When this series started, the Bradford family consisted of Tom, the father, a respected columnist for the Sacramento Register, Joan, his wife for about 25 years, and the eight children of the couple, all of them were very normal but quite independent. Unexpectedly, actress Diana Hyland died of cancer and was written off the series after 5 episodes.
Let's first take a closer look at the linguistic diversity that existed five hundred years ago. In 1500 there were probably about 7 thousand languages spoken across the earth, most still groupable into the 25 or so major families represented today.
Although the number is changing just like any other language, the estimated number is about 175 million speakers around the world. Approximately 80 million speak it as a first language, 190 million people as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired language. French is mostly soken significantly in 54 countries around the world.