🇸🇳 What Language Do They Speak in Senegal?
The short answer
Senegal's official language is French, used in government, school and formal writing. But the language of the street, the market and the home is Wolof, understood by around 80% of Senegalese — most people live comfortably in both.
Worth knowing
- ●Wolof is the lingua franca even for Senegalese whose mother tongue is Pulaar, Serer or Diola
- ●Senegalese French has its own flavour, borrowing rhythm and words from Wolof
- ●'Teranga' — Wolof for hospitality — is the word Senegal proudly uses to describe itself
Going to Senegal? Say your first words before you land.
Yap gives you a real 30-second spoken conversation in French every day — role-play the café, the taxi and the market with an AI tutor that listens and gently corrects. Four weeks of that beats any phrasebook.