Language

         The language of French is officially the language of France and French people. According to Edwards (2007), the language of French is spoken by an estimated 128 million people worldwide. These include France, a part of Canada and 24 other countries  which were colonized by the French or originated from the French. Particularly in the UK, the larger population of the French-speaking population is situated in London; areas such as Croydon and Lewisham.

• The entrance of French into the UK in the year 1687 was signalled with the arrival of the Huguenot French people. These were members of the French protestant church who fled France with mass killing of anyone who did not worship in the catholic church. (Gwynn, 2012)
• According to Scarborough(2012), the ascension of king Louis XIVin 1661 brought the removal of the Edict of Nantes which was created by king Henry IV in 1598. This edict gave the Huguenots freedom of worship and religion but with its removal came their forced conversion to Catholicism or their mass massacre. 
• With the mass killing of Huguenots, many of them began to flee France but soon emigration was outlawed and those that were caught were sent to the galleys. However, an estimated 50,000 Huguenots arrived in England in between 1687 and 1714 (Gwynn, 2012) by means of the sea and for more years many of them still came to settle in england although a large number of them is said to have died at sea. 
• The settling of the Huguenots in England was not generally accepted by the english people but with growing interest in French fashion and style combined with the fact that they were hard workers, the French people became a gradual part of the English society. The evidence of their loyalty to England was proven in the Anglo-French wars and the Napoleonic wars. 
• Therefore, by the end of the 17th century the Huguenots has proven their willingness to become english and today, in the UK, French is the most commonly taught language in secondary schools across the UK (Edwards, 2007)

 

 Huguenot exiles from France (2005) 

References:

Edwards, V. (2007) French in the British Isles. Available at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/french.shtml (Accessed: 6 March 2012)

Gwynn, R. (2012) 'England's First Refugees', History Today, 35(5) [Online]. Available at: http://www.historytoday.com/robin-gwynn/englands-first-refugees (Accessed: 9 March 2012) 

Scarborough, S. (2012) Huguenots- Their Faith, History and Impact. Available at: http://www.reformationsa.org/articles/The_huguenots.htm (Accessed: 9 March 2012)

Google Images (2005) Huguenot Exiles from France [Online]. Available at:http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=664&tbm=isch&tbnid=5dkRfAuntJdKlM:&imgrefurl=http://faculty.unlv.edu/gbrown/Hist103/index.html&docid=lJf0Y9nNF_GvyM/ (Accessed 9 March 2012)