Here’s a breaking news for you: French is not the same everywhere. You might already know. But I’m not just talking about accents.
Of course, you know that French is spoken widely. And just as English is different in the UK and in the US, French is different in Quebec and in France, in Senegal and Belgium,…
So, what am I talking about ?
How is French different in those countries, and why ?
First, why?
You have to understand. A language is not merely a group of words to describe concepts invented by an academy of old men in fancy suits. No.
Languages as English or French or Spanish or Russian or Mandarin are assembled bits by bits by events, shaped by collective experiences, driven by technologies and historical moments.
And most importantly, they evolve constantly.
FIY, it’s one of the reasons why learning languages is hard as hell.
That’s also why languages come with expressions and idioms. And that’s why an Englishman will see rain pouring and a frenchman will see it as rope. French is no exception.
There is a definite correlation between a language and its nation’s ideology.
But it does not stop there...
What you and I call French, is not one homogeneous language that has definite rules everyone speaking French must follow.
There is differences in French vocabulary, expressions, and even grammar from one part of France to another, let alone from one country to another.
You maybe experienced it yourself. You might have talked with a Parisian without any problem, but struggled to understand someone from Marseille. You might read French perfectly but are not able to understand spoken French.
Sometimes, there is even differences from one village to another, or from one family to another. And I’m not even talking about personal expressions.
In one of my friend’s family you can hear : ‘il fait soleil’. That means ‘it’s sunny’. But it’s not something every frenchman will understand. The most common expression being : ‘il fait beau’.
Languages evolve so rapidly that my grand-parents are I sometimes don’t understand each others. It is rare, and easily fixed, but nevertheless we use some words differently. My grandma uses the word ‘pays’ as I use ‘village’.
But let’s move on to some practical differences, you might experience at your level of French :
Expressions and idioms
The first point of difference you’ll experience is within the expressions.
Now, I cannot possibly make an inventory of every different expressions in every dialect of French. But here are a couple of classic ones so you can understand how different French can be :
Tu fais quoi de bon ? VS Tu fais quoi de bien ?
The difference between bon and bien is actually already quite hard to understand. What’s even more confusing is that French people and Quebecois people are not using it the same way.
This expression is the equivalent of the English ‘what’s up?’ or ‘what are you doing?’.
And to confuse you even more, ‘tu fais quoi de bon?’ could be translated by ‘what are you cooking?’.
Try to guess which expression belong to which country! The answers are at the end of the article.
Etre en état VS être en cloque VS être en balloune
What’s so interesting about expressions if the fact that they tell you a lot about how societies that uses them think.
Être en état is something quite normal, expected almost, while the word cloque and balloune are actually funny and visual. They all mean ‘to be pregnant’.
These expressions originate from : Québec, France and Sénégal. Again, try to guess which expression correspond to which country.
If you want to learn new expression, hop on those websites :
- Senegal
- France
- Quebec
Words
Second point of difference: vocabulary.
Sometimes it’s not just about expressions. Although you could think that when you hear it for the first time. But the words are actually different.
One of the most famous examples of this difference is the word gosse.
In mainland French, it means a kid. In Canadian french however, it means testicule.
Now, you could think, this is totally weird. I can hear you thinking ‘I’ll never get the hang of it’. But don’t worry, not all words are as different as this one is in Québec and in France.
The etymology of both these words is totally different. The Canadian gosse is coming from the word gousse, which means pod. It makes sense now, doesn’t it? The French word doesn’t have the same origin, it is believed to come from the Provencal word ‘goz’, which means ‘dog’. A ‘gousson’ is a puppy. Hence the gosse being a kid.
And this difference of origin is sometimes even more pronounced.
Because it all comes down to influences
Canadian French is heavily influenced by American English. You will find words like : party, drille, moppe, all-dressed,… Those words don’t exist in mainland French, but make perfect sense in Québec.
Sénégal french has other kinds of influences : especially the wolof. You could hear sentences like this “waw d’accord, dama bueugue régler problème bi.” This sentence is not understandable for a French person from France, and probably isn’t either for a Canadian French. Yet, it bloody looks like French!
And I could go on, because differences of influences can also be heard within those countries. A French from Picardie doesn’t speak the same french as someone from Brittany will. They mostly understand each other though.
And yes, sometimes even grammar changes from one French to another. I know it can be overwhelming. But I promise that if you stick to one dialect, it will make sense. After you master one French, you’ll understand mostly the other ones anyway.
So you must be clear on one thing : which French do you want to learn?
So don’t take it the hard way when you don’t understand an idiom, or a word, or a sentence. Maybe you’ve learnt some Canadian French, or maybe it’s not a word people use in this specific region you’re in. Either way, relax, laugh it out, and explain. It’s a great way to start a conversion.
This part IS in the Roadmap, and you will probably hear it over and over again on Just French it. Get used to it already! 
Answers :
1 thought on “Different French dialects: How are they different and why?”
Thank you for your explanation of this. I think different dialects are so interesting. I am from South Louisiana, US and of Cajun French descent. We use some words in our everyday speech that would probably be very confusing for someone from Quebec or France to understand. Sadly, the Cajun dialect is dying out. My grandparents (born in 1923) and those before them spoke Cajun French and did not learn English until they were in school. And then they were punished for speaking Cajun. Because of this not all of their children learned it and less and less of their grandchildren know it. One of my deepest regrets was not learning from my grandparents. I am now trying to learn the original French to make up for it. It’s just unfortunate that Cajun French was not written down and is therefore almost impossible to learn except by word-of-mouth. And the people who once knew it fluently are all very elderly and passing away. 🙁