Cactus Language Blog

French Language Guide (1): History, Usage & Variations of French in the World

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, French, Learning a language

Sarah Gooding, Editor at Cactus, takes a look at the French language

French in the World Today

As a worldwide language, French is spoken in a vast amount of places across many continents, making it a useful and often essential tool of communication.

French is spoken as a native or adopted language by approximately 130 million people, or Francophones, worldwide, with many more speaking it as a second or third language. Some 30 countries list French as an official language (although not necessarily the only language), about 20 of which are located in Africa, with the others in Europe (France, Monaco, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium) and places as far-flung as the Caribbean (Haiti), the South Pacific (Vanuatu), North America (Canada) and India (Pondicherry). In addition to this, French is the official language of France’s overseas departments and territories (les DOM-TOM) such as Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion.

Where French is not an official language, it still enjoys common usage in many countries - Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia (collectively known as the Maghreb), Mauritius and Andorra to name a few. It is also an administrative language in Southeast Asia (Laos and Cambodia) and a former language of colonial Vietnam.

In the political world, French is an official language of numerous international organisations such as the EU, the UN, NATO and the International Red Cross. In all, it is an important language of international politics, business and tourism.

History of French

French is a Romance language, meaning that it is one of a family of languages that descends from Latin, the language of ancient Rome. Other languages that have their roots in Latin include Spanish, Italian, Catalan and Portuguese, and it follows that there are striking similarities between each of these, in their sounds, structure and vocabulary.

French was also influenced by the Celtic people who inhabited France before Julius Caesar (58-52BC); the Romans referred to these people as Gauls, and it was these Gallic roots that shaped some words still used in French today. Some Gallic words were also brought into French by the Romans, through Latin.

It was the arrival of the first French settlers in the early 17th century that spread French to the Canadian province of Québec, where today, after an impassioned fight for independence, it remains the official language.

Variations of French

Similar to the differences between the English spoken in the UK, US and Australia, there are many different varieties, or dialects, of French across the world.

In fact, until Napoleon became Emperor of France, just over 200 years ago, half of the French population did not speak French. Regional languages were the main form of communication and, despite their suppression and near-eradication over the past two centuries, by the government, some have survived to still exist in modern-day France. There has even been a recent push to preserve regional languages due to the cultural heritage they represent. However, regional languages within France do not enjoy the same usage and prestige as those in, say, Spain - whereas Catalan, in Catalunya, is an official and widely-spoken language, the same cannot be said of any French dialect in France. Regional languages in France tend to be spoken in rural communities, and mainly by the elderly who have held on to their roots. Such languages include Meridional French, Occitan (or Provençal/Languedoc), Picard and Champenois.

Within France itself Metropolitan French, spoken in Paris, is considered standard. Within Europe, other varieties of French exist, such as Swiss French (small, lexical variations), Belgian French (similar to the French of northern France), and Aostan French in Italy. You are unlikely to have too much difficulty understanding the different varieties of European French.

You are likely to encounter more pronounced differences in French in places further afield such as Canada, Lebanon and Asia. In Canada, French is found as Quebec French (québecois) or Acadian French, both of which tend to borrow more English words, or anglicisms, than European French.

Where should I learn French?

Apart from the inevitable differences in accent and vocabulary, knowledge of French should enable you to travel and be understood in any Francophone country. When it comes to learning the language, however, those learning for business or studies may wish to stick to a mainstream French accent from France - or for real ‘Metropolitan’ French, Paris. Regional variations within France are much less noticeable than worldwide variations, and indeed variations in accent are totally natural, giving a language its colour and character. If you learn French in Canada, the Caribbean, Africa or other parts of Europe your accent will be noticeable wherever you go - this does not necessarily need to be a problem, but it is worth bearing in mind.

Difficulty of French

Any language can seem difficult to learn at the outset but the good news is that, of all the worldwide languages, French is not ranked as a particularly difficult one to learn. You do not need to learn a new alphabet, and usefully-placed accents tell us where to add stress to a given syllable. There are, however, aspects to its pronunciation, conjugation and spelling that may hinder the learning process - especially for those with no prior knowledge of another Romance language such as Spanish, Italian or Catalan, where the common Latin root provides immediate familiarity.

The most common difficulties experienced by foreigners learning French include: the ‘nasalisation’ of words such as ‘un‘ and ‘bain‘, which should be pronounced in the nose; silent letters, such as ‘t’ at the end of ‘port‘ and ‘h’ at the beginning of ‘horloge‘; the subjunctive tense, used to express doubt or possibility, and some aspects of French orthography.

Usefully, many of us learnt French from an early age at school (French is the second-most commonly taught language in the world, after English). This means that even if we don’t think we have any ‘linguistic flair’, some snippets from childhood classes are likely to be embedded in our brains; anyone who was lucky enough to visit France on a school exchange may also find it easier to pick up the language in later life.

Bonne chance à tous!