The richness and diversity of French language
Most experienced French translators working in the area of French translation would agree with the fact that English to French translation process can stumble one with challenges that one could never have imagined. The reason behind this lies in the fact that French is spoken by a huge number of people across the world, more specifically 128 million people across 5 continents. Furthermore, it is popularly spoken in countries which are as different as chalk and cheese. Take Paris and North Africa for instance where French is a widely used second language.
So both French translation buyers, and French translators should be aware of the various French dialects as they are spoken in different parts of the world and incorporate the differences in their translations in order to make them authentic. The following are a few helpful facts-
Though most mother language speakers of French are Roman Catholics, Northern Africa where the dominant religion is Islam has a substantial population of French speakers. This is because French is the most popular second language in North Africa. Consequently the French spoken in Arabia has been significantly influenced by Arabic. Similarly French is influenced by the cultures and major languages of the countries where it has a substantial number of speakers like, Canada and Quebec. In fact French spoken in Quebec is popularly ‘Québécois’.
These are just a couple of examples from a vast repertoire of French dialects spoken around the world. Those who are working in standard French translation would do well to concentrate on the French language as spoken in Paris.
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