There are 29 countries where French is an official language, including the Vatican. The French Link is well versed in the nuanced French idiomatic distinctions among Swiss French, Belgian, Quebecois, and numerous African, and Maghreb French dialects. The Miami Chapter of French American Chamber of Commerce (FACC Miami) states that in terms of 2010 imports “France was Florida’s 7th largest partner.” Beverages, tobacco, computers and electronics were the leading products. Haiti is the Francophone country located closest to South Florida, home of The French Link. Although French is one of Haiti’s two official languages, only 10-15% of the population is fluent. According to the Haitian Consulate General In Miami there are approximately 200,000 Haitian immigrants residing in the Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano Beach Delray Beach metropolitan areas. Since French is the primary language used in formal writing, higher education and official administration, The French Link regularly translates birth, marriage, & death certificates, transcripts, diplomas and business documents into English for the purposes of immigration, employment and business. France’s overseas departments and Caribbean territories, Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin are not distant from The French Link. Translated real estate contracts, personal documents, transcripts and business agreements are common projects.
Francophonie Benchmarks
- There are an estimated 220 million French speakers worldwide
- French is the 9th most widely spoken language on the planet and the only one, together with English, to be spoken on all five continents
- French is the 3rd most widely used language on the Web with 5% of Internet pages, after English (45%) and German (7%) and ahead of Spanish (4.5%)
- Africa is the continent with the largest number of French speakers, 96.2 million
- TV5MONDE, the multilateral French language television channel, has the 3rd largest international television network and is broadcast in 202 countries
