There are lots of French words in English, and in Dutch, and even in German (not so much), and French is simply laced with French words. I find the differences are sometimes very confusing and it is essential to take the word in context. One that has always intrigued me is the bodies of water.
English - lake : French - lac : Dutch - meer
English - sea : French - mer : Dutch zee
What's up with that? And that's only written; pronunciation is even wilder.

So, we were always told in school that these words were all Latin derivatives and then the languages separated off of that and Latin slowly died. I take it this is a myth?

I was told only the romance languages were Latin based (Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian) but that the whole European language structure was based on Sanskrit (from India). I have never bothered to even try looking that up, so it may be completely wrong.

The four you mention are all derived almost completely from Latin, for which our alphabet was designed, so the alphabet 'fits' those languages very well and they have few spelling anomalies and few sufferers from dyslexia.

There are a few words in French that derive from German (bleu), not Latin (azure).

The Latin alphabet was force-fit to German, from which English is largely derived. German includes several modified Latin letters (umlauts) to better represent German vowel sounds, but English does not, because the English partially latinized their language after the Norman invasion.

Almost all European and South Asian languages ultimately derive from a single root called Indo-European. I believe Finnish, Basque, and Hungarian are exceptions. I have heard that Sanskrit is the oldest member of this family of which we have extensive examples.

Way back when, when I was going to school, there were some Finnish and Iraqi exchange students, and they could speak to each other and be understood, and not by both of them speaking English. According to them, there was a tribe living in Hungary (Magyar) and when the land was invaded (by Ghenghis Khan) they were split in two directions, north and south, and ended up as Finns and Iraqis. They claimed over 50% understanding each other's language.

Ghenghis Khan was a tiny dude. I was lucky enough to happen by the British Museum in Victoria, B.C. when I was there, for the Ghenghis Khan exhibit on loan from China, and one of the displays was a golden saddle of his on a little fake horsie.

Think carousel horse.

Really, really small guy.

An afternoon excellently spent!

I wonder then if there are any french words that rhyme with orange?

Ok class, we are going to have a surprise pop quiz on everything we have learned here recently. please get your #2 pencil sharpened and break out some paper. I hope you have studied up on all of these lessons.

oh by the way, it is ALL in essay form, spelling and grammar are vital. 20 questions and 40 minutes to do it; good luck and you may begin.
LOL

Uh, IANC, you forgot to post the questions.

orange / melange