The Story of French

The Story of French should be in every Francophones library or any lover of something French. It is so true the French language is unlike English, Spanish or German a unifier of those who speak it, largely stemming from French being so controlled by the France. And while the book deals a lot on France it is by far not limited to France, but the French language and thus you learn so much about the world that at one time belonged to France. This book is a true linguistic masterpiece of social, military and cultural history. Jean and Julie created a book that is well researched and as the title states a great entertaining story. Oh, if only France would have encouraged its poor to leave for the America's, put up a better fight in India, held on to the Louisiana territory, not abandon Mexico or been friendlier to its colonies during independence.

The Story of French should be in every history buff of Francophones library. It is so true the French language is unlike English or German as it acts as a unifier by those who speak it, as pointed out by the authors. The translated title of my country is the language of French can be attributed largely to how French had been so historically controlled by France. The book deals a lot on France, but the extensive exploration of the French language goes beyond the European borders and thus you are taken around the world into regions that are often overlooked but very much part of the francophone community. Jean and Julie created a book that is well researched and as the title states a great entertaining story that ties linguistic history of French into the bigger social, military and cultural history of the locations that are and were French speaking at one point. One has to wonder if the current world language of English would have remained French, if France would have encouraged its poor to leave for America, put up a better fight in India, held on to Canada, the Louisiana territory and Mexico or been more encouraging and friendlier to its colonies during independence.

This is a very readable book that explains the history and spread of the French language, with significant mention given to Francophone communities outside Europe. It is highly informative, with considerable firsthand reporting from many countries, but avoids being pedantic. The reader does not need to have a great deal of background knowledge about French to get through it. One may or may not agree with all of the authors' arguments about plurilingualism but that should not detract from anyone's enjoyment of the book. Worth reading for language enthusiasts.

The authors of The Story of French are bilingual Canadian journalists who write intelligently and gracefully about how French has become a "globalizing force," especially through the influence of the francophonie beyond France. Beginning with a summary of language history, Nadeau and Barlow discuss the origins of the French Academy and the normative French of Paris--and of myth--before moving to the reasons why French continues to flourish despite the growing clout of English. Although the book is about a hundred pages too long, there are engrossing segments throughout. For instance, how many Americans know that ten percent of Israelis speak French, or that there is influential francophone community of Lebanese in Senegal, or that at the time of the Revolution, a majority of Frenchmen were unable to speak or write French?

I gave this to my sister, who teaches English to French businessmen (and women) - they were all fascinated with the book, learned much from it, and their only disappointment was that it is not available IN French (tho she explained to them that if they could understand what was written, then they should read it in English!)