French Voice Over Agency

Everything you never needed to know about speaking French

Where’s the letter W?
The letter W doesn’t exist in French. There are no French words with W in them. If you see a word such as WIFI or WC, it’s because the word has been borrowed from English.

France has 75 regional languages
Before France became the official language of France there were all kinds of regional languages including the Celtic language, Gaulish. Now France has 75 regional languages spread across the country including Parisian, Bourguignon and gascon.

French words in the kitchen are used all over the world
France is known for its cooking and many French words have been borrowed to be used in other languages especially those referring to food preparation. Words like cuisine, chef, julienne and sauteing are all French words used by chefs and cooks almost everywhere.

Tourism is big business
If countries make money out of tourism, then France is surely very rich. That’s because it is the most visited country in the world. Every year over 89,000 visitors come to France to sample the food, fine wine, history, and culture. Paris is a favourite destination, and the Eiffel Tower is of course one of their most treasured monuments.

Snails are a delicacy
The French love food and one of their favourite dishes are snails which in French is called Escargot. You can eat them as an appetiser at a bar served with a juice in small glasses. Or you can have them in a restaurant cooked with garlic and butter.

Travelling snails
Talking about snails I bet you didn’t know that you can’t carry live snails on a train in France without a ticket. So you must remember if you’re carrying less than 5 kilos of snails there must be a ticket for you and a ticket for the snails.

King for 20 minutes!
Louis the XIX was crowned King after his father abdicated. But the poor man obviously didn’t fancy the job because about 20 minutes later he abdicated too.

Don’t put the bread the wrong way up
It’s supposed to be unluck in France if you put bread on the table upside down. The superstition arose in the middle ages when the town executioner would pick up his loaf from the baker who would hang the bread upside down. People then related upside down bread with death and misfortune.

Take a selfie
If you love taking pictures with your phone you have a Frenchman to thank. A Parisian called Philippe Kahn invented the camera phone in 1997 and the rest as they say is history.

Kisses at the station
In 1910 the French introduced a law that prevented couples from kissing on a train platform. It was supposed to ease overcrowding. The law doesn’t exist any longer which must be a relief for couples who want to part with a romantic smooch on the platform.

A short history on the French language

French is a Romance language, descended from the Vulgar (or vernacular) Latin brought into the country by conquering Romans during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC.

Early development of the French language was also influenced by the native Celtic language, Gaulish, as well as the Frankish language of post-Roman Germanic invaders.

The various dialects that evolved during the 9th to the 12th century – different enough from Latin by now to be considered a separate language – are known as Old French. Francien, spoken in and around Paris, became the prevailing dialect – and the basis for standard French – as the city grew in importance.

During the Middle French period (14th – 16th century), under the influence of the Renaissance, many Italian and Greek words were borrowed. In 1635 Cardinal Richelieu founded the French Academy to maintain the purity of the language as it moved into the Modern French period. Today the structure of Modern French remains comparatively close to Middle French.

From the 17th century onwards, the French language was taken out into the world with the expansion of the French colonial empire – notably to north and west Africa, and north America.

Which countries have French as a national language?

French is spoken as an official language in the following countries:

Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, Vanuatu.

It is also spoken officially in these dependent entities:

Aosta Valley, Clipperton, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Jersey, Guernsey, New Caledonia, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Walllis and Futuna.

French is an official language of all United Nations agencies.

How many people speak French as their first language?

It is estimated that around 110 million people worldwide speak French as their first language, with a further 190 million people speaking it as their second language.

In Canada approximately 25% of the population speak French (mostly in Québec, where 95% of the province’s population speak it as their first or second language). In Europe, 45% of Belgians and 20% of Swiss speak French. In Africa, the language is most commonly spoken in Gabon (80% of the population), Mauritius (78%), Algeria (75%), Senegal and Ivory Coast (70%).

Did you know?

• After English, French is the second most studied foreign language in the world, and the only other language to be taught in every country in the world. It plays an important role as a lingua franca, particularly in Africa.
• Historically, French was also the lingua franca of educated Europe, during the period when France was the continent’s leading power (from the 17th to 19th century). The Russian, German and Scandinavian courts all spoke French as their main language.
• There is much variation in accents and vocabulary across different regions of France. Many argue that the classic pronunciation of the language is that used in Touraine (around Tours and the Loire Valley).
• In some parts of France different dialects or native languages are spoken, such as Occitan (officially a French dialect) and Breton (a Celtic language with little in common with French). Up until the early 20th century it was actually declared treason by the French government to speak these languages.

The French economy

In nominal figures, France has the fifth largest economy in the world, and the second largest in Europe (after Germany).

Major industries include agriculture, aerospace, automotive, pharmaceuticals and industrial machinery. France boasts 39 of the 500 biggest companies in the world, with Paris ranking as the second most important location in the world for company headquarters (after Tokyo). The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has its headquarters in Paris.

France has the third highest income in the world from tourism, with 75 million visitors a year.