Spanish is spoken in many countries, and while all Spanish speakers can understand each other, there are as many varieties of Spanish as nations that speak it.
Something similar happens with French. While French speakers can understand each other regardless of what nation they come from, the French of France is not the same as that of Canada or the Ivory Coast.
In this article we will focus more on the different variations of French in Africa.
French came to this continent through French and Belgian colonization, and it is estimated that French is spoken since then, either as a first or second language, in about 31 countries in Africa. This reality positioned Africa as the continent with the largest number of French speakers worldwide.
In some countries it has become the first language, as in Côte d’Ivoire. In other countries it is not the language spoken by a majority of people, but it is the language chosen by the elite classes and is understood by nearly all, such as Tunisia and Morocco.
There are many variations across the spectrum found in Africa French:
* The French spoken in Central, Eastern and Western Africa.
* The French spoken in Northern Africa.
* French Creole spoken in Reunion, Seychelles and Mauritania. (In previous articles we talked about the different types of “Creole”)
Some African countries where French is at the top of the podium are the the Republic of Congo, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Cameroon, Tunisia, Guinea, Mauritania, Seychelles.
In a future article we will explain some of the most important differences of the French spoken in France or the French spoken in Canada.
You can direct your inquiry to “Translation Services” and we will gladly clear up any doubts you might have.
(En español: https://www.trustedtranslations.com/frances-en-africa-2011-02-23.html)
