Is French on the decline

French in Southeast Asia
French is an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent years. In colonial Vietnam, the elites spoke French and many who worked for the French spoke a French creole known as "Tây Bồi" (now extinct). The language was also spoken by the elite in the leased territory Guangzhouwan in southern China.

In Myanmar, French is gaining popularity amongst university students and the tourism sector, as the country slowly opens up. French is not offered in the basic education level, but the University of Foreign Languages in Yangon offers a B.A. in French, and Alliance Francaise has an active centre each in Yangon and Mandalay. The Francophone community is estimated to number between 25,000 to 50,000+.

In Singapore, the top 10% of Primary School Leaving Examination graduates may choose to opt for French as a second or third language in secondary school, however this language is not an official language in Singapore, and is hardly spoken among locals.

French in Southeast Asia

French is an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent years. In colonial Vietnam, the elites spoke French and many who worked for the French spoke a French creole known as "Tây Bồi" (now extinct). The language was also spoken by the elite in the leased territory Guangzhouwan in southern China.

In Myanmar, French is gaining popularity amongst university students and the tourism sector, as the country slowly opens up. French is not offered in the basic education level, but the University of Foreign Languages in Yangon offers a B.A. in French, and Alliance Francaise has an active centre each in Yangon and Mandalay. The Francophone community is estimated to number between 25,000 to 50,000+.

In Singapore, the top 10% of Primary School Leaving Examination graduates may choose to opt for French as a second or third language in secondary school, however this language is not an official language in Singapore, and is hardly spoken among locals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language#Lebanon

<< Once again so many wannabe arguments often heard from America first citizens. Unfortunately you didn't dwell so much on my arguments.

1) Again and again you count numbers of language speakers and specifically the mother tongue speakers by alluding that the category of quantities would summarize the importance of a speech community. If the number of persons really had such an importance underdeveloped people would rule the world. The overwhelming portion of mankind lives in the so called Third World but in fact an Urdu or a Hindi speaker has less power to assert his claims and to be heard than an English or Frencxh speaking individual in Europa or in America.

2) More than 55 million people learn French all over the world, a quantity that far transcends the number of learners of Hindi, Bengali, Indonesian, Portuguese or Urdu. In a consumer society even this number of the learners explains the importance of French still considered by Western or westernized people as a significant cultural heritage.

3) Naturally creole largely differs from classical French. But English in Africa or English creole exemplifies similar kind of differences, as it has not much to do with linguistic norms shared by people in Britain. Even British people realize that they are outnumbered in relation to their norms.

4) In the Arabic world, specially in the Maghreb region French is considered as an idiom of modernity. In Algeria even more people use French than under the colonial rule. Particularly the Tamazigh people tend to use French to oppose Arabic nationalism and Islamist mouvements. It certainly will not disappear but will remain as a complementary language to Arabic. And besides: What do you mean with Arabic? The Arabian dialects spoken in these region or classic Arabic only understood by a tiny elite?

5) In the European Union French and German are the languages spoken by more people than English: German by nearly 90 million people, French by 75 million people. With English French remains the official language mostly used in the EU institutions. In the UN English is very dominant. But if one language has a certain influence you propably will find more documents translated in French than in Chinese or Spanish.

So bury your hatchet against French chauvinism and accept reality. >>

Very good argument, Kecke. I totally agree with you. Because if we're gonna follow the arguments of the hispanics here in this forum then it's the same as saying that Chinese is more important than English just because the former has more native speaker than the latter. But the problem is Chinese is geographicaly confinned to China, Taiwan, Singapore, Macau, and Hongkong and it's not even the most studied foreign language in neighboring countries such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc. Similarly, Spanish is just confined to Hispanic America and quite a few people from non-hispanic countries speak it as a non-native language.

Yes, Spanish outnumbers French in native speakers but French outstripped Spanish in the number of secondary and foreign speakers by a very wide margin.

According to George Weber's report in 1997, French has secondary speakers (mostly from Africa) while Spanish has just around 20 million.

(US hispanics) http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm

In that report, number of speakers of both languages as an acquired tongue is not included.

<<Yes, Spanish outnumbers French in native speakers but French outstripped Spanish in the number of secondary and foreign speakers by a very wide margin. >>

False, considering that in USA and Brazil Spanish is much more popular than French and that in Europe Spanish is not more taught than French but still is the fourth most studied language after English , French and German, it's safe to say that Spanish has more native speakers and also more foreign speakers around the world.


<<According to George Weber's report in 1997, French has secondary speakers (mostly from Africa) while Spanish has just around 20 million. >>


You are cheating as usual. You compare the number of secondary and foreign speakers French has and foreign Spanish speakers. But there are also secondary Spanish speakers , mostly Quechua and Aymara speakers. They are around 15 millions and speak Spanish much better than African people speak French because they creolize it whereas Quechua and Aymara speakers speak standard Spanish as well as the native speakers.

It is easy to know if French is in decline or not.

We can use English as example. Which languages are stronger than English in some Continents or in some points?

Only four: Chinese, Spanish, Arabic and Russian.

Chinese: it is the most spoken language in the World. It is the most spoken language in Asia.

Spanish: it is the most spoken Western language. It is the most spoken language in the Americas. It is the language with more countries where the language is dominant.

Russian: it is the most spoken language in Europe (including former USSR).

Arabic: it is the most spoken language in Africa.


PD. French is not in this group. French is not more stronger than English in any point or Continent. So, there is a slight decline of this language. It is obvious, and French people can't deny it. Anyway, French will remain as an important international language.

<< You are cheating as usual. You compare the number of secondary and foreign speakers French has and foreign Spanish speakers. But there are also secondary Spanish speakers , mostly Quechua and Aymara speakers. They are around 15 millions and speak Spanish much better than African people speak French because they creolize it whereas Quechua and Aymara speakers speak standard Spanish as well as the native speakers. >>

There you go, you said it, I was about to say that. Those secondary speakers(classified/non-native) are mostly amerindians speakers of Quechua, Aymara, Quiche, and Guarani and majority of them are monolingual in those languages. It only proves that Spanish is just spoken right in it's very own turf Spain and Hispanic America and nowhere else.

I don't agree with you that their Spanish than the French of Francophone Africa. If you only heard educated francophone african speak and you would find out that their French is better.

<< In Myanmar, French is gaining popularity amongst university students and the tourism sector, as the country slowly opens up. French is not offered in the basic education level, but the University of Foreign Languages in Yangon offers a B.A. in French, and Alliance Francaise has an active centre each in Yangon and Mandalay. The Francophone community is estimated to number between 25,000 to 50,000+.>>

Despite what happened in Cambodia during the 19909's, French is still growing in Asia as a froeign tongue but not as fast as English but definitely ahead of other major world languages like Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic,German, Italian, Portuguese, and Japanese.

Spanish supporters have nothing to present similar to this one that took place in Burma/Myanmar. French is also the most favored and studied language in Bangladesh along with German, and Farsi.

Learn French as a Second Language for a World of Opportunities
If you're an occasional visitor to France then learning French allows you to enjoy much more of the experience. However, that's not the only reason to learn French as a second language.
As an Englishman living and working in France I'm one of those people who had to learn French as a second language and I have to say it's been of huge benefit both from a business and personal point of view.

But why French, you might ask. People say that Chinese is the most spoken language in the world, English second and Spanish third, why do I suggest learning French - apart from the fact I'm quite obviously biased!

Well Chinese may be the most spoken language but that's simply a population thing - it's not spoken much outside China and its dependents. Unless your business is specifically with China there isn't much commercial advantage. You probably won't visit many Chinese speaking countries on holiday either.

English is obviously very useful and probably the world's first second language, by which I mean if you're Chinese you learn English, if you're Russian you learn English, if you're German, Moroccan, etc.

Spanish is spoken in Spain, is common in a lot of the southern US and all but one of the countries in South America speak it. Very useful if you're on holiday but limited commercial possibilities.

It might surprise you to know that French is the sole official language of 33 different countries. It's additionally the official language of another 16 countries which have two official languages like Belgium and Canada.

You can add another couple of dozen where French is important because of significant French-speaking populations from Brazil to Vietnam, from Egypt to Trinidad. In all, something in the region of 200 million people speak French every day.

If that wasn't enough incentive to learn French as a second language there are many well-known international organizations that have French as their official language. Interpol, Amnesty International, The Red Cross (and Red Crescent), The United Nations, The International Olympic Committee, The World Health organization...

So if you're looking for a language that's useful in business, consider learning French. It's not only useful in France itself but Belgium and Switzerland in Europe. It's an official Canadian language of course and it's used in many countries in North Africa. It's also frequently used in the Middle East and Asia and several of the south sea or Polynesian islands like Hawaii. It's even used in the Arctic!

Obviously the same goes if you're going on holiday. If you learn French as a second language you're going to be understood - and dare I say it, better treated - in literally dozens of countries. You might even like one of them so much you end up living there like I did!

Learning a second language isn't ever easy, but modern language systems like the ones you can download use immersion techniques and entertaining interactive lessons and games to make learning French faster and with better retention. Some claim, with justification, to be able to get you to a competent level of French in just a couple of months.

So how about a business trip to Burundi or a layover in Luxembourg? How about a sojourn in Senegal or a trip to Togo? Learning French as a second language literally opens up a whole world of possibilities.

Get free, independent advice on how to learn French as a second language plus six free professional French lessons at How 2 Learn French.

By Dennis Cordy
Published: 7/2/2008

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/learn-french-as-a-second-language-for-a-world-of-opportunities.html

French is the only official language of the following organizations:

1. Organisation Internationale du Travail/International Labor Organization
2. Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matière d'armement/Organization for Joint Armaments Cooperation
3. Union Postale Universelle/Universal Postal Union

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_organisations_which_have_French_as_an_official_language

I wonder if Spanish is the sole official of any of the world's major organization? Surely none because it's not that important.

What's 'French'? Never heard of it, is it a tribal language of Papua New Guinea?

<<French is the only official language of the following organizations:

1. Organisation Internationale du Travail/International Labor Organization
2. Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matière d'armement/Organization for Joint Armaments Cooperation
3. Union Postale Universelle/Universal Postal Union

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_organisations_which_have_French_as_an_official_language

I wonder if Spanish is the sole official of any of the world's major organization? Surely none because it's not that important.>>


Hi, French Fanatic!

In Postal Union, English was added as a working language of the International Bureau in 1994.

Simultaneous interpretation and UPU documents are provided in Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian too.

In ILO, English, Spanish and French are the three official languages, not only French, mon Fanatic ami!

PD. In ALL (I repeat ALL) World organizations, English and Spanish are official-working languages, or at least, translated in all meetings and documents.

Arabic, Russian, Chinese are also used in almost all organizations. German and Portuguese are also used in a lot of them.

So, the last field where French WAS important, there are other 5-7 languages that you can use.

Stop being ridiculous and fanatic, please!

I'm not French but I have to say, to be honest, that French has acquired a status of cultural and diplomatic language over the past few centuries. Spanish has never had and will never have that status. That's a matter of fact. Anyway not only French are fanatic in this forum but also Spaniards, Brazialians, Russians and so on ..

I'm not French but I have to say, to be honest, that French has acquired a status of cultural and diplomatic language over the past few centuries. Spanish has never had and will never have that status. That's a matter of fact. Anyway not only French are fanatic in this forum but also Spaniards, Brazialians, Russians and so on ..

Spanish was the most important World language from 1492 (Catholic Kings period) to, at least, 1650. So, it was the most important lingua franca in Western World during XV, XVI, and XVII centuries.

From 1650 till 2008 it is the lingua franca of the Americas: the first or second language of all the American countries, but Canada (where it is probably third).

It is true that French was the most important lingua franca from 1650 till 1900. Nobody says that it is not true.

Finally, English is the most important World language from 1945 till the present day (63 years).

Nowadays, English, Chinese, Arabic, Russian and Spanish are, at least, so important than French. All of them are World languages (official and working languages of United Nations).

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