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> Also, most of the francophile countries are small former african colonies which may one day give up french as an official language and move to english or a na

> Also, most of the francophile countries are small former african colonies which may one day give up french as an official language and move to english or a native language. That’s not happening outside of a war. It did in Rwanda because of a war where the side that eventually won spent long periods outside their home country and hated French as a symbol of the Belgians. Ditto for Algeria with the French though French is still a lingua franca so pervasive it might as well be official. Why would an entire country that’s not undergoing a war or revolution stop speaking a language basically all educated people speak? Where is the political benefit in doing so?

CydeWeys 8y ago
Also, it takes a good and organized educational system to get everyone to learn a new language. Without that people only learn the languages that are already spoken around them. I'm struggling to imagine these listed African countries pull it off in the same way that, e.g., Germany did with English post-WWII, or China did with Mandarin.
qubax 8y ago
> Why would an entire country that’s not undergoing a war or revolution stop speaking a language basically all educated people speak? Usually nationalism and self-interest. It's why england switched from norman french to english a few hundred years ago. It's also why kazahkstan switched from cryllic to latin alphabet recently and has been pushing for kazakh and english education to the detriment of russian. > Where is the political benefit in doing so? To get rid of their former foreign masters' language? As france's power and influence continues to wane, what incentive is there for africans to hold onto a language forced upon them by colonizers? The french language is a symbol of humiliation for a lot of african and asian countries and their elites. Especially the nationalists. I'm not saying it will happen, but it could. Especially if france declines further and the political and financial incentive to stick to french disappears.

CydeWeys 8y ago

Also, it takes a good and organized educational system to get everyone to learn a new language. Without that people only learn the languages that are already spoken around them. I'm struggling to imagine these listed African countries pull it off in the same way that, e.g., Germany did with English post-WWII, or China did with Mandarin.

qubax 8y ago

> Why would an entire country that’s not undergoing a war or revolution stop speaking a language basically all educated people speak? Usually nationalism and self-interest. It's why england switched from norman french to english a few hundred years ago. It's also why kazahkstan switched from cryllic to latin alphabet recently and has been pushing for kazakh and english education to the detriment of russian. > Where is the political benefit in doing so? To get rid of their former foreign masters' language? As france's power and influence continues to wane, what incentive is there for africans to hold onto a language forced upon them by colonizers? The french language is a symbol of humiliation for a lot of african and asian countries and their elites. Especially the nationalists. I'm not saying it will happen, but it could. Especially if france declines further and the political and financial incentive to stick to french disappears.