Why Study French?

• French is spoken by an estimated 275 million people around the world and is an important language in more than 40 countries spread over all five continents. In fact, two-thirds of francophones (French speakers) live outside of France. If you'd like to travel, study, or live in a country, especially in Europe, Africa, North America, or the Caribbean, French is a great language to know!

• French is the second most studied language after English.

• Did you know that about 45% of English words come from French? Not only will this help you to learn the language, but it just might improve your English. Are you a Spanish speaker? According to linguists, the similarity of words between Spanish and French is 75%! Furthermore, Spanish and French share many similar grammatical features including verb tenses and gender of nouns.

• French is an important language in many fields, such as aerospace, technology, diplomacy, the culinary arts, fashion, cinema, art, and more!

• French is an official language of the UN, NATO, the EU, UNESCO, the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross, and is the only language used for deliberations at the Court of Justice for the EU.

• Speaking a foreign language can give you an advantage when applying to college or interviewing for a  job.

• There are many great careers for people who speak more than one language. You can become a field linguist (someone who protects endangered languages), a translator or interpreter, an internationalization specialist (someone who designs, or adapts computer programs, video games, and other technology to work in different languages), a diplomat, or a teacher!