Ask A French Teacher - L’académie Française

Tutorial Transcript

hi everybody can this year welcome to ask a teacher well I am so you must come on French questions the question for this lesson is what is like a demon forces l'académie française or the French Academy is the foremost authority on the French language they are the ones that decide the standards and rules or norms of the French language the people who make up the Academy are known as Amata's or in motel there are famous writers academics and politicians who are elected for life the Academy was founded in 1635 during the 17th century France had a thriving salon culture a salon is a gathering where people interact for amusement and also to spread knowledge through conversation here men and women of different classes could discuss art politics and linguish on equal footing this southern culture helped establish friends at the center of culture it also made French the language of refinement and reason in Europe the Academy began as a salon but captain our duty should you Chief Minister of louis xiii took it under his wing he was determined to create a powerful french state centered around the king he turned the academy into a public institutions and charged it with making clear rules for the french language but what is the purpose of the academy its main goal is to produce the french dictionary however it took a long time to finish the first dictionary published by the Academy took 54 years to complete today the Academy still meets and creates dictionaries its rules are not always followed even by members of the government but it still has a powerful influence on French culture the French language is one of the main thing that binds French people together many people see the French language as France's greatest achievement in the 20th century Albert Camus famously said mapa 3 C la langue française my homeland is the French language that said French people were not always united in language instead of one language there were mainly original languages in 1790 for at least 6 million people out of 28 millions French citizens couldn't speak French at all during the French Revolution for the first time the government needed the consent of the people the French language became one way to unify citizens some revolutionaries in Paris were extremely suspicious of regional dialects and identities these days regional dialects are not as common but they still exist Kousaka Booton gallo basque franco-provençal ox eaten and catalan have official status in their regions and that's it I hope I answered your question if you have any more questions please leave a comment below and I try to answer them and also see you soon you