Editing French language (section)

== Current status and importance ==
According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022,<ref name="Francophonie">{{Cite web |title=La langue française dans le monde |url=https://www.francophonie.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/Synth%C3%A8se_La_langue_fran%C3%A7aise_dans_le_monde_2022.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317150259/https://www.francophonie.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/Synth%C3%A8se_La_langue_fran%C3%A7aise_dans_le_monde_2022.pdf |archive-date=17 March 2022 |access-date=30 March 2022}}</ref> without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses.<ref name="ontheuplocalfr2014">{{Cite web |date=6 November 2014 |title=French language is on the up, report reveals |url=http://www.thelocal.fr/20141106/french-speakers-world-language-english |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150901065140/http://www.thelocal.fr/20141106/french-speakers-world-language-english |archive-date=1 September 2015 |access-date=30 August 2015 |website=thelocal.fr}}</ref> A leading [[world language]], French is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, [[jurisprudence]], education, and diplomacy.<ref>Kai Chan, Distinguished Fellow, [[INSEAD]] Innovation and Policy Initiative, [https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/12/these-are-the-most-powerful-languages-in-the-world/ "These are the most powerful languages in the world"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324152019/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/12/these-are-the-most-powerful-languages-in-the-world/ |date=24 March 2019 }}, [[World Economic Forum]], December 2016</ref>
In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the [[UN Secretariat]]'s only two working languages<ref name="dawnmarley">Rodney Ball, Dawn Marley, ''The French-Speaking World: A Practical Introduction to Sociolinguistic Issues'', Taylor & Francis, 2016, page 6</ref>), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the [[European Union]], an official language of [[NATO]], the [[International Olympic Committee]], the [[Council of Europe]], the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]], [[Organization of American States]] (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the [[Eurovision Song Contest]], one of eighteen official languages of the [[European Space Agency]], [[World Trade Organization]] and the least used of the three official languages in the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] countries. It is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|Red Cross]] (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), [[Amnesty International]] (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), [[Médecins sans Frontières]] (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and [[Médecins du Monde]] (used alongside English).<ref>{{Cite web |last=The French Ministry of Foreign affairs |title=France-Diplomatie |url=http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/article_imprim.php3?id_article=15179 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119053541/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/article_imprim.php3?id_article=15179 |archive-date=19 January 2012 |access-date=26 July 2011 |website=France Diplomatie: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development}}</ref> Given the demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gobry |first=Pascal-Emmanuel |date=21 March 2014 |title=Want To Know The Language of the Future? The Data Suggests It Could Be...French |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2014/03/21/want-to-know-the-language-of-the-future-the-data-suggests-it-could-be-french/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924181751/http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2014/03/21/want-to-know-the-language-of-the-future-the-data-suggests-it-could-be-french/ |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=2018-11-18 |website=Forbes}}</ref> However, some African countries such as [[Algeria]] intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and in 2024 and 2025 it was removed as an official language in [[Mali]], [[Burkina Faso]] and [[Niger]].<ref name=Africanews/><ref name=Africanews2/>

Significant as a judicial language, French is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the [[African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights]], the [[Caribbean Court of Justice]], the [[Economic Community of West African States#Community Court of Justice|Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States]], the [[Inter-American Court of Human Rights]], the [[International Court of Justice]], the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]], [[International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda]], the [[International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea]] the [[International Criminal Court]] and the [[Appellate Body|World Trade Organization Appellate Body]]. It is the sole internal working language of the [[Court of Justice of the European Union]], and makes with English the [[European Court of Human Rights]]'s two working languages.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Mathilde |last=Cohen |title=On the Linguistic Design of Multinational Courts – The French Capture |journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law |volume=14 |issue=2 |date=April 2016 |pages=498–517 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/mow023 |doi=10.1093/icon/mow023 |access-date=20 June 2024 |archive-date=22 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240722173000/https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/14/2/498/2526798 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1997, George Weber published, in ''Language Today'', a comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages".<ref name="weber">[https://web.archive.org/web/20130507110651/http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm The World's 10 most influential languages], George Weber, 1997, ''Language Today'', retrieved on scribd.com</ref> In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most ''influential'' language of the world, ahead of Spanish.<ref name="weber" /> His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations, the economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the [[linguistic prestige]] associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige).<ref name="weber" /> In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged."<ref name="weber" />

Knowledge of French is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Burns |first=Judith |date=2014-06-22 |title=Foreign languages 'shortfall' for business, CBI says |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/education-27948049 |url-status=live |access-date=2018-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230172911/https://www.bbc.com/news/education-27948049 |archive-date=30 December 2018}}</ref> MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in the workplace.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Johnson |date=9 December 2017 |title=Johnson: What is a foreign language worth? |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/03/language-study |url-status=live |access-date=9 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209204031/https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/03/language-study |archive-date=9 December 2017}}</ref>

In 2011, ''[[Bloomberg Businessweek]]'' ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and [[Standard Mandarin Chinese]].<ref name="Lauerman2011">{{Citation |last=Lauerman |first=John |title=Mandarin Chinese Most Useful Business Language After English |date=30 August 2011 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-08-30/mandarin-chinese-most-useful-business-language-after-english-1- |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329042844/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-08-30/mandarin-chinese-most-useful-business-language-after-english-1-#content |url-status=live |place=New York |quote=French, spoken by 68 million people worldwide and the official language of 27 countries, was ranked second {{bracket|to Mandarin}}. |archive-date=29 March 2015 |mode=cs1}}</ref>

In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of the country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught.