France (Washington Insider Magazine) -The expansion of the British Empire, followed by the US’ position as the world’s leading superpower, established English as the world’s lingua franca. Today, it is the language of diplomacy, aviation, sea speak, business, and many international organizations and institutions. China’s growing clout in international affairs has increased Mandarin’s relevance, yet it remains a distant second.
The world’s other major languages are now usually considered as more of an afterthought. French, for example, was largely revered as the world’s most useful language from the 17th Century until the early 20th Century, when it was overshadowed by English. But though it is easy to dismiss its glory to the past, the importance of French is both evident and increasing.
French is the primary or secondary language in the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, NATO, the Red Cross, the Word Trade Organization, the International Olympic committee, FIFA and more. France also operates the largest international network of cultural institutes, including the Organization Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), a 77-member international organization of French-speaking countries or countries with French-speaking minority populations.
There are an estimated 300 million French speakers scattered across Europe, North and South America, the Caribbean, Middle East, and Asia Pacific. The future of French, however, lies in the French-speaking communities in Africa. As the official or secondary official language in 21 African countries, French is often used locally as a lingua franca and generally spoken alongside indigenous languages. Demographic projections predict the number of French speakers more than doubling to 650 million by 2050, with most of that growth taking place in Africa.
The world’s other major languages are unlikely to experience the same development. Spanish remains largely localized to the Americas, while Russian is limited to Eastern Europe and parts of Central Asia. Arabic is Middle Eastern-centric, while Hindi is confined to India, where it already competes with English. Outside of Brazil, Portuguese is meanwhile losing ground in Africa to English and French.
French, of course, will not replace English – at least not this century – as the world’s most popular language. But when considering the growing populations of native and secondary French speakers, the number of countries where French is used, and their combined economic, cultural, and military power, the French language is destined to become more significant. Failing to prepare for this phenomenon risks putting countries, companies, and individuals at a serious disadvantage in the future.
