In ancient times, the Celts lived in what is now France . In those days, the land was called Gaul (Gallia). The Romans spread their power to Gallia and made Gallia their provinces. Because the Romans spoke Latin, the local people learned Latin and began to speak it. Their own language, Gaulish, tended to be spoken less often, although Breton is a language still spoken today in the part of France called Brittany, that came from the old Celtic language.
After the Roman Empire fell and Germanic peoples swarmed the countryside, Latin was changing quickly; and in medieval France it changed into two accents or languages: langue d'oc and langue d'oïl. They both mean "language of yes", because oc was the word for "yes" in the south, and oïl meant "yes" in the north. Today, the word for yes in French is oui, pronounced like "we".
Langue d'oc is now called Occitan, and it is still spoken by many people in Southern France.
Here are some examples of French words and sentences :
Word Meaning
Oui Yes
Bonjour Hello (formal)
Salut Hi (informal)
Merci Thank you
Merci Beaucoup Thank you very much
Monsieur Sir, mister
Madame Madam, Mrs.
Homme Man
Femme Woman
Fille Girl
Garçon Boy
Poulet Chicken
Formidable Wonderful
En vacances On vacation
Eau Water
Manger To eat
Parlez-vous français? Do you speak French?
Je parle français. I speak French.
Comment allez-vous? How are you?
Je t'aime. I love you.
Où sont les toilettes s'il vous plaît ? Where are the toilets, please ?
Comment t'appelles-tu? What is your name?
Je m'appelle... (your name) My Name is... (your name)
Many French words are like English words (Because English took many words from Norman, a language very similar to French).
Places where French is spoken on the world. Dark blue countries have French as official language.
Source: Wikipedia
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