French Translation Services: The evolution of the French language

Today, there are more than 300 million French speakers across the world, of whom 255 million use the language on a daily basis. French is spoken across all continents and is ranked 5^th most spoken language in the world after English, Chinese, Hindi and Spanish. In 13 countries, more than half of the population speaks French and 20 other countries, French speakers account for 20% to 50% of the population. As projected by the Observatoire de la langue française, the number of French speakers is estimated to reach a staggering 750 million speakers by the year 2050. So French translation services has a bright future ahead.

 

A spike in Africa and Asia

According to the Observatoire de la langue française, the world counts a total of 300 million French speakers in our present day. This number represents a 15% increase compared to estimated figures between 2010 and 2014. Across the continents, Europe counts the highest number of French speakers at 87.5 million, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean at 79.1 million French speakers. However, even with only 2.8 million speakers, the Asia-Pacific region records a 43% increase in the number of French speakers, the highest worldwide.

With such figures and 900,000 teachers worldwide, French is the second most studied language after English. However, despite being spoken in more than fifty countries around the world, French is not the go-to international business language. The same goes amongst internet users, where English still stands in pole position. At the end, and in spite of year 2050 projections, French is likely to remain in the runner-up position behind English.

The Institut Français

In an interview, Christophe Chaillot, Head of the Educational and Linguistic Cooperation Department at the Institut français, discusses the benefits of learning French. Even though French has been considered to be a language of culture for many years, it can now be seen as a business language. Supporting evidence is the fact that Chinese businessmen have been increasingly learning French in order to optimize their investments in Africa. French is undeniably a business and an educational language in 48 nations across the world. In this respect, the two million or so students learn to master the French language and culture, and broaden their vision of the world, particularly the French-speaking world. To further increase the language’s expansion, international students are invited to France to study alongside university lecturers. These programs are organised by the Institut français, in collaboration with the The Francophone University Agency (AUF).

Additionally, and with the long-term objective of creating a favorable environment guaranteeing the expansion and development of the French language, the Institut français plays a vital role in organizing and celebrating the French Language and Francophonie Week taking place every year around March 20^th. Mainly intended for French-speaking countries, “The French Week” boasts expos, cultural events and digital platforms accessible to the public. The French Ministry of Culture on the other hand, has launched a national awareness campaign entitled “Tell me ten words” (Dis-moi dix mots) in order to promote the language.

2050: French…The most spoken language Worldwide

According to a study led by The French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), French may become the most spoken language in the world by the year 2050. For the time being, the study is only a projection based on countries where French is an official language coexisting with other languages such as Wolof in regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. In the decades to come, the use of French as an official language is perfectly likely to evolve. Mandarin and English may just lose their predominance.

INED’s study, an initiative led by Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, also focused on a rather significant demographic growth that may occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the region’s total population estimated at 900 million individuals in 2011, may reach 4.5 billion individuals by the year 2100. These statistics indicate that the number of French speakers in this region alone may reach 820 million individuals by the year 2050.

French Translation Services: A gateway to sell French literature

Admittedly, French books are not quite popular outside of France. Today however, translation and its fairly vital role in literature, has ushered in a wind of change. Original French titles have finally broken through the international literature market thanks to French translation into different languages.

Translation rights requests for French literary works increased from 5956 in 2003 to reach 12,200 in 2013, for an overall 7.2% yearly increase. However, these numbers include multiple genres such as children’s and young adult literature, comics, etc. rather than proper literary works.

Currently, the translation of French literary works into Chinese is quite popular with 1524 Chinese Translation rights requests last year, of which 66% were children’s literature. Italy comes in second with 1385 claimed literary titles, mainly for comic books. French titles are also translated into other languages such as English, Korean, German and Spanish.

English remains the most translated language in the world. However, the French language has begun its international journey as shown through the above-mentioned numbers.

The implementation of foreign rights departments within French publishing houses is proving quite useful.