French, the second global lingua franca

cnabils   Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:59 am GMT
I wonder what percentage of the world's population has been exposed to Spanish. By this I mean seeing at least one word of Spanish in print, on the internet, on on Radio or TV? We'd have to exclude exact cognates with English, restricting it to unambiguously French words, like "Hasta la vista, baby", for example.

Perhaps this percentage is above 50%, so we could say that two or three billion people, or even more, have been exposed to Spanish?

This ought to give the Hispanics something to go crazy about.
Visitor   Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:05 am GMT
<< I think it will continue to be a lingua franca in west Africa, such as Senegal, Benin, Congo, etc. >>

Not only that. It will soon become the first or native language of Francophone Africans.

Unlike Spanish whose prime peak has gone down because the hispanic americans speak various bastardized form of the language that will eventually lead to Neo-Spanishes. It's like a deja vu when Afrikaans declared its linguistic independence from Dutch.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Giovanni   Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:12 am GMT
<< After English, Chinese (the most spoken Asian language) and Spanish (the most spoken Western language) are the most useful in a Global World. >>

Sure, Joao the fake lussophone.

That's why few non-chinese and non-hispanic speak Chinese and Spanish.

That's why Chinese is just confined to China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong and Spanish is restricted to Hispanic America and Castilia.

That's why Chinese is official in less than 10 of the and Spanish is official in less than half of the world's institutions.

The number of foreign language speakers of Chinese and Spanish combined is less than a fourth of that of French.

French and English are the only true global languages as declared by anglo-saxons. Spanish was/is not and will never be declared as global languages.
Nemo   Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:15 am GMT
Si, I speak Spanish. My friend Godzilla speaks also a little. He was created by the SPanish armada canon balls, and it is always very annoying.

Plankton, Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Squidward, Patrick, Gary, and a jellyfish also speak a little Spanish.

So, if you consider all lobsters, fish and krabs, Spanish is obviously, a Global (shitty) language.
Only one   Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:15 am GMT
The only global language is English, which is the lingua Franca.
STupids!   Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:16 am GMT
Idiots! There is only one "global" lingua franca - ENGLISH!
French and Spanish are regional lingua francas AT BEST! At worst they are regional "important" languages, but by no means a guarantee of being able to speak to everyone. That is, even within their own regions there are gaping holes where hardly anyone knows the language, for example, Jamaica, Suriname, Belize, French Guyana, etc for Latin America. For Africa, you have Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia etc where no one knows French.
Ziritione   Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:17 am GMT
The mere existence of a "second lingua franca" is a contradiction per se. It's a concept lacking any logic invented by the francophones who can't stand their language is no longer relevant . The French were unable to create successful colonies like the English did (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa until the blacks took control of the country) and the French language is paying the consequences of that. If a world lingua franca exists, which is the case of the English language, there is no need of a "second lingua franca", otherwise English would not be a lingua franca.

http://theworldwidedeclineoffrench.blogspot.com/
Zorotoine   Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:33 am GMT
<< http://theworldwidedeclineoffrench.blogspot.com/ >>

You mean this blog without any basis created by hispanics desperate to have Spanish language students because INSTITUTO CERVEZA is losing revenue due to dwindling enrolees? Oh c'mon
Visitor   Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:36 am GMT
LET US MAKE A COMPARISON BETWEEN FRENCH AND SPANISH.

Nearly 1/5 of non-Francophone Europeans say they know French, according to http://www.cpfalta.ab.ca/Learning/whyfrench.htm.

That is 830.4 million Europeans minus 67 million francophones from France, Switzerland and Belgium is 763.4 million non-francophone Europeans.

763.4 million of non-francophone Europeans multiplied by 1/5 is 152.68 million French speaking non-francophone Europeans.

110 million native French speakers + 190 million (as of 1999) secondary French speakers + 152.68 million French speaking non-francophone Europeans is 452.68 million. Now if we add the non-native speakers of French in Anglo-America, Latin America, Non-Francophone Africa, Asia, and Australasia estimated at around let's say 100 million is 552.68 million.

As for Spanish: 320 million native speakers in Spain and Hispanic America + 30 million secondary Spanish speakers form Catalan, Galician, Basque, Quechua, Ayamara, Guarani, Quiche, and Nahuatl communities + 30 million non-native speakers all over the world is 380 million.

So, there's a truth behind the 500 million estimate of total number of French speakers.
Usuaire   Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:39 am GMT
However, in terms of secondary speakers, Weber submits the following list:
(number of speakers in parentheses)

1. French (190 million)
2. English (150 million)
3. Russian (125 million)
4. Portuguese (28 million)
5. Arabic (21 million)
6. Spanish (20 million)
7. Chinese (20 million)
8. German (9 million)
9. Japanese (8 million)

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm
Guest   Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:44 am GMT
English has more secondary speakers than French, obviously that link is wrong.
Visitor   Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:52 am GMT
<< English has more secondary speakers than French, obviously that link is wrong. >>

Arabic has more native speakers than Spanish, obviously ethnologue is wrong.
Usuaire   Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:56 am GMT
In today's international climate and changing immigration patterns, French serves as a lingua franca not only in Europe, but also between Europe, North America and Africa. As these regions move toward greater interaction on cultural, political and economical levels, a knowledge of French will become an increasingly important skill.

http://www.nccu.edu/academics/sc/liberalarts/modernforeignlanguages/french.cfm
EU   Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:58 am GMT
Of course it is Wrong. If this was True, everybody would speak or study French instead of English. But everybody knows it is not so.

English is the only "Lingua Franca". French is not a "lingua franca". Only can be one, and it is English. You can say it is important international Language like: Chinese, Spanish, etc... SO PLEASE stop dreaming francophones. Accept the reality.
Usuaire   Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:01 pm GMT
The French language today has 72 to 130 million native speakers around the world, and a further 190 to 600 million people use French as a second or third language. It is an official language in 29 countries, including France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland and Francophone Africa. It is estimated that 26% of EU residents speak French as a first or second language and it is an official language of all United Nations agencies and many international organizations.