L’Histoire de la Langue Française A Brief History of the French Language

Le Français au Passé During the Roman Empire, current day France was called Gaul. Gaul was invaded many times by the tribes living in present-day Germany. These “Germans” called the people living in Gaul, the Franks. The word France / French came from the name Franks.

From Latin to French Eventually, the Latin of Gallia “Gaul”, developed, during many years, into French. French is a part of the Romance Language group. Other Romance Languages are Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and of course, Latin. These languages are developed from Latin over many years of change.

Le Français d’Aujourd’hui “French Today” • Today, French is spoken by roughly 300 million people in about 40 different countries. • The country of France has the largest population of French speakers with Paris being the most populated French-speaking city in the world. • The country Canada has the 2nd largest population of French speakers with Montréal being the 2nd most populated French-speaking city in the world. • Europe is the largest French-speaking continent whereas Africa is the 2nd largest.

Qui parle français aujourd’hui ? Who speaks French today?

Europe France, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, & Andorra Africa 31 countries speak French mostly in the north, northwest, and west central parts North America Quebec, Louisiana, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, & 5 Islands of the Caribbean Sea South America French Guyana