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French (''français'', ) is a , second, or "adopted" language; 60,612,000 " Occasional Francophones " for whom usage and mastery of French are limited only by circumstances or by expressive capability; 100–110 million " Francizers ", who have learned French for several years and have maintained limited mastery, or who have simply been required to learn enough to perform their job. with significant populations in 54 countries. French is descended from the Latin of the Roman Empire , as are languages such as Spanish , Italian , Catalan , Romanian , and Portuguese . Its development was also influenced by the native Celtic Languages of Roman Gaul and by the Germanic language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. It is an Official Language in 29 Countries , most of which form what is called in French ''La Francophonie '', the community of French-speaking nations. It is an official language of all United Nations agencies and a Large Number Of International Organisations . GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION Europe Legal status in France See Also: Toubon Law Languages of France Per the ). France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public Education outside of specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal Contract s; Advertisement s must bear a translation of foreign words. In France, all matters concerning the Orthography , Grammar , Vocabulary and use of the French language have been governed by the Académie Française since the mid 17th century. Contrary to a common Misunderstanding both in the American and British Media , France does not prohibit the use of foreign words in Websites nor in any other private publication, as that would violate the Constitutional right of Freedom Of Speech . The misunderstanding may have arisen from a similar prohibition in the Canadian province of Quebec which made strict application of the Charter Of The French Language between 1977 and 1998, although these regulations addressed language used in advertising and the provision of commercial services offered within the province, not the language of private communication. In addition to French, there are also a variety of regional languages. France has signed the European Charter for Regional Languages but has not ratified it since that would go against the 1958 Constitution. Switzerland French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland (along with German , Italian , and Romansh ), and is spoken in the part of Switzerland called '' Romandie ''. French is the native language of about 20% of all Swiss. Belgium In Belgium , French is the official language of the Walloon Region (excluding the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of the two official languages—along with Dutch—of the Brussels-Capital Region where it is spoken by the majority of the population, be it often not as primary language. |
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