Why do they speak french at olympic games

This year, Japanese will be the third language because Tokyo is the host city, meaning all announcements will take place in French, English and Japanese.

As well as official announcements, signs and introductions are often in the three languages and volunteers are usually likely to speak at least one of these langauges.

While this is usually the case, it may differ slightly this year due to Covid restrictions, with less volunteers required due to the no spectators rule. The closing ceremony will follow a similar framework, with official announcements made in French, English and Japanese.

While the games will officially open on July 23, the closing ceremony will take place on August 8 at 8pm Tokyo time and noon UK time. We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments. Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Last Updated:. Why do they speak French at opening ceremony? News Olympics: Why do they speak French at opening ceremony?

Read the new rules here. Order by Oldest first Newest first Highest scored Lowest scored. Loading comments Suspend Last Updated:. Reply Quote. In this case, first means that French takes priority over other languages used in Olympic announcements or communications. The ambassador makes sure that the translations and interpretations are of high quality and promotes the French language and culture, even going so far as to endorse the French language in the local schools.

English: English was made the second official language due to its commonality and popularity. One explanation is that the official languages of the Olympics are determined by the number of countries that speak the language — English is the official language of at least 59 sovereign entities.

English falls second in the order of announcements. Host Language: The third language spoken at Olympic events is the language of the host country, unless that host country speaks French or English.

In that case, only two languages are spoken in announcements. While it may not seem like it, the countries enter in alphabetical order. The only countries that do not follow that order are Greece, given the honor of first entry due to the origins of the Olympics, and the host nation, who always enters last.

It goes back to the ancient Olympic Games. The ancient games were held every four years at Olympia. The ancient Greeks used that four-year interval to measure time; they counted the passage of time in Olympiads instead of years. The Five Rings - The Olympic rings are well known, but what do they represent? Instead, the interlocking rings themselves represent the union of the five continents where participant countries are located.

The five colors — blue, yellow, black, green, and red — plus the white background, represent the colors of the flags of all nations as of , when the symbol was created. The colors and rings are intended to symbolize how athletes from around the world meet at the Olympics. Another view I have is that the IOC should give Japan the Olympics again so the people of Japan could enjoy them and move the rest of the host cities back 4years and give them more time to prepare. But why is the French announcement made before the English in an Anglophone country?

Perhaps English speakers should bear this in mind, and this time be content with second place? Previous Post Previous! Next Post Next Great for Chinese tourists.