So you are considering to learn French? That’s great! Learning French is always a great idea. It brings greater benefits than just the ability to communicate. But why learn French in particular?
French is the official language of 29 countries and is spoken by over 200 million, making it among the most spoken languages in the world. In Canada, it is the mother tongue of over 7 million Canadians, according to Census Canada 2016. There are several reasons to learn French – from culture to career, travel, and more. By the end of this post, you will most likely be ready to sign up for French lessons.
Wondering how to learn French? The internet offers so many resources, and you can use them to learn French from the comfort of the house.
Easy ways to learn French include:
- Online French learning lessons – probably the best and easiest way to learn French online. You just need to find a French tutor and start your language journey! There are some incredible sites such as Preply or local Facebook groups where you can link up with a french teacher.
- Self-study with online French learning resources – there are several sites that offer french learning resources, which you can use to master your French listening and reading skills.
- Link up with other people learning French – There are millions of people learning French all over the world. There are sites you can link up with such people, including social media platforms.
- Practice with mobile apps, audio TVs, movies and music.
Why you should learn French
1. It is a great career asset
Let’s face it – France is the fifth-largest economy, and the French language is key to conducting business in France. So, it is a clever career move to learn French. But it is not just in Canada or France where French can be useful; it also widely spoken in Belgium, Switzerland, and several African countries.
There is probably no better language combination for the international job market than English and French. It can be an extremely useful combination when working for organizations such as the Red Cross, NATO, and the United Nations (UN). Whatever industry or occupation you are in, French will help you communicate with clients, employees, and vendors around the world.
Also, learning French through online courses can help get promoted from your current position or even lead you to your dream job.
2. A doorway to French culture
Often considered the language of culture, French is the international language of visual arts, theatre, architecture, dance, cooking, and fashion. Learning French is a gateway to classic works of literature by the legendary French authors such as Victor Hugo, Alain Delon, and Jean-Paul Sartre, among others.
3. Enrich your travel experience
France is the world’s top travel destination. Over 90 million tourists visit France every year. This is 50% more than France population, which is 60 million! What is it that makes France so attractive? Well, France is considered to be among the most beautiful places. It has several fascinating tourist attractions such as Disneyland Paris and The Tour De France!
4. French is easy to learn
Believe it or not, studying French is easy, particularly so for English speakers. This is probably because English is a combination of French and other European languages.
5. You can study in France
Learning French opens up the door to several opportunities for learning in the best universities in France, such as the University of Paris, Sorbonne University, and École Polytechnique, among others. If your French level is good, you may be eligible for grants by the French government to study a postgraduate course, enabling you to earn an internationally recognized postgraduate degree.
6. French is an official of several international organizations
Several international organizations have French as one of their official languages. They include:
- NATO
- United Nations
- International Olympic Committee
- International Criminal Court
- Red Cross
7. You will enjoy visiting Canada
Canada was a France colony in the 17th and 18th centuries. This is probably the reason why French is the second most prevalent language in Canada after English. Of course, Quebec is dominated by French, but French is also spoken in other provinces. Learning French will give you easy and fun time when visiting Canada.
8. It becomes easy to learn other languages
France provides a good foundation for learning other languages, especially romantic languages such as Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese as well as English.
9. Learning French opens up the world
French is among the most widely used languages on the internet. Understanding French will help you view the world from a different perspective by communicating with millions of French speakers in the world. You will be able to read news by French-language international media.
10. Learning French is fun
French is fun to learn, and it will not take you long before you are able to communicate in the language. There are several methods that make learning French interesting to children and adults alike!
As you can see, there are several reasons to learn French. It will make your life more interesting as well as open up opportunities for you. Spare some time, find a French tutor, and start your French lessons!
I would love to learn French
It’s absolutely a wonderful career asset; being multi-lingual has gotten me many jobs and pushed my career further and faster than average.
I learnt French at school for 9 years and hated it! I can hardly speak a word now, though I not only speak German fluently and English but was also fluent in Danish too – unfortunately I’ve lost most of my Danish after 40 odd years.
I was terrible in school learning french but I may be better now
French is a great second language to learn
Lots of things about the french language, it’s good to learn it in different ways.
I loved learning French in high school… I really wished I continued learning it after!
french is a great entry into learning other languages