About French

French is a beautiful language. Once you learn the often tricky pronunciation, the words will flow effortlessly. French is not as widely spoken as Spanish, but it is an official language in many countries, and it is a good idea to have at least a working knowledge of the language when you visit France.

History

French evolved from the Latin spoken by the common people of Rome, not from classical Latin. The common people of Rome developed their own Latin language during the Middle Ages. This Latin of the people, or Vulgar Latin, was spoken by the soldiers who conquered France, which at the time was known as Gaul. The natives put their own twist on the Latin, making a language of their own.

Features

French is a romance language, based on Latin like Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Corsican, Sardinian, Sicilian, Spanish and Venetian. French is spoken by about 98 million people world wide. French is an official language in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and parts of Africa, and is the official diplomatic language--the language that all diplomatic documents are written in--and is the official language of the United Nations. All United Nations employees have to speak French.

Grammar

French grammar is very different from English. First of all, all nouns are either masculine or feminine. Nouns that have "le" in front of them, as in "le crayon" ("the pencil"), are masculine. If nouns have "la" in front of them, as in "la radio" ("the radio"), they are feminine. "Les" denotes plural nouns.
Many French words are the same as they are in English, like "radio," "table" and "voyage." Some French words have more than one meaning: "Garcon," for example, can refer to a male child or a man servant.

French Words

There are some French words that anyone planing a trip to France should know. They are also some of the first you learn when studying French. The days of the week are Lundi (Monday), Mardi (Tuesday), Mercredi (Wednesday), Jeudi (Thursday), Vendredi (Friday), Samedi (Saturday) and Dimanche (Sunday). "Bonjour" means "Good Day," "Bonsoir" means "Good Evening" and "Bonnuit" means "Good Night." If you want to ask someone if they speak English, say "Est-ce que vous parlez anglais?" (see Resources below).

Considerations

With the business world becoming more international, the more languages you learn, the better off you are. French is not that hard to learn, and once you learn it, learning the other Romance languages is easier. Consider taking a course at your local community college, or there are many websites that can get you stated as well. Choose those that have audio so you can hear the words spoken (see Resources below).

Resources

• French Words
• French Online Lessons With Audio