About Languages   Chinese   French   Japanese   Russian   Arabic About Translation Glossary Downloads Useful Links Currency Converter

French

"La Francophonie c'est cet humanisme intégral, qui se tisse autour de la terre..."
Léopold Sedar Senghor

La Francophonie: facts and figures

51 member states and governments and four observer countries (representing roughly 25 per cent of United Nations member states)
Nearly 600 million people (roughly 10 per cent of the world's population)
97 million Francophones (language habitually spoken, regardless of whether it is the first language or not)
Presence on five continents
18 per cent of international trade flows
12 per cent of global production
A global annual budget of approximately $150 million (CHECK)
Most populated country: Vietnam (77 million)
Least populated country: Monaco (32,000)
Highest Francophone-populated country: France (58.4 million)
Lowest Francophone-populated country: Macedonia (500) and Equatorial Guinea (500)
Largest country: Canada (9,976,000 km2)
Smallest country: Monaco (1.95 km2)
Wealthiest country: Switzerland ($37,200 (1))
Poorest country: Burundi ($140) and Democratic Republic of the Congo ($140)

Spoken form of French

In most member states and countries of La Francophonie, French is not the native language of majority of the population, of which, including Canada, have several frequently-used languages other than one official language. This "Francophone universe," which covers approximate 600 million people, hence diversifies and dominates countries in Europe, Africa, America, Asia and the Pacific region.

Among the many varieties of spoken form one can denote the following:

French French
The original form of spoken French. The basis of the many diversities of the language. This form is widely accepted by those who take French as their primary language for communication. It is distinguished by its clarity and adherence to the original syntax of the language.

Canadian French
The French language spoken in Quebec and the Maritime provinces. It is the French language mainly derived from the northern, western and eastern parts of France, inheriting the old French expressions, but influenced by the nature and the British culture of Canada.

Belgian, Luxembourger and Swiss French
The form of French spoken in Belgium, Luxembourg and the French part of Switzerland is almost the same as the French spoken in France.

African French
Regarding the form of French spoken in most of West Africa (i.e. Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Senegal) and some regions of the Arab world (such as Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco), the written French is as same as in France, where the grammatical and orthographical rules were standardized by the French government and abided by as well except for differences in dialects and pronunciation and in the usage of vocabulary.

A common language

It is important to understand that although French has changed a lot, there is no such thing as a standard form of spoken French. According to a common misconception, people from Africa speak French in a completely different form, as if people from Paris will rather speak French than Parisian French, where stereotypes should be get acquainted for anyone.

Some slight nuances existing in African French, French French, Canadian French and Belgian French arise from the level of education and key differences lie in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary, though all of above come from the same language.

Similar principle is also applied to the written form of the language. There is no such thing as written Canadian French or written African French. The language learnt through education is the same for all francophones.

Quality Assurance:
We are a member of the
National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT)