The REAL importance of French

J.C.   Fri Nov 28, 2008 7:13 am GMT
Before starting my question I'd like to say I'm studying French at the moment and have nothing against the language or French speakers.

After readings countless postings about the importance of French I'd like to know what is FACT and what is a nationalistic defense of the language
since I NEVER needed French in my life either for jobs of travels and English has been more than enough at the time I was in college or then as a researcher in Japan, where I could read about ANY SUBJECT in English.
That doesn't mean, however, that English is an international language at a personal level. i.e, talking to the local people of non-English countries (English was useless to me when I went to Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Korea, China and Taiwan since I had to use the local languages to get by)while one travels but one can't deny its importance when it comes to doing business, research or reading about any subject one might have interest(I'm studying Dutch and Chinese with books written in English).
How about French? How useful is it at an international level?(Just being a language of the UN doesn't mean much to me because I've NEVER met French speakers in Japan, US or Brazil)
I'm not talking about elite in Vietnam that uses it as a kind of status or countries that have it as "official language", which doesn't reflect the actual usage of the language.


Thanks and I'm waiting for CONCRETE postings and with fonts other than wikipedia.
Slobodan Milosevic   Fri Nov 28, 2008 7:47 am GMT
<<Just being a language of the UN doesn't mean much to me>>

That's true. The UN thing is quite insignificant as, personally I haven't been to a whole lot of UN summits and I don't think they would give me access to a Security Council discussion.

So French is not really important unless you're a diplomat, and how many people are actually diplomats?
shiv   Fri Nov 28, 2008 8:35 am GMT
Careful J.C. Even though you were respectful of French at the beginning, you dared to question its importance. So you will probably get some hostile responses and be labeled as a "hispanic" by some defensive French users here.

You obviously are someone who has traveled enough and should know how useful French is internationally. Based on your experience and available information, you should be able to come to a conclusion.

When speaking internationally, every other important regional language is in the shadow of English and most useful in their respective regions. I'll say that French is useful internationally, but mainly in Europe and Africa. Everywhere else it isn't that useful.

BTW, I was in Japan too for a while, and I did meet some French speakers there, although I rarely heard them using French. In any kind of mixed group they used English or Japanese.
J.C.   Fri Nov 28, 2008 8:53 am GMT
"Careful J.C. Even though you were respectful of French at the beginning, you dared to question its importance. So you will probably get some hostile responses and be labeled as a "hispanic" by some defensive French users here. "

Hi Shiv:

Thanks for your kind reply and based on observation rather than on feelings. I wouldn't mind being labeled as "hispanic" because my Spanish is a mess and my native Portuguese is close to extinction. :D
But as I said before my question is only from a linguistic point of view since
I have no hidden agenda or vendetta against any race/language/country.

"You obviously are someone who has traveled enough and should know how useful French is internationally. Based on your experience and available information, you should be able to come to a conclusion. "
To be honest I haven't travelled as much as I wished and wouldn't like to come to conclusions before getting more evidence.

"When speaking internationally, every other important regional language is in the shadow of English and most useful in their respective regions. I'll say that French is useful internationally, but mainly in Europe and Africa. Everywhere else it isn't that useful. "
I share the same view with you, seing French widely used mainly in northern Africa but don't know the exact numbers for that. However, I believe that when push comes to shove people in Northern Africa speak Arabic. I like to distinguish "native language" from "official language".
As for Europe, I would like to travel throughout Europe before drawing my conclusions.

"BTW, I was in Japan too for a while, and I did meet some French speakers there, although I rarely heard them using French. In any kind of mixed group they used English or Japanese. "
To be honest I met ONE French guy in Osaka to whom I was supposed to teach Japanese but all lessons would be in English. The other people I met was a couple from Côte d´Ivoire but since they are educated people I couldn't assess how widespread in their country.
Either way, I'm only interested in facts and wouldn't respond to offenses or nationalistic chichés.

Thanks for the insighful posting!!
Niko   Fri Nov 28, 2008 9:42 am GMT
J.C., the importance of French matters in the global sense, especially in Europe. Of course one will hear English almost anywhere in the world, but French is like that language. There may be someone in the world who learned French as a second language instead of English or German, etc. It can definitely be useful, especially if you love France like I do and want to communicate with their people (the French aren't great polyglots).

From my own view, I think French is a charming-sounding language in general. I would like speaking it to the people (not Parisians as much though). You could talk about so many things and while making such nice sounds (at least in my view).

French is not as global as it was in the past but its influence is definitely still prevalent in the world today. France has a good economy, culture, history, and people and using the native language is a plus.

That's just my 2 cents worth.

Here's a website that lists good reasons. I agree with them for the most part.

http://www.fll.vt.edu/French/whyfrench.html
Other Guest   Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:08 am GMT
Well, I explain my point of view, J.C.


French is spoken in France, and there are minorities in Belgium, Canada and Switzerland. It is spoken as second languages in some African countries.

Well, when I was in Belgium, almost all people speak English as second language. The same in Quebec (Canada) and French Switzerland.

When I was in Morocco, it is true that people speak French, but they speak English and Spanish too. In a lesser degree, German and Italian were spoken in touristic places. The same in Tunisia. They can speak 3-4 European languages (at least a basic level) in touristic places.

Finally, in France, at least in your hotel and museums, people speak English. German, Spanish and Italian in a lesser degree.

So, French is only useful if you are going to live in France, or to work for a French company, or to be a diplomat.



French language wanted to play the role of second World language, but it doesn't work. People prefer to study the first one (English). English language is a big problem for French. F r e n c h has suffered a decline in its world-wide i n f l u e n c e above all when measured against English. It has more or less held its p o s i t i o n against other languages but against English, the situation is glum.

It is not spoken as native language in a big area as Chinese, Spanish, Arabic or Russian. Even its importance as "World language" depends on several Black African countries (like Senegal, Niger or Tchad). If these countries switch to English as official language, the importance of French will be similar to Italian, a regional European language. That's the real importance of French language.
blanc   Fri Nov 28, 2008 11:18 am GMT
Other Guest,

There are some other minorities who speak french "Accadiens in USA", "Aostiens in Italy", Navarres in Spain.
PARISIEN   Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:16 pm GMT
"Navarres in Spain"
-- No. There is no French speaking minority in Spain. Navarra speaks Castilian, and/or Basque (to no much extent).

You are probably confusing with the Aranese, a small place (Aran Valley) in the middle of the Pyrenean mountains. There is a very small minority with their own Occitan dialect. Through it, and due to their location on the border, locals have a relatively easier access to French but that's all.

"After readings countless postings about the importance of French I'd like to know what is FACT and what is a nationalistic defense of the language ."
-- This phrasing exsudes Anglospheric ignorance and bad faith (normal people have mental processes based on thoughts and concepts, most Americans use stereotypes instead). This board is flooded with attacks and slander on French, generally from Hispanophones (this cant be denied). Ask them "what is a nationalistic defense of the language". Here I never see Francophones responding in such a nationalistic tone.
Guest   Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:46 pm GMT
To Parisien:


<<Here I never see Francophones responding in such a nationalistic tone.>>

Are you jocking?

French, German and Spanish (I don't know the order) are the most studied languages Worldwide. But German and Spanish speaking people don't say this fanatic things:


- <<French is considered to be the language of diplomacy and culture due to its glorious past and its rich culture.>>

- <<French is the only language other than English spoken on five continents. French and English are the only two global languages>>

- <<BTW, you alweays post crappy links or website made by hispanics. Most of them were blogs made by hispanic fanatics whose heads are full of lice>>


German and Spanish speaking people don't say that their language is considered "the language of diplomacy and culture" or "the only global language with English."

At this moment there is not a clear second World language, and Spanish, German, Arabic, Chinese or Russian are, at least, so important.

When a French write a French link, German or Hispanic people never say these things...

ONLY FANATIC FRENCH PEOPLE SAY THAT!
Bianca.   Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:17 pm GMT
There are some other minorities who speak french "Accadiens in USA", "Aostiens in Italy", Navarres in Spain.

He must refer to French Navarre.
Bianca   Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:18 pm GMT
Anglophones and Hispanophones must unite to destroy the French language and culture.
Clark   Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:13 pm GMT
Bianca,

you cannot destroy a culture which is one of the most beautifull (with the italian one). I want to say that i am not french, i am american.
Guest   Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:20 pm GMT
Destruction is beautiful too.
Caspian   Fri Nov 28, 2008 4:25 pm GMT
Le français est une langue belle et importante. L'anglais me semble plus important aujourd-hui, mais le français est important aussi, et il faut respecter ça.
Slobodan Milosevic   Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:48 pm GMT
<<Destruction is beautiful too. >>

Indeed. The most beautiful and awe-inspiring thing I ever saw was the nuclear explosion of the Tsar-Bomba. Dreadful, but there's no denying it's beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i0IrUuNDl0

What is the linguistic equivalent? We can use it on French!