French seeped into the English language during the Norman Invasion/Norman Conquest of England in 1066. According to Wikipedia, "One of the most obvious changes [from the Norman Conquest] was the introduction of Anglo-Norman, a northern dialect of Old French, as the language of the ruling classes in England, displacing Old English. This predominance was further reinforced and complicated in the mid-twelfth century by an influx of followers of the Angevin dynasty, speaking a more mainstream dialect of French. Not until the fourteenth century would English regain its former primacy, while the use of French at court continued into the fifteenth century."
French was spoken mainly by the ruling classes/royalty and clergy, but not as much by the common people of England. I am not sure if it was ever the actual "official language" of England, but I doubt it because it was mainly the court that spoke French.
When the Roman Empire ruled modern-day France, Latin was the official language. They ruled for about 600 years, so even after the Romans were defeated (486 A.D.), most people still spoke a form of Latin. The different regions developed different dialects, all Latin-based. As the Ile-de-France area (around modern-day Paris) gradually became the most powerful, its dialect started to spread. Eventually a national dialect started to develop and became modern French.
The French influenced the Quebec with the French language and their religion as Protestant. The English language was spoken in the rest of Canada and most of them being Catholic. Most Canadians are bilingual meaning they knows two languages. Because of this difference 50% of Quebec wants to be an independent nation. Their influence has a big impact on how Canada is today.!
Afrikaans is an official language of the nation of South Africa, and dates its beginnings to the 17th century Dutch settlers of the region.It is approximately between 300 and 360 years old.
Canada was founded by two settling colonies. The French colony settled in Lower Canada, in what is now Quebec. The English colony settled in Upper Canada, in what is now Ontario. Those two colonies came together with other surrounding colonies (see: Confederation) to form Canada. Its basis has always been French and English.
People in France speak French. It is a Latin-based language, like Spanish, but they are still different and you cannot expect to be understood in France speaking Spanish, or in Spain speaking French. As a second language, Spanish is taught in French schools but comes second to English.
French was the official language of England for almost 400 years. There were many forms of French dialect used in England from 1066 to 1453.
England
The official Language of England is ENGLISH!!!!!
France, obviously, although the city of Québec, in what is today Canada, has existed for over 400 years and has had French as the official language ever since.
For two hundred years after the Norman Conquest in 1066, French became the official language of the English court. When William conquered England he made his officers the English Nobility. They spoke French. The common people continued speaking Anglo Saxon. The common people raised cows. The French nobility ate beef. The mixture of words helped create the English language. _____ English has always been the language of the nation of England. For some period of time French was the only language used by European diplomats.
In 1066, William the Conquerer who was Norman French, conquered England, killing Harold, King of England. French, a Romance language, was imposed as the language of state, with Latin the language of the clergy. This did not change for two hundred years.
This is a puzzling question. The international importance of French is in decline; the standard of foreign language teaching in most schools in England is poor and not that many Britons speak French well. I wonder whether somebody is pulling your leg. Joncey Actually I think you may have heard it backwards... French USED to be Englands official language in medieval times, and was for 600 years.. But it was old French, which may bear more similarities to English than modern French. Meece Yes,but that was OLD French not modern so yeah it's pretty impossible for England to change its official language to French as England's official language is English NatalieXD(oh yeah im ms sunni just to let u kno im NOT teacher this is my fantage account name!!)
Shortly after Geoffrey Chaucer died, English was decreed as the official language of England. This was after a history of several different ruling languages. When Julius Caesar invaded, the English language did not exist. However the Anglo-Saxons later invaded and united the tribes, keeping only a few words of the then dominant Celtic language. However, the Vikings also "ruled" England, and we still use over 900 words from this Norse time period, including many days of the week. Then the Norman French invaded and ruled for 300 years. The official languages of their court were French and Latin. (This time period added prepositional phrases to the English language.) The English finally raised a peasant army, and the 100 Year War broke out. By the time Chaucer was born, there was an English-speaking king again. Modern day speakers would not be able to read this English, though, but a series of events, including the Black Death and the printing press brought about the Great Vowel Shift, which resulted in a form of modern English. This brings us up to the language of Shakespeare, which we can understand fairly easily. However, as we can obviously see, the English language has continued to evolve in the last 400 years, and continues to change shape even today.
English is a Germanic language, as are Dutch and German. However, the French-speaking Normans ruled England for hundreds of years so a lot of French, somewhat modified, was added to English.
The French was spoken only by the nobility, so the common people spoke English. For 300 years no King of England spoke English. Even today our words reflect this difference. The language of the court systems is French and the Queen's menu is still in French. It was easy to tell in Medieval England who was noble and who was common ( without taking into account clothing) by language.
French and English are Canada's Official Languages. They are equal. Neither language takes precedence over the other, nor is either subservient to the other. After the British captured Québec in the Seven Years War (sometimes called the French and Indian War), the people of Québec were guaranteed the right to continue using their language. That guarantee was extended by Canada's adoption of the Official Languages Act.
Yes! It used to be a mother tongue in Medieval England.