Nafsika Tsouni

* Today, lingua francas play an important role in global communication. The United Nations defines its official languages as Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. * A major advance for any language is to become a Lingua franca. Almost invariably the result of power and prestige, this status is achieved by French after the heyday of France's international influence under Louis XIV. In more recent times English - first through the British empire, but more significantly through American world dominance in the 20th century - has replaced French in this role.

* French is one of the very few languages spoken all over the world, ranked the sixth most widely spoken language after Mandarin Chinese, English, Hindi, Spanish and Arabic. * There are currently over 220 million French speakers worldwide, including 72 million so-called partial French speakers. * French is an Italic language descended from the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire, as are languages such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Lombard, Catalan, Sicilian and Sardinian. * France and the French-speaking countries play an active part in the world economy, accounting for some 20% of world trade in goods. * French shares with English the distinction of being taught as a foreign language in the education systems of most countries around the world. French is thus the second most widely learned foreign language in the world, with almost 120 million students and 500,000 teachers. * According to different sources, nearly 30% of all English words have a French origin.

* French remains one of the most important diplomatic languages, with the language being one of the working languages of NATO, the International Olympic Committee, the UN Secretariat. It is also a working language in nonprofit organizations such as the Red Cross. * French is the fourth most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union. * French is an official language in 29 countries, Belgium for instance, most of which form la francophonie (in French), the community of French- speaking. * According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, French speakers will number approximately 500 million people in 2025 and 650 million people, or approximately 7% of the world's population by 2050.Estimates in 2013 suggest that French speakers will reach 1 billion by 2060.

* French was the most important language of diplomacy and international relations from the 17th century to approximately the middle of the 20th century. English has now taken over that role, since following the Second World War. * French was the lingua franca because France was the most powerful European country for some time - Germany and Italy were a plethora of small kingdoms and states and Paris was the center of European culture. * France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture since the 17th century, first in Europe, and from the 19th century on, worldwide. From the late 19th century, France has also played an important role in cinema, fashion and cuisine.

Like most countries in the world, France has scores of famous people, many of whom have become historical figures. These famous French people are representative of the country's ethos and values. They define their nation's culture and display to the world the best qualities of their country. * Claude Monet Born: 14 November 1840 Died: 5 December 1926 Profession: Painter Claude Monet was one of the pioneers of the impressionist painting style in France.

* Jean-Jacques Rousseau Born: 28 June 1712 Died: 2 July 1778 Profession: Philosopher Rousseau's political ideas were highly influential on the French Revolution, the formation of socialist and liberal theory, and the development of nationalism. * Coco Chanel Born: 19 August 1883 Died: 10 January 1971 Chanel was a French fashion designer and founder of the CHANEL brand. A prolific fashion creator, Chanel's influence extended beyond couture clothing.

* Acadian French * African French * Aostan French * Belgian French * Cambodian French * Canadian French * French-based creole languages * Guyana French * Indian French * Jersey Legal French * Lao French * Louisiana French * Maghreb French (North African French) * Meridional French * Metropolitan French * Missouri French * New Caledonian French * Newfoundland French * Quebec French * South East Asian French * Swiss French * Vietnamese French

* * en.wikipedia.org * * * y/a/li nguafranca.htm * * *