FACTS ABOUT FRENCH
from Plus Ça Change: The Story of French from Charlemagne to the Cirque du Soleil

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GLOBAL STATUS

French is second only to English for the number of countries where it has official status – 33 as opposed to 45. And the number of countries that are members of the Francophonie is equal that of the Commonwealth, at 53.

French is also the only language, with English, that is taught in every country of the world, with 100 million students and 2 million teachers – 20 % of whom outside of francophone countries.

The number of French speakers has tripled since 1945 largely since most former French and Belgian colonies kept French as their language of government, diplomacy, education and science after decolonization.

French is still a working language of the UN, the EU and dozens of international organizations including the International Red Cross committee, Doctors without Borders, and the International Labour Organization. Francophone countries form an important bloc in the UN, the EU, the African Union and the Arab League.

Two G-8 countries (France and Canada) and six European countries (France, Belgium, Switzerland, Romania, Luxemburg, Monaco) are fully or partly French-speaking.

France is the most visited country in the world with 75 million tourists every year.

French-speaking scientists and technicians invented the hot air balloon, cinema, radial tires, smart cards, HD TV, the snowmobile, the saxophone, Velcro and more.

LANGUAGE

About a third to a half of basic English words come from French, including pedigree, surf, view, strive, challenge, pride, staunch, mayday and war.

The French Academy, created in 1635, was the first body ever to rule over a language. Since then, most of the world’s main languages have had a similar type of institution and most countries of the world rule over proper language rules, including all Spanish-speaking, Scandinavian, German-speaking, Arabic-speaking countries. English-speaking countries are the only exception.

The origin of French language purism, including the French Academy, can all be traced back to the influence of a single poet, François de Malherbe.

France was the first country to conduct a language survey, in 1790. The results showed that, at the time of the French Revolution, 75% of French citizens did not speak French as a mother tongue.

French has more than a million words and 5000 new ones are created every year.

Quebec Bank of Terminology receives 50 million information requests per year, 25 times more than the French Academy.

IN CANADA

Canada is one of the few countries that uses the Common Law in French, and Quebec’s language protection measures have been a model for policy in Spain, France, Brazil, and 33 US States.

In Canada, 300 000 children are enrolled in French immersion programs.

Half a million native French speakers live in Ontario and their flag, the Franco-Ontarian flag, is one of Ontario’s seven official emblems.

The Acadians had an official flag and anthem a century before Canada. New Brunswick was the first Canadian province to declare itself officially bilingual and remains the only one.

Until 1927, most of Canada’s measures for language protection were designed either to protect English against the influence of French or to assimilate French Canadians and Acadians.

There are eight million francophones living in North America, and most are descendents of only 10 000 original French colonists.

IN AMERICA

In the United States, French is the number four native language and the second most taught second language after Spanish.

Quebec is the United States’ 8th trading partner, and half a million Americans work for French companies.

Most of the early legendary figures of the American frontier in the early 19th century were French Canadians born in the St. Lawrence valley. They guided Lewis and Clark, colonized New Mexico and discovered gold in California.

The main centers of French in the United States are New England, Louisiana, California and Florida.