How has the French language spread?

Source: French rivers. This language was later legitimized by the spread of the printing press to the common people who wrote newspapers and eventually books and scientific journals in their native language rather than pure Latin. read more

In The Story of French, Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow cover the people, places and events behind the rise and fall of the French language. A story with several story lines leavened with anecdotes, the book examines the language's origins, spread, adaptation and evolution along with nearly everything that shaped and shapes French. read more

Another aspect which lead the French culture to spread was the fact that it traded many things with other countries. Through commercial ties, the language spread. Also, it seems like French people have often married foreigners, settling down all over the world with them, and through that somehow the French language and culture spread even further. read more