French (français)

French is a member of the Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance language family. It is spoken by about 267 million people in as a native language about by about 79 million people, as a second language by about 187 million people, and as a foreign language by many more people. It is the third most spoken language in Europe, after German and English, and is also spoken in parts of Africa, North America, South America, Asia and Oceania.

French at a glance

  • Native name: français [fʁ̥ɒ̃sɛ]
  • Language family: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Western Romance, Gallo-Romance, Oïl
  • Number of speakers: c. 354 million
  • Spoken in: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and many other countries
  • First written: 842 AD
  • Writing system: Latin script
  • Status: official language in France, and also in Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu

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Status of French

French is an official language in Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu.

There are also French speakers in Algeria, Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritius, Mauritania, Tunisia, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Jersey, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, and in parts of the USA, particularly Louisiana.

French was widely used as a diplomatic language from the 17th century until the middle of the 20th century, when English replaced it in that role. It is still used in many international organisations, such as NATO, the UN, EU institutions, and the World Trade Organisation.

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Written French

French first appeared in writing in 842 AD, when it was used in the Strasbourg Oaths. Before then, Latin was the language used for literature throughout Europe. During the 10th and 11th centuries, French appeared in a number of documents and religious writings. However, French literature didn't start to take off until the late 12th / early 13th century. The first great work of French literature was the 'Chanson de Roland' (Song of Roland), which was published in about 1200.

The French alphabet (l'alphabet français)

French pronunciation

A recording of the French alphabet by Pascal Couteau

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French pronunciation

French pronunciation

Notes

Learn how to pronounce French:

Brought to you by FrenchPod101

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Canadian French

Here are some of the differences in the pronunciation of Canadian French.

More information about French pronunciation

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Sample text

Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits. Ils sont doués de raison et de conscience et doivent agir les uns envers les autres dans un esprit de fraternité

Hear a recording of this text by Jean-Marie Cletz from France

Hear a recording of this text by Xavier G. from Canada

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Sample videos in French

Information about French | Phrases | Numbers | Family words | Terms of endearment | Idioms | Colours | Time | Weather words | Tongue twisters | Tower of Babel | Articles | Links | French learning materials

- Learn French with FrenchPod101
- French Uncovered - Learn French Through the Power of Story
- Frantastique: French learning Online
- Learn French with Glossika
- Learn French now at Rocket Languages!
- French learning software
- Learn French with LinguaLift
- Learn French with Lingoda
Find French Tutors with LanguaTalk

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Links

Information about the French language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language
http://french.answers.com
http://www.hotcourses.com/courses/french-courses/400/
http://about-france.com/french/french-language.htm
http://www.private-frenchlessons-paris.com/blog

French lessons online with Frantastique - Free trial

Online French lessons
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/
http://polymath.org/french.php
http://ilovelanguages.org/french.php
https://www.loecsen.com/en/learn-french
https://www.elearningfrench.com/intermediate-french-course-online-free.html
http://www.jefrench.com/basic-french-lessons/basic-french-lesson-1/
http://www.frenchpod101.com/

Find French Tutors, Teachers and Lesson Help

Learn French - Complete Course from Beginner's to Advanced levels

Apprendre l'anglais, l'espagnol, le français

Learn French grammar through interactive lessons/exercises

More French-related links

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Romance languages

Aragonese, Aranese, Aromanian, Asturian, Catalan, Corsican, Dalmatian, Emilian-Romagnol, Extremaduran, Fala, Franco-Provençal, French, Friulian, Galician, Gallo, Gascon, Genoese, Guernésiais, Istro-Romanian, Istriot, Italian, Jèrriais, Ladino, Ladin, Ligurian, Lombard, Lorrain, Megleno-Romanian, Mirandese, Moldovan, Monégasque, Mozarabic, Neapolitan, Occitan, Occitan (Auvergnat), Occitan (Languedocien), Occitan (Limousin), Occitan (Provençal), Picard, Piedmontese, Portuguese, Romanian, Romansh, Sardinian, Sicilian, Spanish, Valencian, Venetian, Walloon

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page last modified: 07.06.23

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