Also since language authorities have recently been mentioned, I just want to say... How utterly wrong the idea is.

Two of the three languages I have become more or less fluent(Turkish and French) have government-appointed academies or societies of language, which frankly seem a bit pompous to me. The foundation of the Institution of Turkish Language is seen as a positive thing for must Turks, but I think it's getting quite arbitrary, especially lately. We have been using circumflex for a long time, and it allows us to create even more homophones(take kar, snow and kâr, profit, for example), but the circumflex is no longer in use. I really don't understand what we can gain from that.

As for Academie Française... Well, they're even worse. French is under English influence(irony much?) just like each and every language in the world that is not already English, and their vain attempts to fight the influence is rather funny. Sure, they are the sole authority to about what is considered French and what isn't, and how it is considered French, but there's a whole generation whose speech has almost nothing to do with standard French, not to mention the new vocabulary created by abbreviations. As a student who took science lessons in French for two years, I doubt I can speak fluently with a Frenchman, because everyday language is completely different from what is taught to me. I guess this will become even more obvious when the generation gap widens...

Also, many thanks to Yora for showing the documentary.