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Romance-speaking Asian countries are those whose official or main languages are Romance ones, namely French, Portuguese, or countries which have significant populations that speak a Romance language. During the Roman Empire Latin was used by soldiers, government officials, traders and other Romans in the Eastern Mediterranean, but the strong presence of widespread languages such as Greek and Aramaic prevented the assimilation of Latin by the local population, consequently the Latin in that area did not develop into Romance languages. In the Middle Ages, Romance languages (notably the French dialects) were widely used in the Levant during the crusades, but eventually died out. Colonialism and trade brought the Romance languages to many coastal areas and islands in Asia, but today the only places with official Romance languages in the continent are limited to East Timor (Portuguese), Macau (Portuguese), Puducherry (French), and administrative status in Cambodia (French), Laos (French), Vietnam (French), and Lebanon (French), and yet in those places they compete with numerically stronger and official languages. ==French in Asia== The French colonial and trade expansion in the late 19th century brought the language to Asia, with some remnant usage in the present. French is the largest European language spoken in Asia after English. Asia is the smallest French-speaking continent after South America and is used in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. French is an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia and is a diplomatic language in Vietnam.〔(French Declines in Indochina, as English Booms ), ''International Herald Tribune'', 16 October 1993: "In both Cambodia and Laos, French remains the second language of government, but losing ground to English."〕 In colonial Vietnam, a French creole known as "Tây Bồi" was spoken (now extinct). French is one of the official languages in Lebanon, along with Arabic. French is widely used by the Lebanese, specially among Christian Maronites, and for administrative purposes. In China the language was also spoken by the elite in the Shanghai French Concession and other concessions in Guangzhou (Shamian Island), Hankou, Tianjin, Kwang-Chou-Wan and in the French zone of influence over the provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan, and Guangdong. However, the use of French has fallen out of use. French has de jure official status in the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry, along with the regional languages Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Some students of Tamil Nadu opt for French as their third or fourth language (usually behind English, Tamil and Hindi). French is commonly taught as a third language in secondary schools in most cities of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, as part of the preparation for the secondary school (X-SSC) and higher secondary school (XII-HSC) certificate examinations. Certain high-profile schools affiliated with the CBSE in the NCR offer French as an option as early as grade 4. In grade 9 the students are asked to drop either French or Hindi, which is their native language. Although not a part of the traditional francophone Southeast Asia, the Philippines has become one of the most active areas where French is being studied. Home of the first Alliance Française in the Southeast Asia (founded in 1912), it continues to educate many Filipinos and expatriates in the said language. There are currently two branches of Alliance Française in the Philippines, that of Manila and Cebu. Although the language is not offered in elementary school, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued a proclamation encouraging the language to be an elective in high school. Also, French, along with Spanish, is a popular foreign language offered in many universities in the country. The University of the Philippines offers a Bachelor's degree in European Language, where French is one of the possible majors. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Romance-speaking Asia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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