Introduction to the Francophone World

Bora Bora in Tahiti, French Polynesia
is a French-speaking territory of France

French is a very useful language to know because there are so many places around the world where you can meet fellow French speakers. Through exploration, conquest, and commercial endeavors, languages spread around the world along with the people who speak them. The French language has extended beyond Europe and settled in the Americas, Africa, and the Pacific.

By studying the history of French, you have seen how the French language has helped to bring people together by providing a lingua franca, or common language, that can break down the barriers that regional languages can sometimes create. You learned in this topic how French evolved from the Latin language of the ancient Romans, but it also has strong influences from Germanic languages and others that are spoken alongside French.