About the French Language

Approximately 75 million people speak French as their native language. Besides being the official language of France, French is also the official language of Haiti and Luxembourg and more than fifteen African countries. It is one of the official languages of Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada, and it is considered an unofficial second language of many countries such as Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. It is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations. In addition, many people around the world learn French in school.

The French language as it exists today is the result of a long and complex evolution. Ancient France saw many periods of invasion by different ethnic and linguistic groups: Greeks, Romans, Celts, Franks and other Germanic tribes, and Arabs. The name, France, actually comes from the name of the Germanic tribe, the Franks, who entered France during late antiquity and gradually became the dominant people. They adopted the late form of Latin being spoken in the country at the time, but added many of their own words or changed some of the Latin forms to resemble their own more closely.

French words have evolved from Latin to fit the needs and patterns of the developing French language. People who speak French today are not able to comprehend the language spoken pre-12th century without deliberately studying the words and grammatical structures which have changed over the years. Two examples: the Latin for "farmer" was "agricola"; the French is now agriculteur. The Latin for "(they) are" was "sunt"; the conjugated French verb has become sont.

French vocabulary has contributed many words and phrases to the English language. For example, hors d'oeuvre, en route, rendezvous, and R.S.V.P. all come from French.

French Looks like English, But Watch Out!

When it comes to learning French vocabulary, be warned that "false cognates" exist. These are words that are tricky because they resemble English words but have a very different meaning. For example, the French word comment doesn't mean "comment." It means "how." And demander doesn't mean "to demand." It means "to ask." A person who is sympathique is not sympathetic-- he's nice. False cognates are common when one attempts learning Dutch as well.

Formal and Informal Address in French

The concept of formal and informal address may be interesting to an English speaker who is learning French. When you speak French to an older person, or someone you don't know very well, you should use the formal vous form of address. When you speak French to a child, a good friend, or a family member, use the informal tu form of address. The French hold their pets in very high regard, and even address their pets as tu. In France, pets are treated as part of the family. It's actually a common sight to see a French person in a restaurant with their dog sitting next to them!

French Grammar and Pronunciation

The conjugation of French verbs can be tricky for English speakers learning French. French verbs fall into two main categories: regular verbs and irregular verbs. Regular French verbs are usually conjugated in a consistent way. The stem is not changed and the endings are regular. Irregular French verbs have inconsistent tense formation with changes in both the stem and ending. The conjugation of each irregular French verb needs to be memorized individually.

English speakers learning French will also find many other interesting differences between the two languages. For example, a decimal is written as a comma, and vice-versa, in French numerals. So, 1,000 looks like 1.000 when written in French. And .75 becomes ,75. Also, you might notice that the French write the number seven with a line through it (to distinguish it from the number one, which they write with a top stroke that makes it look like a seven).

Although French pronunciation follows fairly consistent rules, consistent regular practice will help a learner to speak French well. That's why good French software can be so important. It's easier than ever to learn French and to begin to speak French with the language resources and French language software from Transparent Language. With Learn French Now!, Complete Suite French, KidSpeak, and our other language learning products, you will speak French, learn French vocabulary, conjugate French verbs, understand French grammar, and master French pronunciation quickly. Bonne chance (good luck) with your French language learning!