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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 many regional languages including the Celtic language and Gaulish. Today, France has over 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
The most visited country in the world, France receives over 100 million visitors annually 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 attractions.

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
Speaking of snails, did you know that you are not allowed to carry live snails on a train in France without a ticket? Remember that if you’re carrying less than 6 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 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 unlucky 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 began as the Vulgar Latin spoken by Roman settlers in Gaul over 2,000 years ago. Over time, it mixed with the local Celtic language, Gaulish, and the language of the Franks, shaping what would become French.

By the Middle Ages, several dialects had emerged. The dialect spoken around Paris, known as Francien, gradually became the basis for standard French as the city grew in influence.

The Renaissance enriched French with Italian and Greek vocabulary, and in 1635 Cardinal Richelieu founded the French Academy to help preserve and regulate the language.

From the 17th century onward, French spread across the globe through exploration and the French colonial empire, becoming one of the world’s most influential languages and remaining widely spoken today.

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, Wallis 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 over 70 million people worldwide speak French as their first language, with around 300+ million speakers total.

In Canada approximately 22% of the population speak French (mostly in Québec, where 84% of the province’s population speak it as their first or second language). In Europe, 40% of Belgians and 23% of Swiss speak French. In Africa, the language is most commonly spoken in Gabon, Mauritius, Algeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Did you know?

• French is widely reported to be the second most learned foreign language after English. According to the French government, it is one of only two languages taught in every country.
• From the 17th to the 19th century, French was the prestige language of Europe’s elites. Russian nobles used it especially widely, often alongside Russian.
• There are many variations in accents and vocabulary across different regions of France. The French of Touraine, around Tours, has a long reputation as being the closest to standard French.
• Occitan is a Romance language of southern France, separate from French, and Breton is a Celtic language. For generations, the state discouraged these regional languages, including through school punishments.

The French economy

France has the 7th largest economy in the world, and the third largest in Europe (after the United Kingdom).

Major industries include agriculture, aerospace, automotive, pharmaceuticals and industrial machinery. France boasts 24 of the 500 biggest companies in the world, with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development keeping its headquarters in Paris.

France has the 4th highest income in the world from tourism, with over 100 million visitors a year.