1.4: French throughout the World
- Page ID
- 348301
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Listen to the audio clips that follow on this page to hear the French pronunciation of vocabulary and examples presented.
French in the world
"Monde francophone" by William J. Carrasco is licensed under CC BY 4.0Who speaks French and Where?
French is spoken on all 5 continents and in 84 different countries. There are currently 321 million people in the world who speak French everyday and 144 million people who are studying French. The population of French-speakers is also the growing at a faster rate than those who speak English or Chinese.
French Around the World
Watch these videos about French speakers throughout the world:
Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)
Founded in 1970, International Organization of Francophonie is an institution dedicated to promoting the French language and political, educational, economic and cultural cooperation among the 93 member countries. In French, it is called l'Organisation Internationale of la Francophonie (OIF).
A francophone is a person who speaks French or a region where French is spoken, while Francophonie refers to all the countries and institutions that share the French language and are linked by cultural and institutional ties. A francophile is a person who is fond of or greatly admires France or the French language.
The OIF's mission mandates are:
- To promote the French language and cultural and linguistic diversity
- To promote peace, democracy and human rights
- To support education, training, higher education and research
- To foster economic cooperation to bolster sustainable development
French Around the World
Read about some Fun Facts about la Francophonie.
Watch these videos about La Francohonie
- Présentation de l'Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie - OIF
- What is La Francophonie ? (CPAC)
- What is La Francophonie? (Praxis Greece organisation)
- The Francophonie in brief (in French)
French Dialects and Accents throughout the World
Just like English and Spanish, French has many different dialects throughout the world. Dialects can vary from one region to another within France, but also across Europe including dialects in countries like Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland. There is evenb more diversity across other continents like Africa, North America and Asia.
Accent vs. dialect
Do you know the difference between accent and dialect?
- Accent refers to pronunciation
- Dialect refers to a whole group of language features, including pronunciation, but also differences in vocabulary, grammar, and how the language gets used (like the rules of what counts as polite). A dialect is a variation of the same language. For example, Australian English and New England English are dialects of the English language.
When two people speak different dialects of the same language they will understand each other more or less. When they can't understand each other, it's because they are speaking different languages (and they have learned each other's language yet).
Watch this video on 45 Languages of France. The title of this video is deceiving because some of these languages are languages and some are dialects of French. See if you can recognize French in any of those.
Listen to the differences between the Parisian accent and the Southern French accent.
In this video you can hear examples of different French accents.
French Dialects in France and Europe
France
Within France alone, there are over 75 languages and dialects. Like most languages, there is so much diversity that it is difficult to know exactly how many dialects of French there are.
Regional languages spoken in France
- Corsican: A Romance language spoken on the island of Corsica, closely related to Tuscan Italian.
- Catalan: A Romance language spoken in parts of southern France near the Spanish border.
- Basque: A language isolate spoken in the French Basque Country, near the Pyrenees mountains.
- Francoprovençal: A Romance language spoken in eastern France.
- Lorrain: A dialect of the Langues d'Oïl spoken in the Lorraine region.
- Walloon: A dialect of the Langues d'Oïl spoken in Wallonia, Belgium, but also spoken in France.
- Langues d'Oïl: A group of closely related dialects spoken in northern France, including Picard, Norman, and Gallo.
- Occitan: A Romance language spoken in southern France, with several dialects.
- Breton: A Celtic language spoken in Brittany, in northwestern France.
- Alsatian: A Germanic language spoken in the Alsace region of eastern France.
Regional dialects of French in France
France has numerous regional dialects, such as Marseillais, Picard, Lorrain, and others. These dialects are characterized by variations in pronunciation, vocabulary, and sometimes grammar, but they generally allow for understanding with speakers of "standard" French. Here are a few examples:
- Marseillais: A dialect spoken in Marseille, with its own unique pronunciations and vocabulary.
- Picard: A dialect spoken in the northern part of France, with distinct features.
- Breton: While Breton is a separate language, some areas of Brittany may also have their own unique dialect of French.
Europe (Beyond France)
Dialects of French are also spoken in Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Andorra, Monaco and several other countries, in addition to the other languages spoken in there.
Learn more about The Dialects And Regional Languages Of France.
North American French Dialects
Here are some dialects of French found in North America:
Québécois (Quebec French) – The standard French dialect spoken in Canada. Quebec French is the dominant and most prevalent regional variety of French found in Canada.
Acadian French – Acadian French is a variant of French spoken by Francophone Acadians in the Canadian Maritime provinces, the Saint John River Valley in the northern part of the U.S. state of Maine, the Magdalen Islands and Havre-Saint-Pierre, along the St. Lawrence's north shore. Speakers of Metropolitan French and even of other Canadian dialects have some difficulty understanding Acadian French.
Missouri French is now spoken by a handful of people in the Midwestern United States, primarily in Missouri. It is the last remnant of the form of French once spoken widely in the region known as the Illinois Country, which was colonized as part of French Louisiana. It is considered very moribund, with only a few elderly speakers still fluent.
Creole vs. Pidgin languages
A creole language is a fully developed language that emerges from a pidgin, a simplified language used for communication between groups with no shared language. Unlike pidgins, creoles become the native language of a community, with their own distinct grammar and vocabulary, evolving naturally over time.
Chiac (Newfoundland French) – Chiac is a dialect of combined Acadian French and English and is spoken mainly around Moncton, New Brunswick. The pronunciation of French words is very different from other dialects and resembles English pronunciation. Chiac cannot be identified solely on its frequent use of English words since many other French dialects use many English words as well, but Chiac has an unusual amount of English. Chiac French has developed through proximity to English-speakers who settled nearby during the colonial period.
Chiac is perhaps best categorized as a creole language alongside Haitian Creole and Louisiana Creole, French dialects that incorporate Indigenous, African, and other European languages, as opposed to dialects such as Québécois and Brayon that deviate slightly from Metropolitan French but are nonetheless derived primarily from earlier dialects of French with little contribution from other source languages.
Cajun French – Louisiana French, the largest of the groupings, is spoken mostly in Louisiana and derives from the forms of the language spoken by the colonists of lower French Louisiana. Louisiana French is traditionally divided into three dialects: Colonial French, Modern Louisiana French or "Acadian" French, and Louisiana Creole French. Colonial French was originally the dialect spoken by the land-holding educated classes. Acadian, the dialect of the Acadians who came to French Louisiana in droves following their expulsion from Acadia during the French and Indian War, was spoken largely by the white lower classes. Louisiana Creole, a creole that developed long before Haitian immigrants arrived in Louisiana, largely developed as the tongue of the Louisiana Creole community and a significant portion of self-identified Cajuns. However, linguists now believe that the Colonial and Acadian dialects have largely merged into modern Louisiana French but remain distinct from Louisiana Creole.
African French Dialects
There are more than 20 French-speaking countries in Africa. As of 2025 it is estimated that there are 167 million French speakers in Africa using French either as a first or second language. Here are some examples of French dialects
Abidjan/Ivorian French — While various indigenous African languages are still spoken within the city of Abidjan, as well as within the entire country of the Ivory Coast, French is used by a significant amount of the population as it is the main language used in commerce, education, and government.
Kinshasa French — Kinshasa French is the main language used in government and commerce domains in the Democratic Republic of Congo, however this French is highly influenced by the four national languages (Lingala, Swahili, Kikongo, and Tshiluba) that are spoken much more frequently and casually. Many elements of Kinshasa French are also influenced from Belgian French because thaty region was colonized by Belgium.
Asian French Dialects
Cambodian French dates back to the French colonization of Indochina in 1863. Colonists taught French to the local inhabitants. This dialects are spoken by very few people, but there is an increased interest in learning French in recent years.
Indian French is the French spoken by Indians in past colonies of Pondicherry, Chandernagore, Karikal, Mahe and Yanam. There is a considerable influence from Dravidian languages like Tamil (Puducherry Tamil dialect), Telugu (Yanam Telugu dialect) and Malayalam (Mahé Malayalam dialect).
Lao French is spoken in Laos. It goes back to the French colonization of Indochina despite a decline in the language after the country's independence and the communist takeover. A revival has now raised the number of students learning French to 35%. In addition, the Laotian élite and the elderly population speak French, which is the diplomatic language of Laos.
Vietnamese French is spoken in Vietnam, which has the largest Francophone population in Asia. Over 5% of the population learns the language or speaks it well. French is also spoken among the elderly in Vietnam as a legacy of the colonial French era and also by the country's élite. A French pidgin, Tây Bồi, was spoken by Vietnamese servants in French households during the colonial era.
French Around the World
Learn more about French dialects and accents throughout the world:
The French Academy
The French Academy (l'Académie Française) acts as an official authority on the French language and publishes an official dictionary of the language. Read more about the French Academy.
