Many people dream of learning another language, of being able to travel abroad and speak the native tongue and of being bilingual. Learning and knowing a second language is amazing for any number of reasons; however, many people get put off by the sheer scale of the challenge before them – not to mention all the options for which language to choose.
There are loads of languages you could learn, each of them incredibly useful in their own way, but here are ten amazing reasons why French is the language you should choose….
#1 French Is A World Language
French is spoken by over 200 million people across five continents, be it either as a first or second language, which means it’s a useful tool to have at your disposal no matter where you go. There are 32 countries in the world that use French as their official language so you’ll never be stuck for someone to talk to.
#2 It Will Open Career Doors
The ability to speak French will likely open a lot of career doors for you. France is a key economic partner across the globe now and has companies all over the world. This means that even in non-French-speaking countries knowing the language is an advantage. Also, did you know that there are at least 60 occupations worldwide that require you to speak French?
#3 Learning French Will Improve Your English
Between 40% and 50% of the English language is derived from French, which means learning this new language will help you better understand English. Studies also show that people who know both English and French have much better grammar and spelling skills than those who only know English.
#4 You’ll Develop Your Creative and Critical Thinking Skills
As well as helping you improve your grammar, learning French will improve your creative and critical thinking skills. From the day you begin to learn French you’ll find your memory improving along with your problem solving skills, self-discipline and even self-esteem. Results are easy to measure so you’ll soon be able to take pride in your newfound talents, too.
#5 French is the Language of Culture
French is recognized internationally as the language of cooking, fashion, theater, the visual arts, dance and architecture. Having a working knowledge of French will help you to enjoy all these cultural delights in their original language and you won’t have to rely on subtitles or translations.
#6 It Will Increase Your Higher Education Options
Being able to speak French will open a lot of higher education doors, too. As well as being able to study at renowned French universities and business schools (something which is often subsidized by the French government if you can speak the language), you also have a better chance of being acceptedin to many higher lever American scientific courses, which prefer you to be bilingual.
#7 It’s A Language of International Relations
French is the official language of the UN, the European Union, UNESCO, NATO, the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross among many other groups. This makes it the perfect language to learn if you have career dreams in this area (politics in particular) or whether you simply like to follow what’s going on in the world.
#8 French Is Relatively Easy To Learn
Of all the languages around the world, French is one of the easiest languages to learn. It takes roughly 720 hours for an adult to learn high-level French compared to about 1000 hours to learn low-level Chinese, Italian or Greek. While it still takes a lot of time and dedication to learn French, you’re likely to see results very quickly.
#9 It Will Help You Learn Other Languages
As learning French is relatively easy and also helps you broaden your mind, you’ll find that once you’ve learned it you’ll find it much easier to grasp a second or even third foreign language. Learning French may not be your ultimate goal but it’s a great stepping stone to the rest of the worlds languages.
#10 It’s Fun to Learn
If you’re still not convinced then bear in mind that French is an incredibly fun language to learn as well as one of the easiest. There are plenty of methods on the market to help you study – be it books, recordings, classes or something completely different – so there is bound to be something to suit your learning style.
So there you have it: The top ten reasons why you should learn to speak French. Have I convinced you? I hope so! Just remember there are loads of different ways to learn a new language so don’t be put off if you think it’s all books and classes.
Find the way that suits you and you’ll find yourself speaking fluent French in no time!
I’ve always wanted to learn French, and now I have very good reasons to do it!