If you partake in international business, the chance that you’ll need French language interpretation is significant. At Network Languages, we often find that our clients are shocked to discover the widespread nature of the French language.

Some form of French is taught in the schools of every country in the world, to approximately 100,000,000 students by 2,000,000 teachers. French is an official language in 29 countries. This is only second to English, which claims official status in 45 countries. This means that French-to-English and English-to-French language interpretations are two of the most common in the world.

Since 1945, the number of French-speaking people in the world has grown by 300 per cent and it is predicted that by 2050, 8 per cent of the world’s population will speak some form of the French language. Thanks to the broad colonisation ambitions of Belgium and France, the French language was propagated widely in the 1600s through the 1900s. As states gained independence from France, most kept French as their official language and remained immersed in the French way of education, scientific research, and government. This means that those nations which maintained French as an official language have also established their own vernaculars, and therefore require specific mother-tongue interpreters to get the specific culture and dialects correct in French language interpretation.

French is a working language for the UN, Amnesty International, the EU, the European Space Agency, the World Trade Organisation, the International Olympic Committee, the International Court of Justice, Doctors without Borders, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the International Red Cross, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Labour Organization, and more – so you can imagine how important French language interpreting is within these organisations.

French is spoken as a primary tongue in France, Monaco, parts of Belgium (Brussels and Wallonia), the Romandy region of Switzerland, Haiti, provinces of Canada (Acadia and Quebec), and northern Maine and the Acadiana region of Louisiana in The United States, with more than 110,000,000 million native-speaking citizens worldwide. As a second language, it is spoken by 190,000,000 people, but most predominantly in portions of Africa (Algeria, Gabon, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mauritius). Within the European Union (EU), the mostly commonly spoken languages are English, German, and French – in that order, meaning that German-to-French and French-to-German interpretations are also commonplace.

Not only is it important to find a professional French language interpreter for your conference, tour, or other live event, it is critical that you find one capable of interpreting in the proper dialect. Dialects of the French language include Acadian, African, Aostan, Belgian, Cambodian, Canadian, Creole (with a number of sub-dialects), Guyana, Indian, Jersey Legal, Lao, Louisiana, North African (or Maghreb), Meridional, Metropolitan, Missouri, New Caledonian, Newfoundland, Quebec, Southeast Asian, Swiss, Vietnamese, and West Indian French.

As you can see, any number of international (and even domestic) relations will require a skilled French language interpreter. To obtain a quote for French language interpretation, simply call (+44) 1344 870700 or email Network Languages.