French Language Day (French. Journée de la langue française), like the days of other United Nations languages, has been celebrated annually since 2010. The introduction of the new holiday was initiated by the UN Department of Public Relations, and the purpose of these days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity, as well as to promote the equal use of the six official languages throughout the Organization.
The date chosen for honoring the French language was March 20, when International Francophonie Day is celebrated (French). Journée Internationale de la francophonie).
Francophonie (French. La Francophonie) — is an international cooperation organization of French-speaking countries around the world. Unites 88 members representing various states or parts of the world. The main criteria for joining the organization are not the degree of proficiency of citizens of a particular country in the language of the Gauls, but rather cultural ties with France. The Francophonie has existed for more than half a century: on March 20, 1970, an agreement was signed in Niger on the creation of an interstate organization of French-speaking countries.
French is one of the six working languages of the UN and is also the official language of a large number of international organizations. In addition to France, the language is widespread in Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and many other countries. Among other things, today French — is one of the most popular objects of study among foreign languages in the world. The number of people capable of speaking on it reaches 320 million.
However, recently the French language has been losing its status, in many ways inferior to English. Even in the European Union, where French is the official language, its future depends on many factors. Many — countries, for example, Finland, Austria, Sweden —, use English as a means of communication, which cannot but affect the positions of the Gaul language.
However, French itself remains one of the world's cultural values. It was this language that Voltaire, Diderot, Hugo, Dumas, Balzac, Rabelais — spoke and wrote and only this language can preserve and convey all the subtleties of their immortal works.