I.

Introduction

French Language, a member of the Romance language group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European languages. It is the language of the people of France and is also spoken in 53 other countries including parts of Belgium and Switzerland, and in present and former French colonies, including French Guiana, north-western Africa, Indochina, Haiti, Madagascar, the Channel Islands, and parts of Canada. It holds official status in many of these countries.