French language

french language French in the main speaking language France. French is very different from English. The French language is hard to learn and understand.

interesting facts Native speakers : ~150 million (2016) ; An estimated 274 million total speakers (2014) Official language in 29 countries

Dialects Acadian French Louisiana French Cambodian French Quebec French Meridional French South East Asian French African French includi ng sub- branch Maghr eb French (North African French) Canadian French Metropolitan French Swiss French Cajun French Vietnamese French Guianese French Missouri French West Indian French Haitian French New Caledonian French Indian French Aostan French Jersey Legal French Belgian French Newfoundlan d French Lao French New England French

Dialects

History French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French.

History Modern French Old French Middle French

Current status and economic, cultural and institutional importance French remains one of the most important diplomatic languages, with the language being one of the official languages of: United Nations the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development  the European Union NATO Organization of American States the International Olympic Committee the Eurovision Song Contest the Council of Europe the European Space Agency  World Trade Organization the North American Free Trade Agreement

Current status and economic, cultural and institutional importance Knowledge of French is widely considered to be a crucial skill for business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most-sought after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%).