When we think about the French language, we often forget that French is spoken not only in France, but also in several countries in Africa. French has a different status depending on the African country it is spoken in. For example, in Burkina Faso and Gabon, French is one of the official languages de jure, which means that the law clearly states that. In other states, such as Algeria and Tunisia, French is not an official language, but most of the population is able to understand it and speak it, so it is widely used in education, press, business, etc.

In Africa, French is spoken by around 115 million people as first or second language, without taking into consideration French speakers living in a non-French speaking country. As you probably know, French is so widespread as a consequence of French and Belgian colonization.

Although the African variants of French differ from the one spoken in France, it is not possible to generalize about them, as even in the same country it is possible to have more than one French variation, depending on how many languages are spoken in that state. In addition, African French speakers are usually able to adopt several registers in French, which vary depending on whether the hearers are French, French speakers or people who also speak the same African language as the speaker. Moreover, African French is influenced by social and cultural background, so a person from Senegal will talk about tieboudjin and yassa when telling someone he/she has eaten rice.

And finally, why not try this quiz? Although in French, it is not very difficult and fun awaits you! All you have to do is guess the right meaning of an African French expression, and then you will learn where the expression is from and a bit more about its meaning. Give it a go and let us know if you like it!