show both the masculine and feminine version of a word together to make words more inclusive.

In German, Babbel teaches the gender-neutral term “‘Lehrkräfte“for “teacher” as an alternative to the masculine “Lehrer” or a feminine “Lehrerin”.

Other examples include the neutral Portuguese word “valeu” for “thank you” being taught as an alternative to the masculine “obrigado “or feminine “obrigada“, or the Swedish gender-neu- tral word “hen” given as an alternative to “han” (he) and “hon” (she).

The guide states that, in English, terms like “ya’ll” and “folks” should be used over gendered terms like “guys”, and phrases such as “ladies and gentlemen” should give way to neutral “guests”.

Eileen Barnard, responsible for diversity and inclusion at Berlin-based Babbel, said: “Although we can’t completely transform the language within our courses, we can cleverly showcase how certain languages ... can be flexible enough to express diversity, despite the language’s inherent limitations.”

Terms considered racially insensitive, such as “whitelist” and “blacklist”, are also to be avoided – along with “sexist” phrases like “make a man of somebody”.

A scenario in which a French white man with a typical name, like “Pierre”, drinks champagne at a high-end café would go against the new guidelines, which suggest that lessons should avoid typical names, include representations of immigrant communities, and not opt for scenarios which imply the “privilege” of a high socio-economic status.

“Language plays a crucial role in shaping reality and fostering inclusion,” said Ms Barnard. “As a language learning app, it is our duty to ensure learners’ experiences reflect this by offering them a product in which they see themselves represented, and that they feel safe using. Learners and native speakers of the languages that we offer are diverse, so the content on the Babbel platform needs to reflect this.”