Different French Languages

French: one of the world's main languages

The status of the french language

the french language is one of the world’s major languages. It is a main or official language not just in France, but in parts of Belgium and Switzerland, in Monaco, in parts of Canada – notably but not only in Quebec – as well as being widely spoken in north and west Africa, Lebanon, and parts of south-east Asia, particularly in former French colonies. It is an official or a main second language in 55 countries worldwide, and is reputed to be the foreign language which is most widely used in international communications, after English. Almost 300 million people speak French as their native language or as a second language.

Until the early twentieth century, French was the language of diplomacy, and one of the two main languages of international negotiation; today it is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and one of the two official languages, with English, of the International Postal Union, of the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross, and other organisations. It is also an official language in the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. 

History of the french language through the centuries

Like all languages, the french language has evolved considerably in the course of time; the oldest known document written in a form of French, rather than late Latin, is the “Serments de Strasbourg”,written in the year 842. In Mediaeval times, different forms of French flourished as the language of literature in both France and England: famous works from the time include the “Chansons de geste” (Songs of chivalry), notably the epic “Chanson de Roland”, the Roman de la Rose (the Romance of the Rose), and the Arthurian legends (many written in French in England).
By the time of the Renaissance, French had evolved to a point where writers such as Rabelais andRonsard were writing in a language that is still quite comprehensible to a modern day educated reader; as for the great writers of seventeenth century France, Molière, Corneille and Racine, they remain quite understandable to this day.
Yet in recent centuries, change has been slower than with English, on account of the French Academy, the Académie Française, one of whose remits is to act as guardian of the French language. The Academy has frequently resisted changes to the French language, insisting that existing and traditional forms of the language were, by virtue of their existence, “correct French”.

Franglais, and the influence of English

Anti “Franglais” measures have had a few successes or half successes. Many English words have been banished by the Academy, but attempts to banish “email”have met with less success, and the purist’s alternative, “un courriel” has only managed to establish itself as an acceptable alternative to “email”, used notably in official communications.
Among the reasons that have helped English make inroads into many languages is the ease with which English forms new words or adapts existing words to create new ones. Although French is a "synthetic" language (i.e. a language that makes great use of inflections - prefixes and grammatical endings ) it does not adapt words to create new meanings with the ease that English does. Just look at the complexity of the expression required to render the English word "anticlockwise" in French... dans le sens inverse des aiguilles d'une montre. Surprisingly perhaps, the English word in this particular case has not entered the French language in spite of its relative simplicity. This is no doubt because it is not everyday vocabulary, not an erudite technical term.  

Regional variations of the french language

In the south of France, particularly in rural areas, there are still people who speak forms of Occitanian French, the “langues d’oc”; these include Provençal, Occitan, and Catalan. Strongly discouraged by central governments for over a century, and considered as “patois” these regional languages were fast disappearing until the nineteen-seventies, when the first significant attempts were made to revive them. Since then, there has been a major increase in awareness of regional languages and cultures in France, illustrated here and there today by road signs and street signs in two languages, and even occasional articles in regional languages in regional newspapers. The status of regional languages, as part of France's cultural heritage, is now enshrined in the French constitution. 

However, while people in the Langue d’oc areas of France speak with accents that are distinct from the accents of northerners, and may understand local patois or dialects, only a minority can actually speak or write in non-standard versions of French.
The french language is also, of course, spoken in countries other than France. It is one of the languages spoken in Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, and a number of other countries. Swiss French and Belgian French are virtually identical to standard French; just a few differences existe. In Belgium and Switzerland, people say septante instead of soixante-dix for 70, and nonante instead of quatre-vingt-dix for 90. The Belgians say octante for 80, and the Swiss say huitante for 80. In Canada, Quebec French has kept up several words and expressions that have fallen out of use in modern France; some notable examples are un breuvage instead of  une boisson (a drink), or une fournaise instead of une chaudière (stove, boiler). 

So What Are the Differences?
Will You Understand Canadians With Your Paris French?

A “romance” language, modern French is derived from Latin (as are Italian, Spanish, Portugese and some other Mediterranean languages). Mediaeval French was one of the main historic roots of modern English, notably in terms of vocabulary.

Nevertheless, though both the Academy and the French government have attempted on numerous occasions to preserve the perceived “purity” of French, modern French has been heavily influenced by English – or rather, by American – and thousands of English words have been brought into French by journalists, scientists, travellers, musicians, showbiz personalities, films, and street culture. Television chat-show hosts and their guests, businessmen and stars of all sorts pepper their French with words of English origin, which at first are quite incomprehensible to ordinary French speakers. This type of talk is known as “Franglais”. One recent example, heard in a business context, is “une to-do liste” , which appears to have entered the French language in around 2007. Words like “le shopping” or “un parking” or “le hard discount” are now so well established in modern French that many French speakers do not even realise that they are borrowed from English.

Modern standard French is derived from the variety of French spoken in the area around Paris and the Loire valley area. It is the most important variety of the “northern” group of French dialects, known as the “langues d’oil”; but it is not the only form of French.

French from France and French from Canada

It is commonly believed that Canadian French and Metropolitan French are pretty much the same, aside from a few pronunciation changes and some colloquial idiom quirks. However, those who learn Canadian French all agree that the difference goes well beyond that. In fact, the differences are so significant that if you are planning to work, live or study in Canada, it might be well worth your effort to learn Canadian French first.

In a sense, Canadian French is more traditional, for instance when it comes to grammar and idiom, whereas Metropolitan French is more formal. This is noticeable especially in pronunciation. In fact, visitors to Canada who did not learn Canadian French first, often find that Canadians consider Metropolitan French to be quite pompous.

The most striking difference between Metropolitan French and Canadian French for those who already speak French is the idiom. Obviously, both are correct, and if you analyze the different words in either language they both make a lot of sense, if you take into account cultural differences and historic development of each of the two countries.

Obviously, Canada’s border with the USA has also caused the adoption of English words into Canadian French, including the transliterations that usually go with that.

Here are some fun examples to show you how you could get seriously confused, or indeed embarrassed, if you go to Canada and you don’t learn Canadian French first:

• In France, money is ‘argent’. In Canada, they say ‘bacon’.
• A pencil sharpener is a ‘taille-crayon’, but in Canada it’s called an ‘aiguisoir’.
• Where throwing up is ‘vomir’ in France, Canadian French borrowed ‘barf’ from US English and made it a verb: ‘barfer’
• ‘Why’ in French is: ‘pourquoi?’ In Canada it’s: ‘à cause?’
• In French, kissing or a kiss is: ‘baiser’ or ‘bise’ (bisou). In Canadian French, both are: ‘bec’
• A bathroom is ‘une toilette’ in France. In Canada you could hear the word ‘bécosse’ and have no idea what is being said. It’s a deformation of the English: ‘backhouse’.
• A girlfriend in France is ‘copine’ or ‘petite amie’. In Canada it’s common to say: ‘ma blonde’ even if your girlfriend isn’t blonde at all.
• Underwear is ‘culotte’ in France, in Canada you say: ‘bobettes’
• Did you ever botch up something? They’ll understand perfectly: ‘botcher’ is the word they use in Canada.

The list is, of course, endless. What matters is that you realize that the differences are extensive. If you intend to get the most out of your stay in Canada, it’s really worth your trouble to at least learn some of its idiom.

Yes, to some degree. But there will definitely be situations where the differences in pronunciation will leave you confused.

Some of the vowels sound distinctly different. Furthermore, Canadian French tends to be even faster than Metropolitan French. When you learn Canadian French, you’ll notice that they also seem to swallow words or partial words that in Metropolitan French are indeed supposed to be pronounced. This is also partially the reason why Continental French is often seen as a bit stuck up or pompous in Canada.

So as English can be, French is a language with much varieties ! Have fun learning it !