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French is an official language in 29 countries and spoken by more than 200 million people. It's probably the most widely learned foreign language after English.

French is an official language in 29 countries and spoken by more than 200 million people. It's probably the most widely learned foreign language after English. It's also one of the top 10 languages on the internet. I'm genuinely curious why you would call it a dying language.

KhalilK 12y ago
French is a really, really, really formal language! It's perfect to use in literature because it's kind of "pretentious". But on a daily basis, you'd find that the rules are simply not worth it.
jiggy2011 12y ago
That figure includes partial speakers , so people who learned a little French in school but probably have a much better knowledge of say English. With the exception of France most countries that legitimately speak French as the main language are either tiny or third world.
- DanielStraight 12y ago
  Being spoken in the least developed countries seems more like a plus for French than a minus. As those countries develop, French will become even more important (assuming they still speak French). A language like German on the other hand will never experience this kind of organic growth because pretty much everywhere that speaks German is already well developed (and has negative or near-zero population growth, which certainly isn't helping the language grow).
  - jiggy2011 12y ago
    Examples of French speaking countries would be Rwanda, Congo, Niger and Madagascar. You could be waiting a very long time for these to become significant economies.
    - Jacqued 12y ago
      There are many more than that though. Basically you can draw a line from Congo to Algeria, and every country west of that line speaks French. There are 4 exceptions : Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. That still leaves a huge pool of speakers. Probably not enough to make it the 'most spoken language in the world by 2050'[0] because it is mostly spoken by educated and urban people, and far less in the countryside, but enough to make it a dynamic, growing language. [0] : http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2014/03/21/want-to-know-the-language-of-the-future-the-data-suggests-it-could-be-french/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2014/03/21/w...
      - vacri 12y ago
        Well, it's more that French is an official language of those countries, rather than those countries speak French. WP has a list where most of those countries have only around 10%[1] of the population that can speak French. Given that French isn't particularly popular in the world of business (English and Chinese rule there) and that English seems to have become the default in science and engineering, it seems an assumption that a growing African economy would retain its French as it's primary 'international' language. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_French_is_an_official_language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_French_...
        _delirium 12y ago
        There are some regional shifts involved in some of those countries. Burundi and Rwanda are looking more east than west in recent years, and East Africa uses a mixture of Swahili and English rather than French as the common language. Rwanda in particular is not in practice really part of French-speaking Africa anymore. The numbers you link show only 3% of Rwandans speak partial French, which is barely more than any other country where a handful of people choose French as a foreign language in school. That's related to the ethnic unrest in the country; much of the current elite are ex-refugees who grew up in Uganda, which is not Francophone, and there's also a political edge to it because they consider France to have been too close to the previous Hutu-dominated government.
- Tiktaalik 12y ago
  Don't forget Montreal. It's the 8th largest city in North America. It has a rich history of bilingualism, but it's essentially French speaking.
  - refurb 12y ago
    My understanding is that 80% of people in Montreal use English as their primary language.
    - Tiktaalik 12y ago
      Your understanding is not consistent at all with the government census stats. French only at home: 56%. English only at home: ~10%. French mainly + other climbs higher. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/2011001/tbl/tbl7-eng.cfm http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-... It also doesn't seem true that Allophones (born not speaking English or French) necessarily are using English the most as their 2nd language. Allophones using French most often at home is increasing over time. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/lang/provs.cfm#frequently http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/c... Going outside Montreal will yield 90%+ French speakers.
    - my_username_is_ 12y ago
      I would also offer my anecdote to the statistics that Tiktaalik provided based on a few trips to Montreal and French Canada over the last couple years--while it's true that many people speak English as well as French, English seems to be popular because of the large number of English speaking tourists that visit the city (in no small part because of its French culture). Even in the touristy areas you're greated with "Bonjour-hello" to see how you choose to respond. There were a few times I've been grateful to have some background in French, as the person I was talking to didn't know any English (this however, was mostly on the outskirts of Montreal and in smaller towns). Overall, I was surprised at how francophone the city/region as a whole were, as before traveling I had anticipated it being equally French and English.
    - bodyfour 12y ago
VeejayRampay 12y ago
Because we're dying as a world power. It's the cycle of history. We're slowing riding the wave of our past glory toward oblivion. Most of the countries in Africa who used to speak French are now switching to other languages like Swahili, Lingala or Wolof, the Belgian, the Swiss and the Québécois all speak French and English, it's only a matter of time. You can bring up figures and number of speakers, it won't change the fact that we're not relevant as a linguistic group in the world and unlike the other European powers, we haven't yet made the vital switch to having a strong command of English. It's really depressing.
- dreamweapon 12y ago
  Arguably, it was only after France's inevitable and necessary[1] retreat from the global power sphere that it's "real" source of power -- it's way of living, and vernacular culture -- began to really flourish, and be genuinely appreciated on the global stage. You "lost" Indochina and Algeria, pretty much all of your "possessions" everywhere else. But in return you got Houellebecq, Goddard, the Gainsbourgs, Hardy, Dutronc, Pussycat, etc (and the world finally discovered Brassens). And now we all eat brie and goat cheese. What's not to like? [1] In the sense that the retreats of all colonial powers, including the current crop, are inevitable and necessary.

KhalilK 12y ago

French is a really, really, really formal language! It's perfect to use in literature because it's kind of "pretentious". But on a daily basis, you'd find that the rules are simply not worth it.

jiggy2011 12y ago

That figure includes partial speakers , so people who learned a little French in school but probably have a much better knowledge of say English. With the exception of France most countries that legitimately speak French as the main language are either tiny or third world.

DanielStraight 12y ago
Being spoken in the least developed countries seems more like a plus for French than a minus. As those countries develop, French will become even more important (assuming they still speak French). A language like German on the other hand will never experience this kind of organic growth because pretty much everywhere that speaks German is already well developed (and has negative or near-zero population growth, which certainly isn't helping the language grow).
- jiggy2011 12y ago
  Examples of French speaking countries would be Rwanda, Congo, Niger and Madagascar. You could be waiting a very long time for these to become significant economies.
  - Jacqued 12y ago
    There are many more than that though. Basically you can draw a line from Congo to Algeria, and every country west of that line speaks French. There are 4 exceptions : Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. That still leaves a huge pool of speakers. Probably not enough to make it the 'most spoken language in the world by 2050'[0] because it is mostly spoken by educated and urban people, and far less in the countryside, but enough to make it a dynamic, growing language. [0] : http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2014/03/21/want-to-know-the-language-of-the-future-the-data-suggests-it-could-be-french/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2014/03/21/w...
    - vacri 12y ago
      Well, it's more that French is an official language of those countries, rather than those countries speak French. WP has a list where most of those countries have only around 10%[1] of the population that can speak French. Given that French isn't particularly popular in the world of business (English and Chinese rule there) and that English seems to have become the default in science and engineering, it seems an assumption that a growing African economy would retain its French as it's primary 'international' language. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_French_is_an_official_language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_French_...
      - _delirium 12y ago
        There are some regional shifts involved in some of those countries. Burundi and Rwanda are looking more east than west in recent years, and East Africa uses a mixture of Swahili and English rather than French as the common language. Rwanda in particular is not in practice really part of French-speaking Africa anymore. The numbers you link show only 3% of Rwandans speak partial French, which is barely more than any other country where a handful of people choose French as a foreign language in school. That's related to the ethnic unrest in the country; much of the current elite are ex-refugees who grew up in Uganda, which is not Francophone, and there's also a political edge to it because they consider France to have been too close to the previous Hutu-dominated government.
Tiktaalik 12y ago
Don't forget Montreal. It's the 8th largest city in North America. It has a rich history of bilingualism, but it's essentially French speaking.
- refurb 12y ago
  My understanding is that 80% of people in Montreal use English as their primary language.
  - Tiktaalik 12y ago
    Your understanding is not consistent at all with the government census stats. French only at home: 56%. English only at home: ~10%. French mainly + other climbs higher. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/2011001/tbl/tbl7-eng.cfm http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-... It also doesn't seem true that Allophones (born not speaking English or French) necessarily are using English the most as their 2nd language. Allophones using French most often at home is increasing over time. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/lang/provs.cfm#frequently http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/c... Going outside Montreal will yield 90%+ French speakers.
  - my_username_is_ 12y ago
    I would also offer my anecdote to the statistics that Tiktaalik provided based on a few trips to Montreal and French Canada over the last couple years--while it's true that many people speak English as well as French, English seems to be popular because of the large number of English speaking tourists that visit the city (in no small part because of its French culture). Even in the touristy areas you're greated with "Bonjour-hello" to see how you choose to respond. There were a few times I've been grateful to have some background in French, as the person I was talking to didn't know any English (this however, was mostly on the outskirts of Montreal and in smaller towns). Overall, I was surprised at how francophone the city/region as a whole were, as before traveling I had anticipated it being equally French and English.
  - bodyfour 12y ago

VeejayRampay 12y ago

Because we're dying as a world power. It's the cycle of history. We're slowing riding the wave of our past glory toward oblivion. Most of the countries in Africa who used to speak French are now switching to other languages like Swahili, Lingala or Wolof, the Belgian, the Swiss and the Québécois all speak French and English, it's only a matter of time. You can bring up figures and number of speakers, it won't change the fact that we're not relevant as a linguistic group in the world and unlike the other European powers, we haven't yet made the vital switch to having a strong command of English. It's really depressing.

dreamweapon 12y ago
Arguably, it was only after France's inevitable and necessary[1] retreat from the global power sphere that it's "real" source of power -- it's way of living, and vernacular culture -- began to really flourish, and be genuinely appreciated on the global stage. You "lost" Indochina and Algeria, pretty much all of your "possessions" everywhere else. But in return you got Houellebecq, Goddard, the Gainsbourgs, Hardy, Dutronc, Pussycat, etc (and the world finally discovered Brassens). And now we all eat brie and goat cheese. What's not to like? [1] In the sense that the retreats of all colonial powers, including the current crop, are inevitable and necessary.