The Language of Molière
Filed under: Globalization For Business, Language, Language Learning, Translation Services
French or commonly referred to as “The Language of Molière” is one of the descendants of the Roman Empire’s language, its ancestor “Old French” was originally spoken in Northern France and Belgium then quickly expanded to other parts of the globe as time progressed.
French is an official language in 29 countries spreading from Europe, Africa, North and South America. The most common branches of French are: European French, Canadian French, French Creole and although not an official language, African French.
European French is mostly used in Europe (France, Belgium and Switzerland), the spoken dialect differ slightly from one country to another and also within certain regions in France. Metropolitan French is considered the Standard European French also known to have a slight Parisian accent.
Although North American French is referred to as Canadian French, it is only spoken in Quebec where French is considered the official language and English is a secondary language. Canadian French is heavily influenced by English, in fact certain English words have been adopted by Canadian French such as: soccer (football is European French), basket (pannier in European French).
French Creole is mostly used in South America, Louisiana and the Indian Ocean region. The spoken form has a distinct tone. The vowels are usually extended due to its Spanish and English influences. Creole is particularly different than any other type of French; it is known to include its own vocabulary. Although very similar to French, it is pronounced differently.
African French is a language inherited by French colonies after the Second World War. French is considered to be a second “native” language in countries such as Morocco, Algeria and Cameroon. The dialects spoken in these respective countries are heavily influenced by French. In fact, certain spoken words are only used in the native dialect in French and French is an official language used by the media and international affairs. The majority of these African French colonies kept close ties with France which resulted in a business and political relationship between these countries.
It is absolutely critical to identify the location of the target audience in the early scoping phases of a translation project. If this question is not addressed properly, the project is guaranteed to be a failure. Additionally, not targeting a specific French regional audience could create a misunderstand of the source content, which could cause a misuse of information, especially in the energy, medical and research fields.
The Polish Language and England
Filed under: Globalization For Business, Language, Language Learning
A recent study showed that one in ten people living in England speak a language that isn’t English or Welsh. Recently, I saw a tweet about how popular the Polish language has become in England (Polish is now the second most popular foreign language spoken there). This is primarily due to the overwhelming amount of Polish immigrants migrating to the UK, especially after the 2004 enlargement of the European Union. Today, a large number of Polish natives live in the UK, and there is a wider population of British Poles including the descendants of previous immigrants.
Immigration from Poland was at its highest in 2007 when 96,000 entered the UK. Nearly a quarter of all Polish citizens in Britain live in London. By fall of 2007, due to falling unemployment, rapid economic growth and the increased value of the złoty, the migration decreased. In 2010, the Polish-born population in the whole of the UK is estimated to have risen to 515,000 people.
Ealing, outside of London, has the most amount of Polish immigrants living there. There are also high concentrations of Polish speakers in small towns across Britain, particularly those in Eastern England with agricultural industries.
Below is the breakdown of all the languages spoken in the UK:
:: English (English or Welsh if in Wales) 49,808,000 or 92.3% of the population
:: Polish 546,000 or 1%
:: Punjabi 273,000 or 0.5%
:: Urdu 269,000 or 0.5%
:: Bengali (with Sylheti and Chatgaya) 221,000 or 0.4%
:: Gujarati 213,000 or 0.4%
:: Arabic 159,000 or 0.3%
:: French 147,000 or 0.3%
:: All other Chinese (excludes Mandarin and Cantonese) 141,000 or 0.3%
:: Portuguese 133,000 or 0.2%
:: Spanish 120,000 or 0.2%
:: Tamil 101,000 or 0.2%
:: Turkish 99,000 or 0.2%
:: Italian 92,000 or 0.2%
:: Somali 86,000 or 0.2%
:: Lithuanian 85,000 or 0.2%
