Jean-Paul Nerrière
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Jean-Paul Nerrière is a French computer engineer and inventor of Globish, a trademarked name for a subset of the English language formalized by him.[1] Globish, a portmanteau of Global and English uses a subset of standard English grammar, and a list of 1500 English words. Nerrière claims it is "not a language" in and of itself,[2] but rather it is the common ground that non-native English speakers adopt in the context of international business.[3]
Career
Nerrière graduated with a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ecole Centrale de Paris in 1963. Then he entered the French Naval Academy, with further specialization in law, accounting and administrator while serving as Supply Officer in the French Navy. He graduated from the French Advanced Defence College and advancing to the rank of commander.
He joined IBM France in 1965 in the Data Processing Division. In IBM, he spent almost three decades with responsibilities in sales, marketing, and management in France as well as in international headquarters. He became an Assistant to Corporate President John Opel, later on the Operations General Manager of IBM France, then a Vice President at IBM Europe, and eventually the IBM USA Vice President in charge of International Marketing.
In 1992, Nerriere moved to Automobiles Peugeot as their Commercial Director and as Senior Vice President of sales, marketing, and services and a member of Peugeot's Council of Directors Council. Then he was appointed CEO of Digital Equipment France (DEC), and soon thereafter was promoted to Vice President of Digital Equipment Europe.
Jean-Paul Nerrière was knighted in Legion d'Honneur, the highest official award available in France. He is also an elected member of the French Maritime Society.
Conceiving Globish
In 1989, he proposed Globish as an international language focussing most of his efforts to its promotion. He conducted dozens of interviews and wrote or co-authored 6 books about Globish in four different languages.
As an IBM executive and as a result of his vast travels, he realized that a new global language was becoming more and more important. He formulated his ideas in two books he authored, Decouvrez le globish (meaning Discover the Globish) and Do Not Speak English, Parlez Globish. Both books have been translated into a number of international languages. He also co-authored with David Hon the book Globish the World Over.
References
- ^ "Globish now the lingua franca of world travellers" The Australian, December 12, 2006.
- ^ "Parlez vous Globish? Probably, even if you don't know it", Toronto Star, March 7, 2009.
- ^ "Globish: How the English Language Became the World's Language" Review by Robert McCrum in The Guadian, June 5, 2010.