If students go to university without ever having read a book in French, could that be due to the fact that they always call into Oxfam on the wrong days?

Because it is a fact that in our great City of Brighton and Hove there is not a single bookstore that sells foreign literature. Or just modern novels in foreign languages. Students should be able to read for pleasure in their chosen language.

Lots of French paperbacks are sold underneath Westminster Bridge in London. But they are mainly older books. On one occasion, I got a dozen Simenons I had not read - bliss.

In Maastricht, also a university town, you can buy books in five different languages.

I wonder how today's students get on with French grammar. I have to admit, to my shame, that I never got on with the subjunctive. It did not stop me from getting eight marks out of ten at my finals. A bit of dumbing down?

Most English students would never have even heard of the subjunctive and wonder if it was some mental illness. When I worked as a secretary, I made some attempts to explain to my bosses what was wrong with: "that man, whom we thought was so honest, disappointed us". Many of those bosses were middle-aged, so you see, it is not a recent disease.

That Len Goldman is a right nitwit. I assume when he goes to a hospital, he would be just as happy to be treated by the porter as by a consultant. Although, going by some stories in the newspapers, he might actually do better with a porter. The porter might have realised that little boy had broken his arm.

-Juliette Marres, Worthing