Wikijunior:Languages/French

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Languages

Arabic Assamese Bengali Bikol Catalan Dutch English Esperanto Estonian French German Hebrew Hindi Japanese Korean Latin Mandarin Chinese Manipuri Marathi Nahuatl Norwegian Polish Portuguese Quenya Russian Sanskrit Serbian Spanish Swahili Sylheti Tagalog Tamil Turkish Urdu

What writing system(s) does this language use?

French uses the Latin alphabet just as English does, with the addition of several accent marks that are not used in English: the acute accent or accent aigu (é), the grave accent or accent grave (è), and the circumflex accent or accent circonflexe (ê). There is also a diacritical mark called a cedilla or cédille, which is placed under the letter c (ç) to give it a soft pronunciation (like an "s" sound) in certain situations where it would otherwise be pronounced hard (like a "k").

How many people speak this language?

There are 110 million people who can speak French natively. But there are 300 million French speakers total, which means that 190 million people decided to learn the language as adults! This is because there is a lot of interesting literature in French. French is also a language often used in diplomacy.

native speaker — someone who learned to speak a language as a child.

literature — books, like the one you are reading now.

Where is this language spoken?

French is spoken all around the world.

As you probably already figured out, French was first spoken in France. Four of France's neighbors — Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Monaco — also use French as one of their official languages. And because of colonization, French is spoken in Canada (the majority in Québec), Louisiana, Africa, and other places around the world.

colonization — to send people to govern and live in another country that may involve conquering or fighting local inhabitants. Because England colonized North America, people in the United States and Canada speak English.

What is the history of this language?

French evolved from the Latin language, just like Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian. It was first used by the Franks, a people who lived in what we now call France. In the 1600s, French people came to Canada and settled in the area we now call Québec. Some French people (who were expelled from Canada) also settled in Louisiana, which was named in honor of King Louis XIV of France. Louisiana is now a state of the United States. In the 1800s, France conquered large parts of northern, western, and central Africa, mostly in the Sahara desert. As France took over ruling these territories and their populations, they established French as the language of instruction in schools, and as the official language of the government. Over time, French became the second native language of many African people, although local languages are still used most often in the home. Although France no longer rules these former colonies, they still use French in daily life.

Who are some famous authors or poets in this language?

• Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885), Les Misérables
• Alexandre Dumas (1802 – 1870), Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers)
• Jules Verne (1828 – 1905), Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea)
• Francois Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire (1694 – 1778), Zadig ou la Destinée (Zadig, or The Book of Fate)
• Gaston Leroux (1868 – 1927), Le Fantôme de l'Opéra (The Phantom of the Opera)

What are some basic words in this language that I can learn?

Les salutations	L'e salutasio	Greetings
Salut	Saloo	Hi/Bye
Bonjour	Bonjoor	Hello
Bonsoir	Bonswahr	Good evening
Bonne nuit	Bon nwee	Good night
Quoi de neuf ?	kwa de nehf ?	What's up?
Pas grand-chose.	Pa gron shoz	Not much.
Les adieux	LeZadiyeuh	Good-byes
Au revoir.	O rehvwahr	Good-bye.
À demain.	A deuhma	See you tomorrow.
À tout à l'heure.	A tu ta leurr	See you!
À bientôt.	A biantoe	See you soon.
Phrases de base	Fraz de bas	Basic phrases
Parlez-vous anglais ?	parlay-voo Z anglay ?	Do you speak English?
Où sont les toilettes ?	oo sohn ley twalet ?	Where is the bathroom?
Plus lentement, s'il vous plaît.	Ploo lontemon, sil voo play.	(Speak) slower please.
J'aime . . .	j'em . . .	I like . . .
Je n'aime pas . . .	Juh n'em pa . . .	I don't like . . .
Je m'appelle. . .	Juh map'el . . .	My name is. . .
Comment vous appelles-vous ?	Comon voo Z ap'el voo ?	What is your name? (formal)
Comment t'appelles-tu ?	Comon tap'el tu ?	What is your name? (informal)

What is a simple song/poem/story that I can learn in this language?

Petit Papa Noël

Petit Papa Noël	Little Santa Claus
Quand tu descendras du ciel	When you come down from the sky
Avec des jouets par milliers	With toys in the thousands
N'oublie pas mes petits souliers	Don't forget my little shoes
Mais avant de partir	But before leaving
Il faudra bien te couvrir	It will be necessary to cover you
Dehors tu vas avoir si froid	Outside you will be so cold
C'est un peu à cause de moi	It's a little because of me

Dame Tartine

Il était une Dame Tartine	There once was a Dame Tartine (tartine is a kind of sandwich)
Dans un beau palais de beurre frais.	Who lived in a beautiful palace of fresh butter.
La muraille était de praline,	The walls were made of praline,
Le parquet était de croquets,	The floors were of croquettes,
La chambre à coucher	The bedroom
De crème de lait,	Of fresh cream,
Le lit de biscuit,	The bed, a biscuit,
Les rideaux d'anis.	And curtains of aniseed.

Frère Jacques

Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques	Brother James, Brother James.
Dormez-vous, Dormez-vous?	Are you sleeping, are you sleeping?
Sonnez les matines, Sonnez les matines.	Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing.
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.	Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

This song can be sung as a 'round', which is when one person or group starts the song, and when they arrive at the end of the first verse, the second person or group begins.

References

• "French language." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 31 Mar 2006, 16:33 UTC. 2 Apr 2006, 06:51 [1].
• French Wikibook