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A French tutor at the Ghana National College in Cape Coast, Nana Akomea, has called on the government to position the new generation in Ghana for global opportunities, by inculcating the study of the French language in the educational curricula. Speaking to The Chronicle in an interview in Cape Coast on Friday, Nana Akomea said Ghanaians had failed to utilise the many opportunities that abound in Africa, due to their inability to speak French. �It is a linguistic and cultural handicap facing many women and men in leadership positions in Ghana to the disadvantage of economic and strategic positions in the sub-region,� he said, citing an example that since 1963, no Ghanaian had become the Secretary General of the African Union (AU) Commission. Nana Akomea said there must be a linguistic breakthrough in diplomatic agreements, banking, immigration, customs and political leadership among others, that would strategically position Ghana to take opportunities in the sub-region. �It worries me, as a citizen and professional teacher of French, to see many opportunities slipping away from Ghanaians, owing to their refusal to take the study of French serious,� he added. The Chronicle agrees with the concerns being expressed by the tutor, and calls on the government to do something about the learning and speaking of French, which is one of the widely spoken international languages. Ghana appears to be learning from her colonial master, the British, who hate learning other languages apart from theirs - English. The Scandinavian and other countries in Western Europe were never colonised by the British, yet they all speak the English language in addition to their native languages. The Chronicle does not think the British example is a good one for Ghanaians to copy, especially when the country is surrounded by Francophone countries. We are, therefore, calling on the Ministry of Education to do everything possible to inculcate the habit of studying French at our Senior High schools into students. This would go a long way to solve the problem of language barrier on the continent, where ministers from Ghana and their counterparts from other African countries communicate through translators.