Countries and capitals in French. Which countries speak French
About statuses
French, along with English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese and Russian, has the status of an official language of the UN. In addition, French (like English) is considered the working language of the UN Secretariat, and all documents of the Secretariat must be drawn up in French.
Status state language among European countries French has, naturally, in France, as well as in Monaco, in Belgium (along with Flemish). In these countries, speaking French gives you a decisive advantage - you will be understood everywhere, and you will be able to read all the menus, signs and understand all the announcements. In Belgium, even Flemish speakers tend to be fluent in French as well.
More difficult with Switzerland. French is one of the four official languages here, but most Swiss speak German. The French-speaking part of the population is about 20% and is concentrated in Romandy, or French Switzerland - an area in the western part of the country, with administrative center in Geneva. Here, a person who speaks French will also have no language problems.
The status of the state language French, along with English, has in Canada. However, it is only recognized as an official language in the province of Quebec. This part of Canada is considered French-speaking. However, firstly, the French language is not widespread in Quebec, a foreigner will still need an elementary knowledge of English here. And secondly, the language spoken by French-speaking Quebecers is quite different from classical French. The so-called Franco-Quebec dialect contains many borrowings from English and even from some North American Indian languages.
French as a legacy
Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Guinea, Guyana, Democratic Republic Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo - in these countries that were once colonies or "overseas territories" of France in Africa, South and Central America, French has the status of an official or state language. In Lebanon, Burundi, Djibouti, Cameroon, Haiti, Rwanda, Central African Republic, Chad - the status of the second official language. AT Arab countries North Africa, the former colonies of France Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, the French language does not have official status, but is quite widespread.
In itself, the knowledge of the "language of the colonizers" with ignorance of local languages in most of these countries for the traveler may simply be useless. French is most often spoken by a small, most educated part of the population. AT best case in French you can communicate with the hotel administrator, as well as with people on public service- border guards, customs officers, less often - police officers. The rest of the citizens of the countries of the "francophone zone" either do not speak French at all, or can communicate in various local dialects of French, usually very vaguely reminiscent of the language in which Moliere wrote his immortal plays.
However, if the ultimate goal of your trip to one of these countries is not tourism, but employment, knowing French will greatly increase your chances of finding a well-paid job. In medicine, education, tourism, as well as in the offices of various international organizations, many Europeans work here, and not only immigrants from France, Belgium, Switzerland, but also citizens of other countries who have studied French.
"La Francophonie"
AT broad sense the word "francophonie" is used to refer to those countries and territories where people who speak French live. In this sense, it was first used in 1880 by the famous French geographer Onesime Reclus. However, today this term is more often used to refer to the current since 1970 international organization cooperation francophone countries peace. 56 states are represented in the "La Francophonie", the motto of the organization is "Equality, Complementarity, Solidarity".
Initially conceived and created as a purely humanitarian organization, the Francophonie has evolved over time into a fairly influential political power. At the same time, the issues of studying and disseminating the French language, as opposed to English, occupy a significant place in the programs of the Francophonie. At the same time, the organization advocates the development of cultural diversity, contributes to the expansion educational processes, including teaching French, in all countries of the world.
If you are looking for country names that speak French, you should read this article which focuses on this particular topic.
French and English are the only two languages spoken on almost every continent. It is a Romance language and therefore one of the ancient languages in the world. It is the official language of 29 countries and millions of people take it as a second or third language.
French communities exist in about 56 countries. Its widespread use began in the 15th century. Prior to this, it was considered a complex and polite language and was used by the elite class. In the 17th century it was known as the language of diplomacy and international relations. Thus, people all over the world started using it. But very soon, English became the language of international communication. In this article you will see a list various countries speaking French today.
National language.
Countries that consider French as their national language.
List of such countries.
Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Monaco, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, Vanuatu.
Countries of Europe.
Here you can find a large number of people who speak French. Europe has many countries that have French as their national language and it is also the official language of the European Union.
France, Switzerland, Monaco and Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg.
African countries.
Half of the French-speaking population live in Africa. There is a huge list African countries where French is the official language. Although French is the official language in these countries, there are other local languages too that are widely spoken.
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Rwanda, Chad, Burundi, Togo, Benin, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Seychelles.
Asian countries.
There are very few francophone countries in Asia. Basically, French is found as a second or third language. Lebanon
Southeast Asia (Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam), India.
countries in America.
The maximum number of people who speak French in America is in Canada. French is considered as an official language in Canada along with English language. About 25% of people speak French in Canada. In addition, there are other countries that also use French as a second or third language. Countries in North America and South America following.
Canada, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique.
Pacific region.
French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna.
The language of the French (See French), the main population of France, part of the population of Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, the population of Haiti and some former or modern possessions France in America and Africa. Official and literary language in these countries... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The language of the French (the official language of France), the French-speaking population of Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (in which it is one of the official ones). The French language is used by the population of many states in Africa, Haiti, French Guiana, including in ... ... Large encyclopedic Dictionary
FRENCH. L. has owned F. Ya since childhood. “as one’s own” (see Shan Girey A.P., in the book: Memoirs, 2nd ed., p. 35). In accordance with the secular customs of the time, he was taught by French tutors J. Cape and J. P. K. Jandro. In children's notebooks L ... Lermontov Encyclopedia
French- FRENCH, belongs to the Romance group Indo-European family languages. The official language of France, French Guiana, Haiti, Monaco, Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Guinea, Zaire, Congo, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
French- French is one of the Romance languages (Gallo Romance subgroup). The official language of the French Republic, the Kingdom of Belgium (along with Dutch), the Swiss Confederation (along with German and Italian), Canada ... ... Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary
The language of the French (the official language of France), the French-speaking population of Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (in which it is one of official languages). The French language is used by the population of many African states, Haiti, Franz. Guianas, including ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Common name for dialects of northern France, southern Belgium, Lorraine, Alsace, western Switzerland and Canada. In a closer sense, F. is the language of the dialect of central France (Ile de France), from the 12th century. which began to force others out of poetry ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
French- (French)French, spoken by 75 million people. in France and its overseas territories, as well as in neighboring countries and in Canada. It is also the official language. in a number of African countries, ex. French colonies. Belongs to the group of Romanesque ... ... Countries of the world. Vocabulary
French in Canada is one of the two official languages of Canada, along with English. Total number French speakers are about 6.8 million (22.7% of the population, 2006, census). French-speaking residents of Canada with ... ... Wikipedia
- (fr. La langue français en Flandres) for a long time had an important historical, political, economic and cultural significance, despite the fact that the attitude towards him from the autochthonous Flemish majority was and remains ambiguous ... Wikipedia
Books
- French language, Popova I., Kazakova Zh., Kovalchuk G.. This textbook has gone through 20 editions and is a stable textbook for beginners. Its goal is to instill skills correct pronunciation, to give a solid knowledge of the basics of grammar, to develop ...
- French language, Popova I., Kazakova Zh., Kovalchuk G.. This textbook has gone through 20 editions and is a stable textbook for beginners. Its goal is to instill correct pronunciation skills, give solid knowledge of the basics of grammar, develop ...
Today we will talk about the essential, because we will discuss what prepositions to use in French with country names. You have probably already wondered: why do the French say "en France", "en Suisse", "en Ouzbékistan", but - "au Japon" or "aux Pays - Bas"? If you didn't find the answer to it, this article Will be able to help you.
What French prepositions should be used with country names? In fact, there are only a few of them, and French rules very logical! We should remember the following prepositions: en, a, au, aux(if we are talking about the fact that we are going to this country or city). These prepositions must be used after following verbs: "aller", "habiter", "vivre", "travailler", "être" , in other cases these prepositions are not used (for example: "J'ai visité la France"). It is most convenient to memorize the rules by breaking them down by prepositions.
Let's start with the preposition a. The preposition à in French is used before:
1 . city names (it does not matter what kind of city or what letter it starts with - with a vowel or consonant): à Paris, à Bruxelles, à Amsterdam;
2. the names of the islands singular: à Cuba, à Madagascar
NB: you also need to use the preposition à before Monaco: à Monaco
NB 2: Although Corsica is an island, it is also a French region, so the preposition en: en Corse is used before its name.
Let's move on to the preposition en. The preposition en in French is used before:
1. country names female: en France, en Belgique, en Suisse.
NB: Now you have a question: how to determine what kind of country? Very simple: if a country ends with the letter e, then it is feminine. There are, of course, exceptions: le Mexique, le Mozambique, le Cambodge, le Zaire.
2. country names male, which start with a vowel: en Azerbaïdjan, en Angola ;
3. before titles French provinces and regions: en Bretagne, en Normandie.
The next suggestion is preposition au, or rather, a fused article (it is formed by merging the preposition à and the article le: à + le = au) used before :
1. masculine country names that begin with a consonant: au Japon, au Canada
The last one on the list is preposition aux, which again is actually a continuous article (à + les = aux) used before:
1. countries that are in plural: aux Etats - Unis, aux Pays - Bas;
2. island group names: aux Maldives, aux Seychelles, aux Bahamas.
That's all the rules! Really, nothing complicated? The most important thing is to remember the very principle of using French prepositions. Next time we will talk about the prepositions that are used when we return from the country.
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