Does French understand English?
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Does French understand English?
Recent stats estimate that around 39\% or just under two-fifths of the French population report being able to speak English to some degree. Not many of these can speak it fluently though – much like other European countries, many of this 39\% will only be able to converse in very basic English at best.
Why do French always speak French?
It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Today, owing to France’s past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole.
Why is understanding French so hard?
The French language tends to be difficult to pronounce at first because there are simply sounds that native English speakers aren’t used to making. To begin with, French is more evenly stressed. This means that while some parts of a word are stressed, it’s not as distinct as in English.
Why are there so many French words in English?
French influence on the English language continued after the Hundred Year’s War. Today, it is considered that there are around 45\% of words in English that originate from the French language. As you can see, these events in history are the reason French words are used in English today.
Where is French spoken other than Europe?
French is the only language other than English that is spoken on at least 5 continents. Like English, French is truly a global language. French is an official language in Europe (of course), but also in North America, South America, Africa, Asia and French Polynesia.
Why are the English and French languages so similar?
Unlike isolate languages like Basque and Korean, both English and French are two languages that have continuously come into contact with each other and stolen words from each other through marriage alliances and historical conquest (similar to Arabic influence on the Spanish language by way of conquest).
Is French a good language to learn?
French is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. It’s second only to Spanish, which has a simpler grammar. That said, as noted above, English vocabulary has more in common with French than with Spanish. French is an important language for international business. There’s no getting around it.