I recently came across l’Observatoire de la langue française’s latest numbers¹Because the group updates its report every four years, these 2018 stats will be getting an update sometime this year. on La Francophonie, an organization today that represents 88 countries on 5 continents. Let’s take a look at what’s new in La Francophonie.

Photo CC0 from Tima Miroshnichenko at www.pexels.com

French around the world

The report aims to understand qui parle le français, qui apprend le français, quels sont les usages, et quel est l’importance du français dans le monde²who speaks French, who is learning French, what is it used for, and how important is French in the world? They have summarized the key findings in this helpful video. Or you can read more here.

Qui parle le français?
Il y a 300 millions de locuteurs dont 235 million qui l’utilise quotidiennement³There are 300 million speakers including 235 who use it daily (up 10% from 2014).
Le français reste la cinquième langue la plus parlée au monde.⁴French retains its place as the fifth most spoken language in the world
Le français est parlée dans 106 pays, dont 35 ou elle est langue officielle.⁵French is spoken in 106 countries, including 35 where it is an official language
59% des gens qui parlent le français quotidiennement se trouve en Afrique.⁶59% of those who speak French daily are in Africa

Qui apprend le français?
French is taught in essentially every country in the world.
With over 51 million learners, le français est la deuxième language étrangère apprise au monde.⁷French is the second most learned foreign language in the world

Quels sont les usages? 
Le français est une langue d’enseignement et dans le commerce et les affaires.⁸French is used in education, trade, and business
And of course, le français est aussi une des langues officielles des Jeux Olympiques.⁹French is also one of the official languages of the Olympic Games

Quel est le poids du français dans le monde?¹⁰What is the weight of French in the world?
La francophonie représente 16% de la population du monde (1,2 milliards d’habitants) et produit 16,5% de la richesse mondiale.¹¹La Francophonie includes 16% of the world’s population (1.2 billion people) and produces 16.5% of the worlds wealth
Le français est le quatrième langue de l’internet.¹²French is the 4th most used language on the internet

Présidentielle 2022

Back in January I mentioned that Emmanuel Macron – like many of his predecessors – had yet to declare sa candidature¹³his candidacy for the upcoming French presidential elections. A recent article from Actu.fr does a nice job of outlining the historical precedence for this procedure.

Some candidates (like Charles de Gaulle – 1965, la première élection présidentielle au suffrage universel direct¹⁴the first presidential election to be conducted by direct, universal suffrage/vote; François Mitterand – 1988) waited until just over a month before the elections to make their candidacy official.

Les Jeux Olympique

The 2022 Winter Olympics started last week. Ces 24^ème jeux d’hiver¹⁵These 24th winter games are taking place in Beijing, China. If you want to follow along in French, check out the post below.

French Vocabulary – Winter Olympics Edition

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  Because the group updates its report every four years, these 2018 stats will be getting an update sometime this year.
• 2
  who speaks French, who is learning French, what is it used for, and how important is French in the world
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  There are 300 million speakers including 235 who use it daily
• 4
  French retains its place as the fifth most spoken language in the world
• 5
  French is spoken in 106 countries, including 35 where it is an official language
• 6
  59% of those who speak French daily are in Africa
• 7
  French is the second most learned foreign language in the world
• 8
  French is used in education, trade, and business
• 9
  French is also one of the official languages of the Olympic Games
• 10
  What is the weight of French in the world?
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  La Francophonie includes 16% of the world’s population (1.2 billion people) and produces 16.5% of the worlds wealth
• 12
  French is the 4th most used language on the internet
• 13
  his candidacy
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  the first presidential election to be conducted by direct, universal suffrage/vote
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  These 24th winter games