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The development of French in Africa

  Tags: Africa | French
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
135 messages over 17 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 3 ... 16 17 Next >>
Rutabaga
Bilingual Pentaglot
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Romania
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 Message 17 of 135
09 November 2011 at 2:00pm | IP Logged 
Ok, fair enough. But a lot of francophone countries contain a lot of natural resources, which are causing a lot of outside interest. And essentially, Africa remains one of the last untapped markets, so there is huge potential. Just think of what Congo alone is sitting on and the interest countries like China have in it. And for the record, the Chinese coming to Francophone Africa are learning French.

I guess what confuses me more is that there seems to be an attitude that French might just die out in Africa. I think anyone who has visited the francophone countries knows how alive the language still is there.
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montmorency
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United Kingdom
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 Message 18 of 135
09 November 2011 at 7:17pm | IP Logged 
Haldor wrote:
Rutabaga wrote:
I don't really see why Spanish is considered that much
stronger. Outside of the Americans, almost no one speaks Spanish. Like French, it is
important in one geographical region and not another.

You mean, outside of the entire South America (yes except Brazil)? Well, those countries
have vast populations, making the Spanish language one of the most spoken languages in
the world, and they speak it as a first language, giving Spanish a much stronger position
in S America, than French in Africa



I think Spanish is also fairly popular to learn as a second language. I suspect it has
pushed out German in quite a few schools in England, for example.
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montmorency
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 Message 19 of 135
09 November 2011 at 7:19pm | IP Logged 
Rutabaga wrote:
Ok, fair enough. But a lot of francophone countries contain a lot of
natural resources, which are causing a lot of outside interest. And essentially, Africa
remains one of the last untapped markets, so there is huge potential. Just think of what
Congo alone is sitting on and the interest countries like China have in it.



Colonisation 2.0
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Mad Max
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Spain
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 Message 20 of 135
10 November 2011 at 3:14pm | IP Logged 
Spanish is obviously more important than French:

1. Spanish is spoken by over 50 million people in 3 continents (North America, Europe
and South America), meanwhile French is spoken by over 50 million people in only two of
them (Europe and Africa).

2. Spanish is the mother tongue of 425 million people worldwide. French is the mother
tongue of only 70 million people. The power of a language depends on the native
speakers, and French is weaker than Spanish in this point.

3. United States of America is the most powerful country on Earth. In this country,
there are some 50 million of Spanish speakers and less than 2 million of French
speakers. Besides, there will be over 130 million of Hispanics by 2050.

4. French is a second language in Africa. So, some African countries can change their
foreign languages. For example, a Senegalese speaks Wolof (mother tongue). Besides, he
studies French at school. However, English or Arabic can be the foreign language
tomorrow in this country.

5. French is not yet the official language in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania,
Lebanon, Syria, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia or Rwanda. So, French was official in some 38-
40 countries. Nowadays is only official in 28 of them. If we consider these data, it
can be official in only 18-20 countries in 2050.

6. According to the Francophonie, French is spoken by some 200 million people. Spanish
is spoken by 500 million worldwide (Instituto Cervantes).

7. Spanish is very studied in countries like the USA (North America), Brazil (South
America), France (Europe), Morocco (Africa), Israel (Middle East), Philippines (Asia),
Australia (Oceania).

8. Spanish is official in the United Nations, NAFTA (North America), the African Union,
the European Union, the Central American Integration System, CARICOM (Caribbean),
UNASUR (South America), Antartic Treaty and it is one of the languages used in the APEC
(Asia-Pacific), So, it is becoming a World lingua franca.

9. Portuguese and Spanish are vey similar. Both languages together are apoken by some
750 million people. They will be 1 billion in the near future.

1o. Finally, Spanish will be the most spoken world language by 2045, according to
several reports.
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Haldor
Triglot
Senior Member
France
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103 posts - 122 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Swedish
Studies: French, Spanish

 
 Message 21 of 135
10 November 2011 at 8:31pm | IP Logged 
Mad Max wrote:
Spanish is obviously more important than French:

1. Spanish is spoken by over 50 million people in 3 continents (North America, Europe
and South America), meanwhile French is spoken by over 50 million people in only two of
them (Europe and Africa).

2. Spanish is the mother tongue of 425 million people worldwide. French is the mother
tongue of only 70 million people. The power of a language depends on the native
speakers, and French is weaker than Spanish in this point.

3. United States of America is the most powerful country on Earth. In this country,
there are some 50 million of Spanish speakers and less than 2 million of French
speakers. Besides, there will be over 130 million of Hispanics by 2050.

4. French is a second language in Africa. So, some African countries can change their
foreign languages. For example, a Senegalese speaks Wolof (mother tongue). Besides, he
studies French at school. However, English or Arabic can be the foreign language
tomorrow in this country.

5. French is not yet the official language in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania,
Lebanon, Syria, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia or Rwanda. So, French was official in some 38-
40 countries. Nowadays is only official in 28 of them. If we consider these data, it
can be official in only 18-20 countries in 2050.

6. According to the Francophonie, French is spoken by some 200 million people. Spanish
is spoken by 500 million worldwide (Instituto Cervantes).

7. Spanish is very studied in countries like the USA (North America), Brazil (South
America), France (Europe), Morocco (Africa), Israel (Middle East), Philippines (Asia),
Australia (Oceania).

8. Spanish is official in the United Nations, NAFTA (North America), the African Union,
the European Union, the Central American Integration System, CARICOM (Caribbean),
UNASUR (South America), Antartic Treaty and it is one of the languages used in the APEC
(Asia-Pacific), So, it is becoming a World lingua franca.

9. Portuguese and Spanish are very similar. Both languages together are apoken by some
750 million people. They will be 1 billion in the near future.

1o. Finally, Spanish will be the most spoken world language by 2045, according to
several reports.


I absolutely agree! Mad Max, you are not as mad as one would think! Spanish is the official and (primarily) first language in all of these countries, and is therefore a certain world language for the future. I really don't give a rat's ass if French is studied in Polynesia and Switzerland, that doesn't make it important.

French has until recently been an important language. However, its status has declined dramatically during the past hundred years. So, I predict that unless it becomes a true maternal language in Africa, it might diminish significantly, as it is not important in the rest of the world. Hence will its presence in education diminish along with it...
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Ari
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Senior Member
Norway
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Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese
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 Message 22 of 135
10 November 2011 at 9:33pm | IP Logged 
Mad Max wrote:
1. Spanish is spoken by over 50 million people in 3 continents (North America, Europe
and South America), meanwhile French is spoken by over 50 million people in only two of
them (Europe and Africa).

I know a couple of Quebecois who would take issue with this statement. French is a pretty important language in
Canada.

For the rest, I agree with much of what you're saying. Spanish is strong and on the rise. French is weak (by
comparison to Spanish, not in absolute terms) and on the decline. Africa has the possibility to turn that trend, but
only time will tell.
4 persons have voted this message useful



Haldor
Triglot
Senior Member
France
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103 posts - 122 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Swedish
Studies: French, Spanish

 
 Message 23 of 135
10 November 2011 at 10:00pm | IP Logged 
Ari wrote:
Mad Max wrote:
1. Spanish is spoken by over 50 million people in 3 continents (North America, Europe
and South America), meanwhile French is spoken by over 50 million people in only two of
them (Europe and Africa).

I know a couple of Quebecois who would take issue with this statement. French is a pretty important language in
Canada.

For the rest, I agree with much of what you're saying. Spanish is strong and on the rise. French is weak (by
comparison to Spanish, not in absolute terms) and on the decline. Africa has the possibility to turn that trend, but
only time will tell.


Okay, well, I think Ari's right here, I suppose French is important in Canada, but English is still the most spoken language. And Africa, I think, will decide the fate of French. What I'm looking for is actually just clues to which way the tide is turning? Will French become a true first language or just a language of commerce and education?
1 person has voted this message useful



nway
Senior Member
United States
youtube.com/user/Vic
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574 posts - 1707 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean

 
 Message 24 of 135
11 November 2011 at 3:42am | IP Logged 
Ari wrote:
Mad Max wrote:
1. Spanish is spoken by over 50 million people in 3 continents (North America, Europe
and South America), meanwhile French is spoken by over 50 million people in only two of
them (Europe and Africa).

I know a couple of Quebecois who would take issue with this statement. French is a pretty important language in Canada.

I'm not sure how a Quebecois could take issue with a factual statement. Quebec doesnt have 50 million people—it has 8 million.

Edited by nway on 11 November 2011 at 3:44am


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