is the French language in danger of disappearing?

Answer 1

I'm sure it'll never happen...
a lot of countries in the world speak French... it's widely spoken in Europe (known as language of diplomacy)...
it's spoken in certain Afriacan countries... some American countries (Canada and French Guiana)...

Answer 2

Where did you get that idea from? Questions like this make me cringe. French is a great language, with a rich history and a vast literary background. Why should it disappear? Because the English speaking world is lazy? By the way, French is spoken in Australia. That is to say, it was when I lived there! By me, a few French nationals and other French speakers. (Belgians, Egyptians, Canadians and the odd (very odd) linguistically educated Brit or Aussie).
It's not THE official language of Switzerland, but it is AN official language. German, French, Italian and Rhaeto-Romansch

Answer 3

thats a really good question. I think the answers you recieved pretty much summed up everything.

I'd like to add though that many french people think french is in danger. At least the "purity" of the language is. The Academy of the French language oversees the evolution of french and tries to keep the language as pure as possible, but many french people adapt english words all the time, much to their dismay.

French is still an important language, its still a diplomatic language and spoken in some degrees on many continents.

I speak french and live here in NYC, im from Martinique. I think this is a good place to speak it given the diversity of the population. Most of the people i run into who speak it are from west africa, haiti, etc. I never meet many French people, although im sure there are plenty here.

Also, as to the pretention of the language, i dont really see that. Most of the pretentious people ive met who know french were students or learning it as a second language. Many French people and those from francophone countries really arent like that, for me,french is another language among many, nothing to be pretentious about

Answer 4

French as a language will never disappear. The literary and poetic achievements of the French language are enshrined in world culture as much as the great classics of Greece and Rome as well as English and German literature. Each one to its own, as is customarily represented, and although one may dislike the people - there are good and bad everywhere - the language in itself is a monument to the respective nation's culture.
By the way it is not the official language of Switzerland, neither is it the third most spoken language in the world. Mandarin, Russian and English beat it by a large margin. Portuguese may just be ahead or behind but not by much.
It is still the language of diplomats due to its elegance and variety of expressions-as well as its snobbery- which,unlike English, rely on the word contents to define the situation rather than the hidden meaning or innuendo of English language. And as for sarcasm it beats any language in the world. Maybe that's why the French as a national entity are not so liked worldwide.

Answer 5

While it may seem like the French language is slowly drifting into the realm of obsolescence; it is in fact, a very important world language with many speakers in various countries across the Earth. In fact, there are 75 Million native speakers of the language, as well as an estimated 175-300 million more speakers who claim the language as a second or third language. While it is in the grand scheme of things, a smaller less important language, it is still useful for travel about France, Quebec in Canada, as well many African countries. Also one unique quality of the French language is its depiction as a higher status or "prestige" language, and it has been and will always be highly regarded by educated society in general.

Answer 6

No. The Académie française was set up to ensure is doesn't. As French culture has come under increasing pressure with the widespread availability of English media, the Académie has tried to prevent the anglicisation of the French language. For example, the Académie has recommended, with mixed success, that some loanwords from English (such as walkman and software) be avoided, in favour of words derived from French (baladeur and logiciel, respectively). Moreover, the Académie has worked to modernise French orthography. The body, however, has sometimes been criticised for behaving in an excessively conservative fashion. A recent controversy involved the creation of feminine equivalents for the names of several professions. For instance, in 1997, Lionel Jospin's government advocated using the feminine noun "la ministre" to refer to a female minister. The Académie, however, insisted on the traditional usage of the masculine noun, "le ministre," for a minister of either gender. Usage of either remains controversial — the controversy arises from the fact that the Académie's opinion is based on grammatical and linguistical considerations, whereas the feminisation usage is based on ideological considerations.

Answer 7

Why would it be many African countries used it as their common language so people from different tribes can speak to each other, it is an official (though not main) language in Canada, Guiana, several Caribbean countries, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, it is also the official language of France (obviously), Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Andorra & Monaco. It is also spoken in Haiti, Tahiti and several other Pacific countries including Vietnam. Even in the U.S. there are pockets of French based languages spoken in the Bayeux (Louisiana).

Answer 8

I don't think so. I work part-time as a professional translator from French to English and vice versa. My mother was French, my father was English, so my brother and I were brought up to be bilingual. Why have you asked this particular question? Do you think it is in danger of disappearing? I have worked in an airport bookshop and quite a lot of customers have asked me if I speak French. I say yes and off we go!

Answer 9

Yes I hope so, I feel its very pretentious for anyone to 'throw in ' a few words of French during normal conversation.
I like small peas, marked up as 'pettis poi's' or some such thing! Why? I'm shopping in an English supermarket, the bloody peas don't even come from France, I am not at all impressed.
The sooner it goes the better.

Answer 10

I don't think so. Every second person thatI meet here in my city, who wants to learn a foreign language is opting for French. Its helluva popular one in my city at least.