French, the second global lingua franca

Kim   Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:19 am GMT
Korean 9th most useful language in the world: UN

According to a UN survey on the distribution and use of the world’s most important languages, the following languages make up the top ten: #1 English, #2 Chinese, #3 German, #4 French, #5 Russian, #6 Spanish, #7 Japanese, #8 Arabic, #9 Korean, and #10 Portuguese. Notably absent from the list this year was Italian, which has lost a lot of importance since its economy began stagnating in 1985.

One other notable change is that the UN will be recognizing only the simplified Chinese characters used on the mainland as standard Chinese starting in 2008.

http://koreabeat.com/?p=14
Usuaire   Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:40 am GMT
Promotion of French language in Botswana

The French Government has endeavoured to respond to the request of the Government of Botswana to implement and develop the teaching and learning of French language throughout the country.

This is to enable Botswana to be heard and communicate throughout the African continent on which next to half of the States have French as their official language. On a wider scale, French being the worldwide language of diplomacy, one of the main working languages within most international organizations (such as the European Union, the United Nations, the African Union…) and a very important language for business, the promotion of the French language in the country would provide Botswana with enhanced opportunities for international development.

This important collaboration between the Ministry of Education of Botswana and French Cooperation is in keeping with the general pattern of the policy of close cooperation both countries are wishing to strengthen. To serve this significant linguistic project, a cooperation counsellor for French language has been appointed to the French Embassy in Botswana.

One of the main ambitions of this programme is to gradually generalize the teaching of French throughout secondary education. The Embassy of France will first and foremost assist to ensure of the quality of teachers’ training. To that purpose, ten Batswana language teachers spent a year in the French island of La Réunion in 2006-2007 to take a Bachelor of Arts in TFFL (Teaching French as a Foreign Language) – which they all passed with merit. Ten others left last year for the same programme. Besides, the French embassy is organising workshops for all teachers of French such as the one which took place in Tlokweng Education Centre in January 2008.

The French embassy will also assist with all other pedagogical, practical and technical aspects of the project (continuing education, curriculum development, inspectorate, assessment, examinations, planning…) when requested.

The cooperation with the University of Botswana, which currently is the cornerstone of the training of the French teachers in Botswana, is being reinforced (in-service training for the teachers, providing of books and teaching aids…) and the French Embassy is contributing to the revival of the association of the French teachers in Botswana.

Another important aspect of our action is our cooperation with local associations working for the promotion of French language and the cultures of French-speaking countries, most importantly with the Alliance Française of Gaborone who, though a local and independent association, benefits from the unyielding support of the French Government.

The Embassy of France will also assist in promoting the learning and teaching of French for the regional organisations (SADC…) and to the benefit of the staff within interested administrations (including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Police forces, the Army…).

This wide-scale project for French language in Botswana will be supported by agreements between the French Government and the Government of Botswana or with the various organisations involved and shall coincide with Vision 2016, the strategic plan Botswana set for herself in 1997.

http://www.ambafrance-bw.org/article.php3?id_article=492
Informer   Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:48 am GMT
The importance of French language and why should it be adopted as a universal language?

Being the second most taught language internationally after English, and having a readership and following which are commiserate with the number of its students, French is definitely the language to know these days. With English, French is the only other “international” language, being spoken in 5 continents. The international body supervising the following of French as a language is known as the International Organization of Francophonie, which has 51 countries as its member states and out of these 51 states, 28 countries have French as their official language.
The widespread use of French as a language can also be inferred from the fact that French, with English is the official language of many towering organizations of the world, such as the UN, NATO, UNESCO, the International Red Cross Association and IOC (The International Olympic Committee), to name a few. From a recent survey, it has been noted that almost 70% of jobs in the US require or prefer the aspirants who know French, other than English, which is a testimony to the importance of French.

The importance of French has demographic and economic consequences for major economies in the world, even the US. For example, French is the official global language of Canada, which caries out major trade deals with the US. The knowledge of French for traders to such countries becomes all the more important when you realize that Canada, for example, has provinces like Quebec, which trades more than 70 billion Dollars annually with the US, and the major international language being followed there is French.

Apart from the economic influence of French and France, there is a high degree of intellectual importance associated with French as a language and the French thought for modernism and secularism. French doctors and scientists have been the fore-runners of technology in the modern era. France has the largest R&D center on nuclear physics in the world and also boasts as being the site of the world’s first nuclear fusion reactor. The French doctors were the first to isolate the HIV virus from the body of an infected human being- a ground breaking attempt to find a cure for AIDS. In order to decipher all their findings and discoveries, to understand their intellect and to admire it, it has become inevitable for the intelligentsia and researchers of today to adopt French as a global language.

http://www.europeword.com/blog/europe/the-importance-of-french-language-and-why-should-it-be-adopted-as-a-universal-language/
Aldo   Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:56 am GMT
Why learn French? French is the official language of more than 25 countries. French as a foreign language is the second most frequently taught language in the world after English. The International Organization of Francophonie has 51 member states and governments. Of these, 28 countries have French as the official language. FRENCH IS THE ONLY LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH SPOKEN ON FIVE CONTINENTS. FRENCH AND ENGLISH ARE THE ONLY TWO GLOBAL LANGUAGES.

People often are surprised to discover how prominent the French language truly is on the world stage. As a result, its tremendous business potential is sometimes overlooked. French figures among the official working languages of many international organizations including the European Union, Interpol, the International Olympic Committee, the UN, the Red Cross, and many others.

According to the NOP Research Group, France represents the third-largest Internet economy in Europe.

France, which ranks fourth in the world in terms of Gross National Product, is a significant factor in international politics, economic life, and social issues.

But in addition, French is the first or second official language in more than 40 countries on five continents. French is spoken by more than 200 million people, and LANGUAGE TODAY, A PUBLICATION FOR LANGUAGE PROFESSIONALS, RANKS FRENCH AS THE SECOND MOST INFLUENTIAL LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD, TRAILING ONLY ENGLISH.

For those seeking a career in business or finance these days, French may prove to be very important in their careers. France is one of the leading host countries for American investment in Europe. Many Americans working for these companies find themselves becoming involved in the company's French operations.

http://www.i-learn-french.com/learn-french.aspx
Visitor   Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:11 am GMT
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10 Most Influential Languages in the World
June 5th, 2008 by Hannah, Project Consultant, Translation Services


Back in the ’90s, the magazine Language Today published an article by George Weber that analyzed the world’s most influential languages. It was an interesting analysis, because it accounted for “influence” of a language in a number of ways.

For example, Chinese has the most speakers in the world, but it ranks 6 on the list. The formula also takes into account the number of secondary speakers of a language (of which Chinese, a relatively complex language, has few), as well as other factors, such as the economic power of countries that use the language.

Here’s the breakdown:

1. English
2. French
3. Spanish
4. Russian
5. Arabic
6. Chinese
7. German
8. Japanese
9. Brazilian Portuguese
10. Hindi/Urdu

The article also highlights the societal differences that have influenced these rankings. Weber argues that French is one of the most aggressively promoted languages in the world, and its knowledge often carries a certain prestige (though less so now that English has become the more frequent common denominator in an international setting).

Chinese and Japanese, conversely, are not very common as second languages, due both to the complexity of the language as well as the attitudes of the Chinese and Japanese people. The article states “Chinese is a language whose speakers are noticeably disinterested in spreading its use outside their own people; Not unlike the Japanese, the Chinese prefer to deal with foreigners in English.”

For more information, you can view Weber’s article here.

Being a native English speaker, it’s difficult to look at this list without personal bias, but English’s top spot rings true to me. At ALTA, we work with translators all over the world, and it seems to me that English is most often the common denominator. If a client requests we translate Finnish into Brazilian Portuguese, it’s going to be difficult to find a linguist who is fluent in both of those languages, regardless of where in the world we look. Instead, it’s more likely we would translate from Finnish into English, and from English into Brazilian Portuguese. In our corner of the world, though, French carries far less importance than Spanish. Seeing it ranked 3rd may come as a surprise to anyone living in the United States.

According to the 15th edition of Ethnologue, the top 10 most common languages (primary speakers) in the world are:

1. Chinese
2. Spanish
3. English
4. Arabic
5. Hindi
6. Portuguese
7. Bengali
8. Russian
9. Japanese
10. German

What’s interesting is the fact that French appears no where on this list (it ranks at 17), but due to its massive number of secondary speakers, it appears as the 2nd most influential in Weber’s article. And Bengali doesn’t even show up in the top 10 most influential languages.

Still, “influential” is a term that carries a lot of subjectivity, not to mention the difficulty of accurately establishing the number of secondary speakers a language has, as well as documenting the prestige a language’s knowledge carries.

http://www.altalang.com/beyond-words/2008/06/05/10-most-influential-languages-in-the-world/
blanc   Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:16 am GMT
What's French? Where is that spoken? Is it more important than Hiri Motu?
blanco   Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:19 am GMT
What's Spanish? Where is that spoken? Is it more important than Hottentot?
EU   Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:25 am GMT
Weber’s article was written in 1997 and 15th edition of Ethnologue is written in 2009.

There world now is different compareted to 1997. I think people should base their opinion in new sources.
Mercosur   Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:39 am GMT
<< Weber’s article was written in 1997 and 15th edition of Ethnologue is written in 2009.

There world now is different compareted to 1997. I think people should base their opinion in new sources. >>

Sure! According to Time and Newsweek magazines "Africa today has 4times more French speakers than France itself".That's 60 million French citizens multiplied by 4 is 240 million. So, the 190 million secondary speakers of French in Africa increased.

Sure! By now Arabic has surpassed Spanish in the number of native speakers.

And who would believe the silly Ethnologue report that French has only 64 million native speakers? Only stupid fanatics like you.

You can't change the fact that the Spanish speaking world has very little contributions in science, technology, literature, arts, physics, medicines, and other fields which makes it less influential than English and French. Spanish is influential because of its 320 million native speakers with few secondary speakers.
EU   Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:44 am GMT
Mercosur posted:

<<You can't change..>

I am sorry Mercosur,but I did not say anything about French, Spanish, arabic or another language. I only said people must try to base their comments on latest sources.
Mercosur   Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:47 am GMT
1997
75 million native French speakers + 190 million secondary speakers vs 320 million native Spanish speakers + 20 million secondary speakers.

2009
110 million native French speakers + 240 million secondary speakers vs 350 million native Spanish speakers + 30 million secondary speakers.

So by now, probably George Weber's French has 25 points from 21 while Spanish has 19 from 21 points.
Mercosur   Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:50 am GMT
<< I am sorry Mercosur,but I did not say anything about French, Spanish, arabic or another language. I only said people must try to base their comments on latest sources. >>

I'm sorry too EU but I think you're one of those hispanic attackers of French language.
Mercosur   Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:56 am GMT
1997
75 million native French speakers + 190 million secondary speakers vs 320 million native Spanish speakers + 20 million secondary speakers.

2009
110 million native French speakers + 240 million secondary speakers vs 350 million native Spanish speakers + 30 million secondary speakers.

So by now, probably French has 25 points up from 24 while Spanish has 19 down from 21 if points if George Weber's report would still be used.
EU   Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:02 pm GMT
Mercosur posted:

<<I'm sorry too EU but I think you're one of those hispanic attackers of French language. >>

If you, French & Spanish, have problems each other, it is your problem. It is not mine. Personally I don't have any problem between both languages. I also have to say among my friends from France and Spain don't have problems with each other neither.
Coolcheese   Fri Jul 31, 2009 7:06 am GMT
French is only a lingua franca in France! No place for this language being spoken in the world!