200 million people in the world understand, speak, read or write French
French is the most widely taught second language after English
French is spoken in over 43 countries in the world.
France is the world's major tourist destination (over
70 million tourists a year including 30 million in Paris).
French is the 11th most widely spoken language in the world
French is an official language of 33 countries
France is Europe's foremost investor abroad
French is the official language of the international postal service
France is renowned for the quality of its high tech. (The French TGV
is the fastest train in the world - 515 kph)
French is the official language of the International Red Cross
France is one of the two official languages at the Olympic Games
French is not limited to one or two continents.
French-speaking Africa represents an area larger than the USA
French is one of the official languages of the United Nations
Learning French can help you improve the interpersonal
skills you bring
to your international career
You can do so many more interesting things on the Internet if you speak
French
(There are many high quality Internet sites available in French
ranging from fashion to finance, society to science, music to medicine...
just to mention a few)
Over 20,000 English words have their origins in French
In terms of number of words, French is the second
largest language after English (probably due to the 20,000 French words !)
France
offers a range of generous scholarships to foreign graduate students
Be able to fully enjoy, at the cinema or on TV, famous films from
the French speaking world
France has the world's greatest number of Nobel
Prize winners in
literature (12)
In human and social sciences, a great many of the most important
writings have come from France
French is a major language of high tech and business in the world
Montréal is the second largest French
speaking city in the world
For those with the appropriate skills there are also possibilities
for work in the following fields: -international French businesses
-international agencies where French is the required language
-the tourism and hospitality industries
-the diplomatic service
-French research institutes
-as a French teacher
-as a French translator or interpreter
France is the third greatest exporter and fourth greatest manufacturer
of automobiles in the world
France exports more per capita than Japan, while Japanese exports
are more than double those of the United States. France is the fourth
greatest exporter in the world
France is the second greatest exporter of agricultural
products,
after the United States
French is spoken in two of the G8 countries.
By Dr David ELDER,
Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.