Why Study French?

Because if you do, you'll be joining 100 million other students of French in the world. These students do not live in a Francophone region, but are learning French in order to communicate with 113 million people whose native or adopted language is French. French is the second most commonly taught language in the world (after English). French and English are the only languages spoken on 5 of the 7 continents (6 if you count the research station in Antarctica).

The French invented...

blood transfusion (1625), the adding machine (1642), the automobile (1769), the hot air balloon (1783), the bicycle (1790), the metric system (1790), food preservation methods (1810), the stethoscope (1819), Braille printing (1829), the sewing machine (1830), photography (1839), the gas engine (1860), pasteurization (1862), motion picture projection (1894), the aqualung (1943), the ramjet (1949), and more recently, fiber optics and HDTV. French doctors first isolated the AIDS virus at the Pasteur Institute in 1983.

France also boasts more Nobel Prizes for literature than any other nation (13).

A History of Solidarity

America and France share a long and complex history. French Enlightenment thought inspired American revolutionaries. The French were in turn inspired by the success of American democracy. To show their admiration, they presented America with the Statue of Liberty in 1886. (Also see France in America, the fabulous on-line collaboration between the BNF and the Library of Congress).

American Memorial commemorating June 6, 1944

Of course, Americans came to the aid of France and effectively defeated the Nazis with their surprise landing on Normandy beach on June 6, 1944. Even today, a French veteran will thank an American student for our "boys américains."

France commemorates sacrifices of American WWII soldiers with this stunning Memorial.

Today, the French remain America's most reliable source of anti-terror intelligence. A poll conducted the day after the attacks on the World Trade Center revealed the unanimous solidarity of the French, whose sympathy is beautifully evoked by this sculpture in the gardens of the Musée de la Paix, part of the Mémorial de Caen.

France in the World Today

• French is the foreign language spoken by our largest trading partner (Canada).
• The province of Quebec alone is the fifth largest trading partner of the United States with over $104 billion in trade in 2000.
• Between 1995 and 2002 exports from the US to France increased by 33%; imports from France went up 64%.
• In recent years, the U.S. has been the largest direct investor in France. In 2002, France was the second largest foreign investor in the U.S.

French is an official language of:

Amnesty International
the International Olympic Committee
the United Nations
UNESCO
NATO
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
the World Health Organization
the 31-member Council of Europe
the European Community
the World Trade Organization
the International Red Cross

street sign in Saint Malo, France

So, take a walk on Why Not Street... try French!

Credits:
Trade statistics are from a fascinating article by Richard Shyrock of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, "French, the Most Practical Foreign Language" The article offers even more great reasons to study French.
photo, American Memorial: Jessie Combs, July in Paris participant, 2004
photo, 9/11 Memorial: Ngoc Nguyen, July in Paris participant, 2004
photo, street sign: Prof. Berberi, July in Paris 2004