| French is considered by many
people, the most beautiful language in the world. Several distinguished thinkers have
expressed themselves in French influencing the course of millions of lives. Magnificent
literate wrote in French and so did romantic poets with universal projection. It is the
native language of 70 million people and the second language for 180 to 220 million. |
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Some French speaking countries have a
great historical tradition and an important position in the world, such as France,
Switzerland and French Canada. In all of these countries French is the official language,
as for 22 other countries in the world. Even if French it's not anymore the universal
language of politics as in the past, the fact that it enjoys great health and that it is
in a period of expansion and reaffirmation from cultural groups that use it as their
native language cannot be denied. The Canadian situation is an example of the strength of
the language. According to data from the Canadian government, at least 82% of Quebecois
speak French as their native language and over a million people outside Quebec speak
French also in Canada.
The French in the world:
French teaching in schools went from 40 000 students in 1978 to over 313 000 in 1996.
Amongst teenagers, it grew by 10% in the last 25 years. The level of bilingualism among
Canadian youngsters between 15 and 25 years old went up from a 16% to a 23%. It is
estimated that francophonie represents 18% of the economy of the world and moves about 100
thousand million of dollars per year.
An interesting fact is the presence of French in the South
of Louisiana, in the United States of America, where it is spoken as the native language
by over 250 000 people and is living a process of noticeable expansion. Over 3000 students
are already studying it and there's a general interest of the population to reinforce a
written language and to define a clearer grammar in order to explain and teach this
dialectal variety of French to native and foreign speakers.
Moreover, France is nowadays the fourth richest country in
the world, the most visited annually by millions of visitors and its language is one of
the official languages of the United Nations. It can be expected, without fear of making
any mistakes, that the French language will still enjoy a big development in the future of
a global world.
French is also official language in Switzerland and in Belgium, as well as in many African
countries (including the Island of Madagascar). It is also spoken in parts of Latin
America, Indochina and in some areas of the United States, especially in the State of
Louisiana. In Switzerland, French is the native language of 18% of the population who
lives mainly in the cantons of Fribourg, Jura, Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva. In
Belgium, French coexists with Dutch and German, which are also official languages, and its
speakers have settled mainly in the South, representing 32% of total population. In
Brussels, for example, French and Dutch are recognized officially, but the French group is
bigger. Besides, at least 11% of the population speak several languages. In some countries
of the Caribbean and South America (Haiti, Martinique, Dominique, French Guyana) French
language is the official language, even though in everyday life the one employed is their
own Creole language, from the combination of African languages with French. In Africa,
French works as a neutral communication medium between the different ethnic groups who own
each one their own language at the same time as the language of the administration and the
government, as much as in diplomacy and even in education. Furthermore, French is also
still spoken by some in Vietnam, which used to be the French colony of Indochine, and in
the French territories of Nouvelle Caledonie and other islands of Oceania, giving it the
distinction of being spoken in the five continents. |
