French-Speaking Communities: what is it exactly?

French-speaking communities include all the people who speak French. We call them French speakers. French is not the most spoken language in the world. At the top of the list is Mandarin (China) followed by Hindi (India), English, Spanish and then French.

Yet there are 123 million French speakers in the world. Where are they located exactly? Of course they are in France, but also in Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec (Canada). There are also French speakers in many other countriesi. We can find them in Africa (Ivory Coast, Congo, Cameroon, etc.) and in Asia (Vietnam). In fact , there are 44 countries which  use French their official language.

Do you know any French speakers ? Maybe you do but without knowing it! Celine Dion, for example, is a French speaker. Jodie Foster, the American actress and Khristin Scott Thomas, the British actress, both speak French very well. 

Be careful not to mix up the word “francophone” (which means::French speakers) and “francophile” (which refers to people who love the French culture and language).