Curiosities of the French language

French is one of the most widely used languages in the world, and as such, we have written this article to give you some interesting facts about the language. Like Spanish, Italian or German, the French language generates a great deal of expectation, and is a language spoken on five continents. Learn about the most interesting curiosities of the French language.

French curiosities that you'll love to discover

When we think about France, we think about things as diverse as the adventures of Asterix and Obelix, its famous cycling tour or symbols such as the Eiffel Tower. However, much of the country's wealth lies in its own language. 

It is an official language in 29 countries

In addition to France, this language is official in countries such as Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Ivory Coast, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Se. This is explained by the fact that France had numerous colonies around the world. France also has overseas territories, which is French territory, but outside its physical borders. French is, of course, also spoken there. This is similar to what happens in Angola with Portuguese, given its colonial past.

Can an Italian understand a French person and vice versa?

The two languages share 89% lexical similarity, but the difference in pronunciation and the different use of pronouns would make it very difficult for anyone speaking one of these languages to understand the other clearly. For this reason, especially if we have written texts, a translation agency is necessary to carry out the appropriate language translation.

There are French words in English (and they are not foreign words)

The United Kingdom and France have been powers in continuous rivalry. However, it is interesting to know that French words can be found in modern English. This is due to the Norman invasion of the British Isles in times gone by. The most notable examples are the terms "coup d'état", "fiancé", and "entrepreneur".

Where can the largest number of French speakers be found?

No, it is not in France itself. The African continent has the largest number of French-speaking people, around 120 million. This is due to the large number of countries colonised by France on this continent.

French in Russia

It could be said that the French language was very influential at the Russian court of Peter the Great. He was a great admirer of Gallic culture, and fought for French to be the language of high levels and government. Although French has subsequently ceased to be used in Russia, there are still many products of this language in the large Eurasian country.

Putting vowels together? Difficult in French

In French, there is only one word with all five vowels, "oiseau", which means "bird". Despite the richness of its lexicon, it is still a rather curious fact. For example, in Spanish there are exactly 42,266 words that include all five vowels of the alphabet.

A very beautiful language

The complexity of the French language makes it a challenge for translation companies. Grammatically it is a complex language, and pronunciation is far from simple, especially for English speakers. However, given the importance of French in today's world - it is the sixth most widely used language on the Internet - committed professionals are required to translate texts into this language.

I'm sure you didn't know all these curiosities about French, a language that is still on the rise and is very interesting to study. Learning French is just a matter of putting your mind to it, and requiring translation services is as easy as using reliable companies and professionals who know the language well.