Historically France and the French language have had an enormous influence over the world society. Estimates of the number of French speakers around the world range from 100,000,000 to 250,000,000. French and English are the languages of world diplomacy. French is an official working language of the United Nations, the International Red Cross, the International Olympic Committee, the European Economic Community, and the International Labour Bureau. French is the second more frequently known by Europeans in addition to their mother tongue. Nearly 1/5 of non-Francophone Europeans say they know French. French is the second most frequently taught language in the world. It is the second most prevalent language on the internet. French is the only language other than English spoken on five continents. French and English are the only two global languages.
In old Russia among all languages the preference was beyond all doubt given to French - the language of the Encyclopedists, correspondence with whom was so highly valued by Catherine the Great, who won in this way the fame of one of the best-educated European rulers. It was during the reign of this empress that perfect command of the French language became a necessary part of aristocratic upbringing, a certain distinctive feature distinguishing people of noble origin, a «key» that opened the doors to higher society. It is remarkable that young noblemen, whose education on the whole was very superficial, were «when being prepared either to become Life Guards officers or courtiers …taught with special thoroughness» the French language.
The Canadian Forces Language School - Language training center for the Canadian military and Department of National Defence. Some information about the CFLS plus lots of links to online dictionaries, language sites, fonts, and other language/lingusitic resources. In English and French.
The French Directory - from Europa. Guide to learning French in France - schools, exams, etc.
The French Tutorial - a web-based step by step lesson covering basics, pronunciation, but also grammar, vocabulary and everyday French.
SOUFFLE - French courses for foreigners : 18 schools to learn French in France.
see also learning centers:
| Multi-language | Italian |
Back to Accurate Russian translation main page
Translation Resources on the Net from Accurate Russian Translations
[Language resources] [Information Resources] [Translators Databases] [Translators Teams & Networks] [Translators Directory] [Translation agencies] [Jobs for Translators and Linguists] [Russian Dictionaries] [Tools for Translators] [Ezines for Translators] [Forums for Translators] [Mailing Lists] [Translation Newsgroups] [Language schools & Learning Centers] [Add a site] [Links] [Outside links]
© Accurate Russian Translations