Why should you learn French? – Benefits of learning French
Belonging to the Vulgar Latin or better known as the Romance language family, the language of French is closely associated with its sister languages namely Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. The official first language of 29 countries across various continents, French also happens to be one of the six official languages of the United Nations. It is one of the three main languages of the European Union (after English and German), in case you were hoping to relocate to Europe.
Why should you learn French?
Before we get into the benefits of learning the French language, let’s take a look at the basic benefits of being bilingual.
An easier and enjoyable travel
It stands true to this day. Let’s say you learn a foreign language and you are fortunate enough that you get to travel to that country shortly. You wouldn’t have the problem of the language barrier. Local citizens adore the tourists who can speak their native language and hence your travel will be much more enjoyable and easier than you will have hoped.
A prime example of this is in the revolutionary film, ‘Rang de Basanti’
Alice Patten’s character ‘Sue’ is instantly adored and beloved by the group of friends and the locals as she speaks Hindi, their native language.
Broadens perspectives and educates about different cultures
This point has to be undeniable. There is no better way to learn about a culture than learn the language associated with it. Cultural knowledge goes a long way in personal development.
Academic advantage
Learning a foreign language adds one more feather to the ‘personal development’ hat. It allows grasping multiple complex things at once which is a plus point in academics when you are specifically required to multitask. Studies have also shown that some other advantages of bilingual education are improved memory, cognitive development, better achievements, and the like.
Job market opportunities after you learn French
After the personal development advantages, let’s now move on to economic advantages. Learning a foreign language opens gates to a lot of job opportunities as it increases your chances in the competition of the market. Let’s say for example if a German company is hiring. Germany happens to be the economic superpower of Europe and hence a job in Germany would be a big deal for you. But they prefer someone who has learned German over you, who doesn’t know how to speak their native language, and you lose that golden opportunity. The point being, it is always better to learn a foreign language, specifically if the country of that language excels in your career field.
Career opportunities after you learn French
When you learn a foreign language, it expands the fields of jobs that you can apply for. An academician, or a personal tutor perhaps. But if you want a job in the corporate world itself, you can become a translator for multinational corporations. It has great pay and high respect. You can further broaden your chances in the career fields as and when you learn more languages. Knowing just one language restricts you in various aspects of your life while learning a foreign language or more can break those barriers and help you reach greater heights.
French is the second most used language in the world of business. According to studies, studying French makes you smarter and it is also one of the top ten majors which are most likely to lead you towards less unemployment and higher earnings.
French is Widely familiar
The French language is so familiar to the world, that in the present times, there are over 300 million speakers of the French language all around the world. Apart from English, French also happens to be the only language that is taught in every country of the world. Learning French can be highly beneficial since anywhere you decide to go for educational purposes or for job opportunities, you will find French learning and French-speaking people everywhere.
- BROAD Culture
Everyone in the world goes gaga over the French cuisine, French dancing, fashion (Paris being the fashion capital of the world), visual arts, entertainment industry, architecture, need I say more? I’m sure you do too. What’s a better way than opening the world of any particular culture than by learning its native language? You can experience all of this by just investing some time and learning this beautiful and diverse language.
Education
France happens to have a wide range of high ranking universities all over the country. Learning French will not only be culturally beneficial but will also help you expand your search for esteemed university education.
Business
One of the top business markets all around the world, France has a prestigious reputation for its contribution to the world economy. Also, observations suggest that French people are slightly possessive about their language and hence knowing French will be a huge advantage or should I say, a huge feather in your hat of achievements.
How to learn French?
As I mentioned earlier, alongside English, French is the only language that is taught in every country. So it shouldn’t be difficult to track down the sources that teach French nearest to you. But here are some more if you are looking for a more flexible learning curve.
Languagefluent.com
Language fluent is an online institution teaching more than 10 foreign languages. So not just French, you can learn 9 additional languages if you have that kind of passion for learning new languages. Coming back to French, Language fluent offers all the six difficulty levels of French, namely A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. With trained professionals and expert guidance, learning French through Language Fluent will be a very exciting and inspirational experience you’ll have.
Duolingo
Duolingo is an American website and an app for language learners. It has over 98 different language courses in 38 languages. With the help of Duolingo, the language of French can be mastered. They start teaching any language from scratch or from a level based on your knowledge of French.
Other websites
Apart from Language fluent and Duolingo, there are other various websites from where you can learn French. Babbel, Udemy, Youtube are some of the top sites that can help you master this language.
Books
There are some tremendous books published that will help you get on the right track to learning French, quicker, and better.
“Easy French Step-by-step” by Myrna Bell Rochester
“Barron’s Mastering French Vocabulary: A thematic approach” by Wolfgang Fischer and Anne-Marie Le Plouhinec
“Berlitz Self-teacher: French” by Berlitz editors
“Fluent in French” by Frederic Bibard
Number of French speakers in the world
“Currently, there are over 280 million French speakers spread over the world. The number also includes 71 million partial speakers and speakers of numerous French dialects and creoles. Of the 71 million French-speakers, the majority have learned French as a foreign language. While the Indian Ocean and Sub-Saharan Africa account for 36.03% of the French-speaking population, the Middle East and North Africa share 15.28%. The Caribbean and America account for 7.66% while Asia and Oceania boast 1.1%. Europe is home to an enormous number of French-speaking people, with 39.87%. Belgium plays host to the most significant inhabitants of the French-speaking population with 45%, followed by Switzerland with 20%. 77% of Canada’s Quebec’s population are native Francophones, and 95% of the population speak French as their first or second language.
It is estimated that by 2050, the French speakers will rise above 700 million — 80% of them in Africa.”
