As a new academic year starts in Algeria, third graders returning to primary school Wednesday will be taught English, as well as French, as a foreign language -- a small but symbolic step toward taking the country further away from its past as a French colony that some say is long overdue.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced in June that the Arabic-speaking North African country would gradually begin to expand English to 20,000 primary school children nationwide. The linguistic shift is the latest pivot away from France, with Algiers in recent years choosing against renewing transportation and water contracts with French companies and awarding them to regional firms instead.
