Whether you are looking to improve your career prospects or want to explore the world's rich literary, cultural, and historical traditions, learning French is a good start.
Spoken across five continents by 75+ million native speakers and 235 million fluent speakers, French is one the most common languages taught in US schools.
Learning French is more than just speaking it fluently; it's a language that introduces the learner to centuries of cultural and historical evolution.
French is a language of art, romance, and diplomacy, making it an excellent choice to learn a new language.
This blog will guide you on why French is one of the most common and popular languages taught in US schools, reasons to learn it, and ways it can help you.
Reasons To Learn French
Besides making you feel a personal sense of achievement, learning a language like French has several benefits, such as:
1. A Global Language
More than 299+ million people speak French across five continents. In addition, French is the fifth widely spoken language and the second most learned foreign language after English worldwide.
Do you really need any more convincing after reading this?
Thanks to Africans, French has now become a global language. With over 120 million people speaking French across 24 francophone African countries.
Another reason that contributes to French as a global language is a group of 84 countries that encourage French's proper teaching and use. This group is called La Francophonie.
As a second most learned foreign language after English, French opens the door of endless exploration of rich culture, poems, art, literature, and creoles worldwide.
2. A Career Asset
Speaking both English and French can be beneficial in finding a job in the international market.
For example, French is one of the world's largest economic investment partners.
So learning French can help you land better opportunities working for multinational companies like L'Oréal, Chanel, Cartier, Renault, and many more.
French attracts entrepreneurs, company owners, and recruiters as the fifth biggest economy globally. Therefore, it is a perfect choice for those interested in international affairs or political science.
French is the official language of numerous international organizations such as the United Nations, UNESCO, FIFA, and the International Olympic Committee.
So, learning to speak French can help you provide humanitarian jobs quickly.
3. Better Traveling Experience
As the world's top tourist destination, France attracts 87+ million visitors every year.
Beyond intellectual and career benefits, knowledge of French facilitates fun and exciting visits to most regions of the world. In addition, French provides insight into the rich cultures and dialects worldwide.
4. Better Understanding Of Culture
Learning to speak French helps you to explore various cultures and traditions. As culture and language go hand in hand, learning a new language can open one's mind to the world's unique cultural and historical aspects.
France is known for its high arts, architecture, fashion, and romance culture. Learning French opens the door to exploring France and francophone culture's great visual arts, architecture, and fashion.
As one of the most common languages taught in US schools, French can foster an understanding of the connection of language with its culture and human nature.
Just to mention, learning French is a great way to comprehend other foreign languages too.
Once you know how to speak French, you will understand how thousands of its words mirror English. It also helps learn other languages such as Spanish, German, or Italian.
Learning French can give you a chance to explore the rich modern culture in the following aspects:
- Ability to read inspiring French literature
- A better approach to the cultural context of art museums
- Experience France's rich traditional culinary history
5. Chance At Diplomatic And Civil Services
Globalization has transformed employment requirements across the world.
Therefore, government organizations like the Tourism department, External Affairs Ministry, Foreign National Embassy, etc., provide excellent job opportunities to those proficient in French.
Ability to speak French increases an individual's chances of being employed in the civil services, especially in the Foreign Service department.
6. Improve At Debate And Reasoning
French is considered an analytical language because it has been the language of great-known philosophers (Derrida, Descartes, and Sartre, among others).
Learning French helps shape the thought process and develops critical thinking.
Since French contains complex words and phrases but is easy to memorize, learning French can help you attain several critical developmental skills.
While improving memory, determination, and self-discipline also contributes to developing valuable skills for negotiation and discussion.
7. Language Of Love
French is one of the most common languages taught in US schools because of its beauty and ease of declaring one's love.
According to Babbel's survey, French is the sexiest language. As mentioned by Celine Dion, she writes most of her songs in French because it's one of the best languages to express love and romance.
8. Linguistic Diversity
Another convincing reason to learn French is it makes a significant contribution in reducing the exclusive domination of a single language and promoting linguistic diversity around the world.
If you are a native English speaker, learning French is one of the best ways to understand your own language.
Although English is considered a Germanic language – French has a significant impact on English as it has contributed the most prominent foreign words to English.
Other Foreign Languages To Learn
The ability to speak more than one language is vital in today's competitive world. In addition, multinational companies and firms demand multilingual candidates to cater to wider audiences.
While English is the world's most taught language, most English speakers assume it's irrelevant to learn another. Well, they aren't quite right. Speaking a second language never goes to waste.
Knowing more than one language helps open up a whole new world filled with rich literary and cultural references. In addition, it can significantly assist you in job hunting, traveling, etc.
But not all languages will get you similar results. So to help you make a wise choice, we've listed down what foreign languages are taught in US schools:
Mandarin Chinese
With over one billion Chinese speakers worldwide, Mandarin tops as one of the essential languages.
Obviously, the majority of the speakers are located within China, but it's one of the most important languages to learn.
You may ask why? Well, the answer is simple — with china emerging as one of the most potent global countries, it's crucial to have fluency in Chinese.
Spanish
Latin American countries are the biggest trading partners of the US, so learning Spanish can help you communicate better with them. The ability to speak Spanish can greatly enhance your resume.
Knowing Spanish can help you gain insights into Spanish territorial and literary culture that monolinguals can't.
Russian
The most influential language among other Eastern European languages, Russian has the second-highest online content after English. Therefore, learning Russian can be a great addition to your career development skills.
Italian
Italian may not have been one of the languages taught in US schools, but due to its rich history of arts, wars, and culture - it's one of the most important languages to learn.
In addition, learning Italian provides excellent knowledge of world heritage sites.
Ready To Learn French?
World globalization is on the rise, and our world is constantly evolving.
So whether you want to work for a global company or wish to enroll in an exchange program, learning French will help you stand out against your competitors, especially if there are in-demand languages.
Learning French can help you sharpen your valuable skills. In addition, French courses offered by Superprof can help you gain professional experience in French vocabulary.
Learning a new language, whether French or American Sign Language, can be challenging, but you can be fluent quicker than you know it with the proper lessons and instructions.
It opens the doors to you, and Superprof can give you the right path to get started on your academic or career success.
Learning a new language takes dedication, focus, and time, but the rewards of speaking a new language are endless.
Superprof provides students with the classes and resources to learn a foreign language and reap its benefits.
With over 10,000+ professional French tutors, Superprof offers online lessons and courses on the French language to help you learn the basics of French grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and phrases.
In addition, we can provide you with what it requires to become fluent in French.
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