Morocco’s head of the government, Mr. Abdellilhah Benkirane said during a meeting with members of the Justice and Development party (PJD) (check video above) that he hopes “English will be adopted as the first foreign language in Morocco,” instead of French.
Benkirane said that as Moroccans “we don’t have any problem with learning many languages. We all agree on teaching our kids languages. There is no doubt that learning various languages is a worthy endeavor.”
“However, if we have to pick between English and French, then English is the first choice as it is the lingua franca of science, technology and business.”
“Yes indeed France is a very close friend and an ally to Morocco, and we have unbreakable bonds with France,” Benkirane said.
“Nevertheless, that does not mean that we have to keep the French language [as the first foreign language and an administrative language] until the day of judgement.”
“It is very possible to adopt English [as the first foreign language and an administrative language] and I sincerely hope we will adopt it.”
“In all truthfulness, the thing I regret the most in my life is not having learned English very well, because when I go to the United Nations, I need English. When I visit Arab countries and Asian ones, I need English. And when I go to various African countries, I need English too there,” Benkirane said.
“When I go to Europe, it is the same story. I need it even when I head to Saudi Arabia,” Benkirane noted further.
The Moroccan Times.
