7 - Canadian Parents for French

List of Interesting Facts about French •
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French is spoken in 43 different countries in the world. France has the world’s greatest number of of Nobel Prize winners in literature. (12) Paris is considered the capital of the world in terms of quality of life (Healey and Baker) French is second only to English for the number of countries where it has official status – 32 as opposed to 45. And, with 56 members, La Francophonie is is now larger than the Commonwealth, which has 53. France is the most visited country in the world with 75 million tourists every year. French-‐speaking scientists and technicians invented the hot air balloon, cinema, radial tires, smart cards, HDTV, the snowmobile, the saxophone, Velcro and more. The world’s leader in international engineering is SNC-‐Lavalin of Montreal. Voice-‐compression technology, used in a billion cellular phones worldwide, was patented by Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec. Over 50,000 English words have their origin in French, or about a third to a half of basic English words come from French, including pedigree, surf, view, strive, challenge, pride, staunch and war. French has more than a million words and 20,000 new ones are created every year. Quebec’s language protection measures have been a model for policy in Spain, France, Brazil, and 29 US states. In Canada, 300,000 children are enrolled in French immersion programs, and 3 million adults whose mother tongue is not French speak French as a second language. The Acadians had an official flag and anthem a century before Canada. New Brunswick was the first Canadian province to declare itself officially bilingual and remains the only one. There are eight million Francophones living in North America, and most are descendents of only 10,000 original French colonists. Canada is one of the few countries where Common Law is practiced in French. Lawyers from New Brunswick played an important role in drafting the constitution of Mauritius. The New Quebec Civil Code was influential in the drafting of the new codes of law in Russia and China. French cuisine is known for a variety of foods, flavors and dishes, there are 300-‐400 different types of cheeses, many types of seafood, sauces, breads, chocolates, pastries, coffees and much, much more. French is also the only language, with English, that is taught in every country of the world, with 100 million students and 2 million teachers – 20 % of whom are outside of francophone countries. Kinshasa is the world’s second largest French speaking city, after Paris, and before Montreal and Brussels. France is Europe’s foremost investor abroad. France ranks 4th in terms of world power and it does not have the debt problems facing many other major industrialized nations. (A positive sign for joint projects, business and scientific co-‐operation). French is a major language of high-‐tech and business in the world. (Second language on the internet.) French is the official language of the International Red Cross. French is the official language of post offices across the world. French is one of the two official languages at the Olympic Games. Montréal is the second largest French-‐Speaking city in the world. 7 List of Famous or Noteworthy People Who Have Learned French as a Second Language o
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Jodi Foster (actor) -‐ Academy award-‐winning Foster attended a French-‐
language prep school in Los Angeles and frequently worked in France as a teenager. As a result, she speaks flawless French. Youtube video interview with Jodi Foster in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPc-‐5SbiReo Bradley Cooper (actor) -‐ Cooper did a university exchange program in the southern French town of Aix-‐en-‐Provence as a student. Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXL2qNmcW9A o
Mitt Romney (American politician) -‐ Romney’s flair for French was attacked during his Presidential campaign, some saying he was “too French”! Romney lived in Paris during the 1960s. o
Joseph Gordon Levitt (actor) -‐ A.k.a Batman’s new Robin, Jason studied French poetry during his time at Columbia University and became an avid and self-‐confirmed Francophile and a French speaker. Youtube interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SIZKabFLAM o
Orlando Bloom (actor) -‐ Another actor from the Pirates franchise who speaks French, Orlando Bloom came by his bilingualism because his parents run a language school in England. o
Queen Elizabeth II (Queen of England) – writes all her letters to Francophone countries in French and speaks fluent French. o
Many major living French language authors – Milan Kundera, Nancy Houston, Jonathan Littel, Andreï Makhine, Tahar Ben Jeloun, Dany Laferrière, François Cheng – did not speak French as a mother tongue. o
Justin Trudeau (Canadian politician) o
Michael Gilday – went through French immersion program! 8 Top 20 French Songs You Must Hear (actually there are 100, but I have only listed the top 20. For the full 100 list, visit: http://www.frenchcrazy.com/2014/02/top-‐100-‐french-‐songs-‐you-‐must-‐hear.html ; the website also has links to all the songs so you can hear them).
20. Un Jour En France - Noir Désir (1996)
19. À Nos Actes Manqués - Jean-Jacques Goldman (1991)
18. Ma Benz - NTM Supreme (1998)
17. Lucie - Pascal Obispo (1996)
16. Les Valses De Vienne - François Feldman (1996)
15. Sympathique (Je Ne Veux Pas Travailler) - Pink Martini (1996)
14. Les Démons de Minuit - Images (1986)
13. Comme d'Habitude - Claude François (1967)
12. Mistral Gagnant - Renaud (1985)
11. L'aventurier - Indochine (1989)
10. Mon Mec à Moi - Patricia Kaas (1989)
9. Souvenirs Souvenirs - Johnny Hallyday (1960)
8. Laissez-Moi Danser - Dalida (1979)
7. Voyage Voyage - Desireless (1986)
6. On Va S'aimer - Gilbert Montagné (1983)
5. 7 Heures Du Matin - Jacqueline Taïeb (1967)
4. Ne Me Quitte Pas - Jaques Brel (1959)
3. La Vie En Rose - Edith Piaf (1945)
2. La Mer - Charles Trenet (1946)
1. Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien - Edith Piaf (1959)
Some more current ones, from higher on the list: o Coups et Blessures -‐ BB Brunes (2012) o Je Me Tire -‐ Maître Gims (2013) o Je Te Donne -‐ Génération Goldman (2012) o Dernière Danse -‐ Indila (2013) o Cosmo -‐ Soprano (2014) o Ma Direction -‐ Sexion D'assault (2012) 9

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