French (français)

French is a Romance language spoken by about 265 million people in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, the USA, Lebanon, French Guiana, north, west and central Africa, Madagascar, a number of islands in the Indian Ocean, Haiti and other Caribbean islands, Indochina, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides and the French Pacific Territories.

The French language is descended from Latin and first appeared in writing in 842 AD when it was used in the Strasbourg Oaths. Before then Latin was the language used for literature throughout Europe. During the 10th and 11th centuries, French appeared in a number of documents and religious writings, but French literature didn't start to take off until the late 12th / early 13th century. The first great work of French literature was the 'Chanson de Roland' (Song of Roland), which was published in about 1200.

French pronunciation

Canadian French

Here are some of the differences in the pronunciation of Canadian French.

Sample text

Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits. Ils sont doués de raison et de conscience et doivent agir les uns envers les autres dans un esprit de fraternité

Recordings of this text by:

Jean-Marie Cletz from France
Xavier G. from Canada

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Longer sample text (Tower of Babel)

Useful phrases in French

  French language courses and other materials

Links

Online French lessons
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/
http://www.rocketlanguages.com/french/
http://frenchpod.com
http://www.frenchassistant.com
http://www.jump-gate.com/languages/french/
http://www.france-pub.com/french/
http://french.speak7.com
http://www.rfi.fr/lffr/statiques/accueil_apprendre.asp
http://lexiquefle.free.fr/learn-french.htm
http://www.polarfle.com/learn_french.html
http://www.onlinelearners.net
http://www.french-flashcards.com
http://freefrench.frenchspanishonline.com

French Course London

French France

Learn French fast with Fluenz

Rocket French

Learn French - Complete Course from Beginner's to Advanced levels

Essential words and phrases in French (with audio)
http://www.transcon.info

Reviews of French language courses
http://www.rocketfrenchorbust.com/

The Learn French Language Guide
http://www.learnfrenchlanguageguide.com

Learn French pronunciation
http://phonetique.free.fr/indexgb.htm

The French Correction - a free French proofreading and correction service
http://frenchcorrection.blogspot.com

Resources for French teachers and learners (grammar, exercises, etc.)
http://www.zut.org.uk
http://www.frenchrevision.co.uk/
http://www.realfrench.net
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/
http://www.languageplus.com.au

Online French dictionaries
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/ARTFL/projects/dicos/ACADEMIE/
http://atilf.atilf.fr
http://www.granddictionnaire.com./btml/fra/r_motclef/index1024_1.asp
http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/ARTFL/forms_unrest/FR-ENG.html

French audio books
http://www.frenchclasses.com

French Electronic talking dictionaries
http://www.ectaco.com

Online French verb conjugator
http://www.tatsuto.com/conjuin/

Online French radio
http://www.radiofrance.fr
http://www.europe1.fr

Online French newspapers
http://www.lemonde.fr
http://www.liberation.fr

Related languages

Aragonese, Aranese, Aromanian, Asturian, Catalan, Corsican, French, Friulian, Galician, Genoese, Italian, Jèrriais, Latin, Lombard, Mirandese, Moldovan, Occitan, Piedmontese, Portuguese, Romanian, Romansh, Sardinian, Sicilian, Spanish, Venetian, Walloon

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet

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