Interesting thread...I seem to be outnumbered.I just never had a problem with French or Spanish controllers.I rate them highly.If you're not French,they address you in English,if you're French they talk French.Pilots couldnt second-guess a controllers strategy/intentions if they tried.Somebody foolishly claimed the Shorts guy wouldnt have lined up if the other instruction had been in English.Maybe.Maybe not.That crash was controller-error.Language may or may not have been a contributing factor.It would be impossible to say.
Whats certain is that no crash has ever had this problem cited as probable cause.We've had crashes where all parties have been talking English,famously the Saudi/Kazak mid-air or the Tenerife disaster.In no way was the Dan Air 727 crash in TFN caused by anything other than loss of situational awareness by the crew.They werent on a heading(non-radar environment),they were too fast and they entered the holding pattern the wrong way.It can happen to anyone I know,but pls dont blame the poor controller just because he's Spanish.
I can think of one exception to this and thats a holding pattern ina non-radar environemnt...so we're talking Africa,probably former French colony,where there'll be a good mix of English/French traffic.If the stack is busy,each aircraft must report reaching their new level before the next guy is cleared down.For obvious reasons,this must be done in English.
I know the comment about US controllers was tongue-in-cheek but their professionalism is beyond reproach.Simply the best in the world.The movement rates they facilitate are truly amazing.