Did you know the official language of the European Union was French up until the 2000’s ?
Ah ah, French people like to say it. In fact, English is now much more used. You know international language and all…
But still, there’s more French speaking countries in Europe that just France.
And, of course, there are even more francophone countries in the world (especially African countries) – check the list of countries here.
But, for now, we’re talking about European countries where French is the native language of all or part of the population.
Belgium
Poirot ❤️
Yep, the country of Monsieur Poirot is a French speaking one.
Well, mostly.
Because, careful, French is only spoken by about 40% of Belgians, the Walloons.
A bit of geography…
Belgium is a country divided in two main regions, and even if French is one of the official languages, it’s VERY COMMON not to find any French speakers in the Flemish region (northern part).
So if you want to travel to Belgium to speak French, choose the southern part.
Also, if you are in the North of France, it’s so easy to pop over the border for a quick look. That’s the beauty of Europe!
Brussels, the capital has a mix of French, Flemish, Dutch and German speakers.
So if you speak English AND French, you’ll be good.
Even if a bit of German doesn’t hurt either.
To visit – Brussels, Liège, Dinant, Charleroi, Waterloo,..
And even if Bruges is not in the French speaking part, go and have a look, it’s magnificent. Come on, it’s not even far from the United Kingdom! It’s just like popping abroad.
Luxembourg
WHEEERE?
Have you heard about this tiny territory?
Chances are you might not even know about Luxembourg.
It’s ok. It’s a tiny country next to Belgium, on the northern border of France.
There it is.
They have their own language, Luxembourgish (I kid you not), but mostly, the population speaks French (and German) as a first or second language.
If you travel to Europe, I highly recommend you stop there. As what it lacks in size, it makes up in beauty.
Take a look.
Worth a day or two right?
To visit – Luxembourg City, Gutland, the Ardennes Park, the Moselle,…
Switzerland
Cheese, cheese, cheese and money. Is this paradise?
Switzerland is a country of languages.
As a start, there’s 4 official ones: German, French, Italian and Romansh (not as spoken as the other ones).
To speak French in Switzerland, you need to visit the Francophone western part (the parts next to France) – the Romandy to be exact.
The French spoken in Switzerland differs a bit from the French language used in France, but it’s not DRASTIC.
They use terms as septante (70), and nonante (80), instead of soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix.
I know, more logical right?
In fact, Swiss French is pretty similar to Belgium French.
To visit – Lac Léman, Geneva, Switzerland Canyon, Lausanne,…
Monaco
Monaco is a tiny tiny tiny tiny city-state, on the French Riviera.
Yes, in the lines of the Vatican. Except the Vatican is smaller.
It is a state ruled by a family, the Grimaldi.
Ever read The Princess Diary? Well, that’s the spirit.
French is the official language, even though there’s a language called Monégasque, which is spoken by approximately 5000 people only.
It’s a little gem if you like luxury travel: casinos, opera, hotels,…
To visit – The Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monte Carlo Casino, Fontvieille,…
A word before the end
I promise I’ll be quick
After this list, I feel like I have to say something.
Even if, you’ve seen it, it’s not like a whole continent speaking French!
Those European countries are indeed French speaking, but that doesn’t mean they share the same French culture.
In fact, I insist, the French vocabulary you need will not be exactly the same. So if you are speaking French already, you’ll need to check the local dialect.
There you go, I hope you learned a lot today.
If you want to read more about French speaking countries, check out this article – French speaking countries.
Where we’re talking about ALL the countries in the words where French is the mother tongue of a part of the population.
