French is considered a Romance language. This has nothing to do with its relation to love, however. It is called a Romance language because it descended from Latin phrasing romanica loqui which means to speak in a Roman fashion.
Where is French spoken predominately?
The French language is spoken fluently in France where it originated. France has more French speaking people than any other country. French is spoken in countries all across Europe, in the United States and Canada as well. French is the official language of 29 countries. French is not the only language spoken predominately in all these countries, but the government and official entities speak French.
How many people speak French
The number of French speaking people varies by region. Some regions have a French dialect that closely resembles the French language that originated in France. The highest amount of French speakers are from France of course, with around sixty-five million people speaking French as their first, primary language. The next highest number of French speaking people live in Cote d'Ivoire in Africa. There are an estimated twelve million French speaking citizens of that country. Third on the list of French speaking people are Canadians with a total of around seven million.
Diplomatic and international language
The French language is one of the most important of diplomatic languages. It is one of the primary languages spoken at NATO. NATO has twenty-eight countries that participate in the decision making process. It's the predominate language alongside English in the International Red Cross and the International Olympic Committee.
French in the United States
In the United States, the French language is the fourth language spoken in most homes. It places fourth after English, Spanish and Chinese. Some states speak French more than Spanish and Chinese, but less than English, those states include Louisiana, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont residents speak a dialect based on the proximity to Canada which is predominately French.
Louisiana has three different versions of the French language. The different versions came from settlers to different areas of the state during various times in history. The variations are Colonial French, Cajun French and Louisiana Creole French.
Contact Axis Translations for assistance with French translation and transcription.
