Hundreds of years ago, the King of England, the Queen of Spain and the Pope all had one trait in common: they spoke French . French symbolized nobility, intelligence and refinement. Only the best in the Western world could speak it properly, and it was a valuable trait in any royalty. It was the lingua franca, the language of diplomacy and the language that all people had in common. However, the French language is slowly declining in global importance and the once dominant language is being replaced by English and Chinese in more developed countries. Its last stronghold outside the motherland (France) is Quebec, and they are waging a cultural war against the invasion of English.II. Background and Former Glory of French in the WorldFrench was once the dominant language in the world, but it started as a combination of many other European languages. The language first moved away from Celtic Gaul in AD 59, when Roman legionnaires invaded, bringing with them Vulgar Latin (Price). According to Joseph E. Price, a renowned French historian, in the 5th century AD, many "Germanic tribes from the east (the Franks) and Vikings from the north" invaded and added their own language to the hybrid French (Price). . In the Middle Ages, France was divided into many small fiefdoms and each region had its own dialect. Eventually, kings conquered the surrounding lands and a single dialect spread throughout the land, or kingdom as they were called at the time. Eventually, around 770 AD, the language we think of as French began to emerge with the French king Charlemagne, and his many conquests (as Holy Roman Emperor and warrior king of France) spread to the confines of his kingdom (Sullivan 4).After ...... middle of paper ...... Linguistic laws. Quebec Office of the English Language, nd Web. April 6, 2014.Price, Joseph E. "Ancient French language." Ancient French language. NP, 1997. Web. March 26, 2014. Palad, Isabelle. Historical chronology of the French language. Francophonie, justice in official languages ​​and legal dualism. Department of Justice Canada, December 12, 2012. Web. April 1, 2014. Rhodes, Nancy C. and Ingrid Pufahl. “Foreign Language Teaching in American Schools.” CAL: Center for Applied Linguistics. Santillana, November 2009. PDF. April 4, 2014. Semple, Kirk. “A great defender of French in New York schools: France”. New York Times January 30. 2014: A21. Web.Sullivan, Richard E. “Charlemagne (Holy Roman Emperor).” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, December 23, 2013. Web. March 27. 2014.