Why learn French?

French is an important international language. If you are a native English speaker, French may even help you to understand your own language. It is the largest donor of foreign words in English. Ultimately, learning French will greatly increase the number of English words you know.

French is an official language of the United Nation, International Olympic Committee, International Red Cross and is second only to English in use between nations for communication, business and diplomacy. French is spoken as a native language in more than 25 countries. It is also spoken by 75-79 million native speakers and 190 million secondary speakers. French is the second most influential language in the world after English and is also the second most frequently used language on the internet. Speaking French is handy practically anywhere you travel.

Why Study French (Richard Shryock)

While any language will be useful for some jobs or for some regions, French is the only foreign language that can be useful throughout the world as well as in the United States. French as a foreign language is the second most frequently taught language in the world after English. The International Organization of Francophonie has 51 member states and governments. Of these, 28 countries have French as an official language. French is the only language other than English spoken on five continents. French and English are the only two global languages.
When deciding on a foreign language for work or school, consider that French is the language that will give you the most choices later on in your studies or your career.

French, along with English, is the official working language of:
• the United Nations
• UNESCO
• NATO
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
• the International Labor Bureau
• the International Olympic Committee
• the 31-member Council of Europe
• the European Community
• the Universal Postal Union
• the International Red Cross
• Union of International Associations (UIA)

French is the dominant working language at:
• the European Court of Justice
• the European Tribunal of First Instance
• the Press Room at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium

© 2007 Richard Shryock
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(Virginia Tech)

Please visit the original site for an up-dated version: http://www.fll.vt.edu/french/whyfrench.html