Dialects of the French language are spoken in France and around the world. The
francophones of
France generally use
Metropolitan French (spoken in
Paris and considered
standard) although some also use regional dialects or
varieties such as
Meridional French. In Europe outside France there are
Belgian French,
Swiss French, and in Italy
Aostan French. In
Canada, French is an
official language along with English; the two main dialects of French in Canada are
Quebec French and
Acadian French, but also another dialect commonly grouped as Canadian French, used by Anglophones speaking French as a second language or by
Francophones in
Canada using a different dialect. In
Lebanon, French was an official language until 1941 and the main dialect spoken there is Lebanese French or Levantine French. Note that the discussion here refers to varieties of the French language, not to the Romance sister languages (sometimes considered dialects) of French spoken in France (e.g.
Picard,
Limousin,
Gascon, etc.; for these languages see:
Langues d'oïl,
Francoprovençal,
Occitan and
languages of France). See also
French-based creole languages, which are also considered separate languages.