Each year, on 20 March, 300 million Francophones throughout the world celebrate their shared language and the great cultural diversity that comes with it. Therefore, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), an international organisation representing all countries and regions where French is an official or customary language or where it is used as a lingua franca amongst the population, organises many scientific, cultural, and festive events on all five continents.
The aim of these celebrations is to honour the potential of language and culture to unite people and promote solidarity around the globe. French, a Romance language, has always occupied a special place among languages due to its long history as an international language of diplomacy, literature, science, humanism, and the arts. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that French acts as a working language in numerous international organisations including the European Union, the United Nations, NATO, the International Committee of the Red Cross and many more.
Interestingly, there are various French loanwords in non-Romance languages such as English. Examples such as café, depot, brunette, ambulance, entrepreneur or unique are commonly used in day-to-day conversations. Therefore, when interpreting speeches from our French language section, watch out for false friends or faux-amis, words or phrases in one language that are similar in appearance to a word in another language but have a different meaning. We wish you beaucoup de plaisir avec nos discours en français!