“French is just fine because it’s spoken on every continent, which is rare for a language,” says Christophe Benzitoun, a lecturer in linguistics at the University of Lorraine. “There are several ...

Standup comedian Jacques Silvère Bah, known as Le Magnific, played with French and African words and accents at a humor festival in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in February. Arlette Bashizi for The New York ...