French youth can no longer write French.

Young people going to universities in France can no longer write meaningful sentences without any gross grammatical mistakes.

That’s the observation made by French professors Aude Denizot in her new book “Pourquoi nos étudiants ne savent plus écrire ?” (Why our students no longer know how to write?”), and J.P. Brighelli with his best-selling book “La fabrique du crétin” (Manufacture of a cretin).

French grammar is notoriously complex and full of inconsistencies. But that’s what we have to deal with, and students have to learn and diligently apply the established rules.

Young people write how they speak. They are unable to construct phrases with any logical meaning or complete sentences. They write phonetically. They are ignorant of the difference between a pronoun and a verb, like ces (these) and c’est (it’s), for example. They no longer know grammar and its norms.

This has direct consequences in communication and advertising. When content is expanding, this cannot be sustained. You can always say AI can support and fill the gaps. No, it cannot.

AI gets its “knowledge” from what is published in the first place, and this only leads to a general dumbing down. Most important, you need clear ideas and be able to express them in a constructive way and lead the reader to a logical conclusion, with no possible confusion.

However, when young people cannot even write a coherent email, and I’ve seen it, AI won’t help you because all you’ll get is an automated copy without any real human intelligence, wit, personal opinion, and everything that makes reading interesting and, above all, convincing.

This observation is extremely worrying. Goodbye clever and concise headlines, long informative copy, and well-articulated insights. Hello, moronic, simplistic headlines, and short or no copy at all, with little thought about visuals apart from pack shots. No passion, no meaning, no insight.

As far as I can see, though, older copywriters with experience and skills are being replaced by younger people who can’t write. Standards are lowered to accommodate this new intake of creatives. The results are on our walls and on our screens. Banners that are not better than promotional messages dating from the 50s. Everything we have achieved in advertising is being lost, skills forgotten.

Now, imagine having to appraise a French copy you cannot understand. The best solution is to hire a freelance transcreator you can select yourself, and you can communicate with.

Please visit transcreatorsunited.com for more information about how I have written and transcreated campaigns that make sense in French for 200+ brands and top creative agencies.

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