Alice- La francophonie（The Francophonie -The French-speaking World)
The term Francophonie
refers to the countries where French is spoken, at least partially. French does
not have to be the official language of a country for it to be part of the Francophonie:
French can also be a cultural language of the country (as, for example, in the
former colonies), or be used by a minority, etc.
Eighty-eight
countries in total are members of the international organization of the Francophonie.
These countries can be found in all continents. Which ones do you know?
Accents,
expressions, even words change depending on the French-speaking country where
you are. Thus, the Belgians simplified the numerical system by getting rid of
"soixante-dix" (seventy - “sixty-ten”), "quatre-vingt"
(eighty - “four-twenty”) and "quatre-vingt-dix" (ninety -
“four-twenty-ten”) in favor of "septante", "ottante" and
"nonante" (which makes more sense!), and Canadians call their cars
not "rides" but "carriages"!
March 20th
is the International Day of the Francophonie and every year an official
dictation competition is organized in secondary schools. The participation of
students is not compulsory, but it is rather fun.
À bientôt dans une prochaine leçon !
See you soon in the next lesson!