[.ca] The Story of French (ISBN 0676977359)

FRENCH EXPLAINED MERCI:
This is a brave book. Jean-Benoit Nadeau and his partner Julie Barlow, a young couple from Canada, have written an excellent history of the French language that is both accessable and engaging even to a reader with only a passing knowledge of the language. They have done this in order to help "retrieve" French for the world, which increasingly is going globally unilingual English. In the face of such competition, Nadeau and Barlow have staked their ground and state clearly that French is still alive, useful, and important. The development of French through history is explored and is full of surprises. French at one time was spoken by a minority of the population of France. Although French was long the universal language of diplomacy, it was the French Revolution that standarized the language for all school children in the country. The famous Academie Francaise is hardly the language police that most people believe it to be. Strangely, French speakers outside of France are given less importance by France than would be expected. In terms of Speakers, French ranks only number 9 in the world. But in terms of countries with official status, it is in second place. Quebec is in many ways in the vanguard of a modern and vibrant French and many countries with a French status look to Quebec now for learning instead of the "home" country. Nadeau and Barlow have done important work in writing this book. If nothing else the reader will finally learn the difference between the Francophonie and the francophonie and perhaps, even reactivate their high school French.