Our language is part of our culture and we are proud of it. Describe how regretful M.Hamel and the village elders are for having neglected their native language, French.

Our language is part of our culture and we are proud of it. Describe how regretful M.Hamel and the village elders are for having neglected their native language, French. 

Answer: The feeling of regretfulness for having neglected their native language, French comes quite late to M. Hamel and the village elders. They realise rather late that their language is part of their culture and they should be proud of it. It is only after they have been deprived of learning their language that they understand its value. The imposition of German language made them suddenly realise the authority of their captors and they felt a loss of freedom. So on the day of the last French lesson the village elders are seated on the back desks and M. Hamel, who had been teaching French at the school for the last forty years, was wearing his formal suit as a mark of respect for the last French lesson. M. Hamel expressed how they all had a great deal to reproach themselves for as most of the people of Alsace could neither speak nor write French. Parents preferred to put their children to work on farms or mills. M. Hamel regretfully said how he himself sometimes sent his students to water his flowers instead of learning their language lessons. While delivering the last lesson M. Hamel called upon his students and the village elders to guard the French language among themselves, declaring it to be the most beautiful language in the world. Each one of them felt guilty for having ignored the French lessons

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