Did you know that French and English are the only two languages spoken on five of the seven continents? It should come as no surprise, then, that French is the number one language required or preferred for international employment opportunities tracked by the U.S. State Department, ahead of Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, or German.
French is spoken around the globe by professionals in diplomacy, commerce, healthcare, research, music, art, linguistics, history, law, political science, anthropology, biology, chemistry, mathematics, and philosophy. Along with English, it is the official working language of:
- the United Nations
- NATO
- the International Red Cross
- the International Olympic Committee
- the International Labor Bureau
- the European Community
Here are some of the ways students at the University of Minnesota, Morris prepare themselves for successful careers as speakers of French.
- To better prepare students to find jobs utilizing their skills , the French discipline devotes one third of its capstone course to career planning and professional development.
- Many Morris students spend summers working at Lac du Bois, the French section of the Concordia Language Villages in Minnesota’s beautiful north woods.
- Nearly half of all Morris students study abroad. Professors in the French discipline regularly host short-term trips to Paris and Morocco. And because Morris is part of the University of Minnesota system, students can also study for a semester or a year in Montpellier, France or in one of the many francophone programs available through the Learning Abroad Center on the Twin Cities campus.
- Morris students have access to both a Global Student Teaching program and an English Language Teaching Assistant program providing employment opportunities in Francophone countries during the undergraduate years.
What about graduate school?
Recent Morris French graduates have pursued graduate study in the following areas: fine arts, English, biology, computer science, music, healthcare, public health, law, human resources, teaching, Art History, and French and Francophone literatures, cinemas, cultures, and civilizations.
- Boston College
- Carlson School of Management
- Conservatory at Northwestern
- Cornell University
- Hamline University
- Indiana University
- Monterey Language Institute
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- Penn State University
- Seton Hall
- Sotheby’s Institute of Art
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
- University of Virgina
- University of Washington
- University of Wisconsin, Madison
- University of St. Thomas
- William Mitchell College of Law