Language of Diplomacy

1
I hope I have convinced you that French is used
throughout the world in many wealthy and worth
visiting countries!
I would like to now tell you how French has
become the language of high diplomacy
2
To understand how French has become the language
of high diplomacy we must first take a short
look at the history of the language

• In XVII XVIII century, France was the biggest
  European country with a huge army and good life
  for upper classes.
• Thanks to the efforts of the French Academy,
  French was already a defined language. That
  means that what was written then in French
  wouldn't change its meaning in following years.
• Because of intellectual, cultural, and industrial
  achievements of France, the French language
  became the undisputed medium of culture and
  refinement. It came to be considered the door to
  everything that was sophisticated, modern,
  stylish

3
It was in this period that French replaced Latin
as the language of world universal language
In 1763 France, Spain, Great Britain and Portugal
signed the Treaty of Paris that ended the so
called Indian War. Even though France lost the
war, the whole Treaty was negotiated and signed
in French.

• Since that time, French has been the unique
  language of the worlds high diplomacy and
  remained such until 1919!!

4
Of course everything change in the 20th century
and French was replaced by English

• France went to war against Germany 3 times in 3
  generations
• Tried to deal with aftermath of German
  occupation, the legacy of Nazi collaboration and
  its own participation in Holocaust
• The countys reputation suffered during the
  decolonization of Vietnam and Algeria
• In the middle of all this French ceased to be the
  unique language of high diplomacy
• The Treaty of Versailles that ended WWI was
  signed in 1919 in both French and English.

Source The Story of French by JeanBenoît
Nadeau and Julie Barlow
5
But even though English is today the worlds
lingua franca, French has kept its place in
high diplomacy!

• Many international organizations such as the
  International Telegraphic Union, the Universal
  Postal Union, and the International Bureau of
  Weights and Measures were created in the early
  19th century and have their headquarters in
  French speaking cities like Geneva
• In the opinion of many countries, establishing
  English as the only working language of the
  United Nations gave the U.S.A. too much of an
  edge.
• The French language favors precise definitions in
  its clarity and precision it uses a lot more
  determiners, adverbs, conjunctions and the like
  to link parts of sentences together and clarify
  their relationships. Conversely, English is more
  likely to create ambiguity and its concision can
  be seen as bluntness!

6
International organizations and NGOs that use
French as their working language

• United Nations (The Secretariat uses two working
  languages, English and French)
• Cour Pénale Internationale (along with English)
• Cour internationale de Justice (along with
  English)
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (along with
  English)
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and
  Development (along with English)
• International Olympic Committee (along with
  English)
• 31-member Council of Europe (along with English)
• The European Commission, conducts its internal
  business in three languages, English, French and
  German
• And many others

7
The recent listing of international jobs
(07/03/07), distributed by the U.S. State
Department, proves that if you were ever
interested in working for international
organizations you should think of studying
French!
BECAUSE

• 125 of the jobs listed by the State Department
  required or preferred French!
• Only 31 required Spanish.
• 25 a UN language (Arabic, Chinese, English,
  French, Russian, and Spanish)
• And 10 Portuguese, 7 Arabic, 4 Russian, and 2
  German,

8
Sources

• The Story of French by JeanBenoît Nadeau and
  Julie Barlow
• Article by Richard Shryock from Virginia
  Polytechnic Institute and State University
  French the Most Practical Foreign Language
  http//www.fll.vt.edu/french/whyfrench.html
• The Economist Intelligence Units quality-of-life
  index 2005
• CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS
  Web U.S.-French Commercial Ties
• French American Chamber of Commerce in
  Cleveland
• Embassy of France in the United States
• Great Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
• IFA Invest in France Agency
• Ambassade de France Missions Economiques