French in Maghrib countries

Vytenis   Sun Sep 16, 2007 8:33 pm GMT
I would like to know in which of the three Mahrib countries (namely Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco) does the French language have the strongest position? What about the other North African countries like Mauritania, Libya and Egypt?
Hassan   Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:25 am GMT
In Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia there is an important program of Arabization. Arabic language is now more important than 30 years ago. Only Arabic remain the official language of our countries.

French is a foreign language in our countries. The role of this language is the opposite, weaker than 30 years ago. I think that this language will have a secondary role in our countries. It is also less spoken because people prefer to study English. Some people study too Spanish, German or Italian, depending on the country.

In Mauritania, Lybia and Egypt French is a minority language, not important.

I hope my comments shed light about this question. Thanks.
Vytenis   Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:30 am GMT
In mauritania french is official. In morocco and tunisia there are many local tv channels in french and street signs in both french and arabic. So no, your observations were not helpful :) they were biased :) so is this forum in general!!!
Roby_k   Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:39 am GMT
In Libya italian and english are spoken, but not french...
Hassan   Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:41 am GMT
Sorry, but YOU are wrong! ¨

In Mauritania French is NOT official. French has a weaker role in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia than 30 or 40 years ago. A lot of years ago it was an official language, and now NOT.

It was the colonial language, and now it is the most studied foreign language, more or less, like English in Europe. At the same time, a lot of people in our countries, prefer to study English, and NOT French at school, because it is the World language. You can ask everybody in Tunisia or other countries, and they will tell you the same.
Vytenis   Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:07 pm GMT
Well, anyway, even if French is not official in Tunisia or Mauritania, it is still official in about 20 other African countries. In Egyopt it is not official but in the centre of Cairo it is written "Banc du Kair" :))) I do not know what was the situation in Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia 40 years ago, but when I was visiting these countries last year I still found French spoken everywhere and English spoken by very few and very badly, I could hardly hold a normal converstaion with anyone. And that was in such tourist cities like Sousse, Monastir, Agadir and Marrakesh. What then to speak about other places...
Omar   Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:34 pm GMT
<< In Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia there is an important program of Arabization. Arabic language is now more important than 30 years ago. Only Arabic remain the official language of our countries.

French is a foreign language in our countries. The role of this language is the opposite, weaker than 30 years ago. I think that this language will have a secondary role in our countries. It is also less spoken because people prefer to study English. Some people study too Spanish, German or Italian, depending on the country.

In Mauritania, Lybia and Egypt French is a minority language, not important.

I hope my comments shed light about this question. Thanks. >>

Please on't believe Hassan. He's either Franco or Sam disguising as an Arab to attack the French. .

There's no truth on what Hassan alias Sam or Franco. The truth is French is very much rooted in Magrib, Mauritania, and Egypt and it's even the prefered language in literature, goevernment and business.

The truth is Spanish is fast dying. Why? Because the real enemy of the Spanish language is its native speakers in Latin America and in Southern Spain. They speak a different form of speech from Castellano.

Take for example the the following:

1. Ehpañol
2. Eshpañol
3. Ezpañol
4. Ethpañoleth
5. Spañols
6. Ezhpañolezh
7. Epañole

The word is pronounced in different ways in those areas.

Spanish is fast giving way to Catalan, Galician, Basque, Asturian, Aragonese, Leonese, Arananese, Guarani, Quiche, Quechua, Aymara, Nahuatl, Boriqueño, Lunfardo, italian, Portunhol and even to English in Mexico, Central America, and Puerto Rico; French in Domnican Republic and Spain; Russian in Cuba.
Omar   Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:38 pm GMT
Soon Spanish will die out as a spoken and written language. What a coincidnece, they refer to themselves as Latinos and the as the Roman Latin's language beame a dead language so goes the Spanish language. Tel mère, Tel fille.
Omar   Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:43 pm GMT
You're very wrong Hassan/Sam/Franco. The national language of Mauritania is Arabic but the official language is French. Don't get envious because Spanish is dead in in Spain's former enclave in Morocco, Western Sahara, and Equatorial Guinea. Spanish yielded to French in those areas.
VYTENIS   Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:16 pm GMT
Oh, shut it, will you? This thread was not about Spanish in the first place. It was about French! I am getting sick of hate flamers in this forum!
Guest   Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:47 pm GMT
The habit of Sam or Franco of disguisisng just to attacka linguistic group particualarly French has gone too much. These guys need a psychiatrist.

Man, can you still sleep properly or are you having nightmares just because you couldn't accept that Spanish has a lower status than French?

You're very dangerous. You can lead awho;e society in chaos just because of your lies or misinformation.

<< It was the colonial language, and now it is the most studied foreign language, more or less, like English in Europe. At the same time, a lot of people in our countries, prefer to study English, and NOT French at school, because it is the World language. You can ask everybody in Tunisia or other countries, and they will tell you the same. >>

This information is so wrong. French is the language of education in those countries and NOT English period. I know that your using the English language as a pawn but the truth is you're more an anglophobe than francophobe. If you're an angl;ophile, how come that you write much better French than English?

In Panama, 20% of the people speak English as their first language

In Costa Rica, majaority of the people are fluent in English and all the Blacks there are native English speakers and uncomfortable with Spanish. Everyday, as time goes on, more and more signs in English can be seen particularly in places frequented by tourists.

These 2 countries are longing to become states of the USA.
Guest   Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:05 pm GMT
People from Arab countries are migrating massively to France. Sharia and Arabic will be imposed in the core itself of the Francophony, and French will dissapear from the Earth.
Hassan   Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:15 pm GMT
What else?

All I said it is true. When a person say that French language has a weak status in a country, automatically you are Hispanic, Spaniard or English.

French language has a weaker status than 30 years ago. That is true.

French language is not official in Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania or Lybia. That is true.

French is a compulsory foreign language at schools in Tunisia. If the language was optional subject, a lot of people would choose English, and not French. The same in other countries. That is true.

I do not care Spanish or English. But if the question is about French language, the answer is that French is weaker than several years ago.

You can confirm that with other people from Morocco or Algeria, and not French people.
Clovis   Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:22 pm GMT
Le français est peut-être plus faible qu'il y a 30 ans au Maghreb, mais le fait est que l'Algérie est devenu le 2ème pays francophone au monde derrière la France.

Faible ou pas le français semble progresser dans ces pays.
Omar   Tue Sep 18, 2007 4:19 am GMT
<< All I said it is true. When a person say that French language has a weak status in a country, automatically you are Hispanic, Spaniard or English.

French language has a weaker status than 30 years ago. That is true.

French language is not official in Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania or Lybia. That is true.

French is a compulsory foreign language at schools in Tunisia. If the language was optional subject, a lot of people would choose English, and not French. The same in other countries. That is true.

I do not care Spanish or English. But if the question is about French language, the answer is that French is weaker than several years ago.

You can confirm that with other people from Morocco or Algeria, and not French people. >>

Shut up Hassan alias Sam/Franco! I know that you're a hispanic disuising as Arab. Your that contents of your messages show thta you're either one of them. It bears many similarities. You just came here in this forum to attck the French language. Nobody believes your lies.

The Magrebian would always prefer French. The British and the Americans tried to put up English language schools and but few Magrghrebians enroll in those schools. The situation is the same as that in Mauritius where most students are enrolled in where French is the medium of instruction. Look at Egypt, it used to be a British possession but French is widely spoken there as English. In fact many chose to go to study French than English and it's not even a member of La Francophonie and not of Commonwealth.

French is the official language in Mauritania although not the national language. You're lying stop pretending that you're an arab. You're Sam or Franco a hispanic francophobe.

Actually, Spanish is not the official language of these countires: Quechua and Aymara are the official languages in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador; Guarani in Paraguay, Quiche in Guatemala; Nahuatl in Mexico; Lunfardo in Argentina; and Portunhol in Uruguay. That's true.

Spanish was weak, is still weak and will be weaker than yesterday and today because of the bad speaking habits of its speakers in Southern Spain and Latin America even among the educated. Soon these Spanish variants will evolve into separate languages.

Aside from that, they see the Spanish speaking countries as void of potentials especially when it comes to economy.

MOST OF ALL SPANISH WILL NO LONGER BE SPOKEN AGAIN IN WESTERN SAHARA, EQUATORIAL GUINEA, AND IN FORMER SPANISH ENCLAVE IN MOROCCO BECAUSE IT GAVE WAY TO FRENCH.