 Reasons
to study French
  French
is the eleventh most widely-spoken language in the world.
French
is the official language of 33 countries in the world.
French
is spoken in two of the G7 countries.
French
is the mother tongue of 75 million people.
200
million people around the world understand, speak, read or write
French.
French
is the official language of postal services across the world.
French
is one of the official languages of the International Red Cross.
French-speaking
Africa represents an area larger than the USA.
French
is the most widely taught second language after English.
Over
20,000 English words have their origins in French.
In
terms of number of words, French is the second largest language
after English.
In
the humanities and the social sciences many of the most important
writings have come from France.
Students
and researchers who know French have access to these works
for several years before they are translated into English. Many
significant works are never translated and remain accessible only
to those who know the language.
France
is one of the world's major foreign tourist destinations (60 million
tourists a year).
France
is Europe's foremost investor abroad.
France,
Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have the lowest rates of inflation
in the European Union. This is an indicator of the health of these
countries.
France
is in fourth position in terms of world power and it does not have
the debt problems facing many other major industrialised nations.
(A positive sign for joint projects, business and scientific co-operation.)
France
has the fourth largest economy in the world after the U.S., Japan
and Germany.
France
is the fourth largest producer of automobiles in the world (Renault,Peugeot,
Citroën) and the third largest exporter.
France
is the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world
after the U.S.
The
French export more per capita than the Japanese and more
than twice as much as the Americans. Overall, France is the fourth
largest exporting nation of the world.
For
those with the appropriate skills there are also possibilities
for work in the following fields:
 international
business.
international
agencies.
the
tourism and hospitality industries.
the
diplomatic service.
French
research institutes.
as
a teacher.
as
a translator or interpreter.
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
European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg.
the
Press Room at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium
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