French language

Brief info on the French language and where French is spoken.

About the French language

French is a Romance language and one of the World's most spoken languages. French is the official language of 29 countries and an important language in many more countries, especially countries that are ex-French colonies or that had historical ties with France. French is the 6th most spoken language in the World, with around 274 million native speakers, 77 million of whom speak French as their first language. 60 million people in France speak French as their first language. The other European countries with the most significant number of French speakers are Belgium with 3.9 million speakers and Switzerland with 1.8 million speakers. In Canada, there are approximately 7.8 million French speakers. Around half of all French speakers live in Africa. Many creole languages around the World are based on French, Haitian Creole being an important example with over 10 million speakers.
French derived from Gallo-Romance, a local Latin dialect spoken in Northern France, which incorporated aspects of the Gaelic languages spoken in the region in the Roman period, but was also subsequently influenced by the language of later Germanic conquerors. French and Belgian colonial powers began to spread the language globally from the age of European colonial expansion in the 16th century.

For interactive language learning materials, visit the main learn French games page.

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