Why learn French?
According to the International Federation of Teachers of French, there will be between 477 and 747 million French speakers in the world in 2070, with a clear majority in Africa.
French belongs to the large family of Latin languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and even Romanian. Knowing Latin is the 1st advantage. By mastering French, it is easier to learn notions of other Latin languages, since they are all more or less similar in terms of vocabulary and grammar. This does not stop at Latin languages: French has provided more than 50% of English vocabulary!
French describes, analyses and reveals the world's cultures. It evokes shades of turquoise in the Caribbean; it gathers 20 expressions to talk about winter and its white coat in Quebec; it suggests the dunes of the Sahara as well as the "sky so grey that a canal has been hung" to sublimate the mists of Belgium through the pen of Brel; it reveals the beauty of the peaks of Switzerland and the variety of landscapes of France, the cradle of the language of Molière.
Note that the Russian Andreï Makine, the Czech Kundera, the Spaniard Semprun, the American of Romanian origin Wiesel, and the Chinese Gao Xingjian have chosen to cross borders by writing in French, not to mention the many authors from the Maghreb. The many cross-fertilizations between this originally European language and the cultures of Africa, America, and Asia are a delight to which you will inevitably contribute.
France is the most visited country in the world, with more than 70 million visitors per year. Belgium and Quebec are not far behind. A few words in French, however approximate, are enough for a passer-by to point out the metro to the Grand-Place in Brussels, for a Brussels barman to serve you a Mort subite, for a Montreal baker to sweeten your mouth, for a shopkeeper in the médina to give you a good price, for the taxi driver in Cotonou to tell you a good joke.
During the French Revolution, it was in French that it was proclaimed that we are all free, equal and united. Many writers, artists and intellectuals defend, also in French, values such as the freedom of speech, thinking and acting for the good of humanity.
French is undoubtedly a language of the visual, literary and performing arts.
French is also a language of culture, a Koinè. French served as a lingua franca for the European aristocracy from the 17th century until the end of the 19th century (e.g. the children of Europe's leading princely families were brought up in French and Russian aristocrats frequently corresponded with each other in French) and is still used in many French-speaking countries in Africa and near the Indian Ocean.
French is a language of communication, but above all a set of generous principles and goals necessary for the evolution of humanity: peace, cooperation, solidarity, democracy, respect for human rights, cultural dialogue, and education. It is also a language to resist massification, unanimity, uniformity, hegemony and the annihilation of thought, the destruction of the individual, and the enslavement of the people. Victor Hugo made it a language of struggle against misery and a language of universal peace. French unites the past with the future, structures thoughts and develops a critical spirit.
The first international treaty written exclusively in French was the Treaty of Rastatt (1714) which marked the end of the War of the Spanish Succession.
It was in French that the negotiations at the Congress of Vienna took place. Metternich explained that a vehicular language was needed for diplomacy and French played this role well because of its clarity and geometric precision as the British diplomat Harold Nicholson had remarked.
French has been the language of diplomacy in Europe since the Treaties of Westphalia in 1648, when it supplanted Latin, until a condominium with English at the time of the Treaty of Versailles (1919): the Treaty of Versailles was drafted in both languages (but in the event of a discrepancy, only the French was authentic). This was due to the presence of non-European countries at the negotiating table, especially as the American president, Woodrow Wilson, did not speak French at all. Until the 1960s, French still had an important place in diplomatic negotiations, but it is no longer the case. It is often dethroned by English.
However, French is still one of the working languages of international institutions (such as the International Olympic Committee, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations, the International Labour Office, the Universal Postal Union, the International Fencing Federation, the European Patent Office, the European Union Intellectual Property Office), and is used as the de facto working language, along with German and English, of the European Union.
In 2015, the language learning app Babbel surveyed 14,000 users to find out which languages they thought were the sexiest. The result was that Latin languages came out on top overall, and French was far ahead.
This result is not surprising, as French has long been known as THE language of love internationally. It is indeed a beautiful, soft, melodious, romantic, glamorous, elegant, distinguished, and friendly language that Epicurus would have chosen without hesitation. A language of and for gastronomes!
How to love in the French way?
According to researcher Pierre Chaigneau, being in love with French people in France requires the art of conversation. The second degree is often the basic element of French humour, and the French like to argue. In love, a verbal joust is seductive in France. It allows each person to showcase their linguistic and erotic skills, culture, humour, and ability to reason. On the other hand, a certain amount of conflict is appealing because of the spice it injects into the relationship and the adrenaline it generates. The French are easily mocked, which leads them to be seen as arrogant. That said, it is important to note that they make fun of everyone, especially those closest to them (family, friends), and always openly. The person targeted will then typically have to find a way to respond, always in a humorous way. Mockery relaxes the atmosphere and strengthens bonds. The French will rarely express their feelings openly. To understand them, you have to read between the lines and spot the litotes.
How to love in the Quebec way?
Falling in love in Quebec requires a clear and straightforward request to obtain the other person's permission to go out with him or her and then to be in a relationship. The verbal joust is therefore non-existent. As Karl Kraus said about Germans and Austrians, it is the common language that divides us.
A very talented person, even one considered bilingual, will often have a more or less pronounced French accent in spite of himself, which is a good thing from the point of view of foreigners.
According to Babbel, the French accent is the most sensual, ahead of Italian, Spanish and English, with 34.7% of the votes.
According to the International Federation of French Teachers, 300 million people speak French on the five continents. In 2022, the French Ministry of the Interior lists 29 countries in the world where French is officially spoken. In addition, there are 9 countries where French is widely used, but not official.
French is also the second most learned foreign language after English and the third most used language on the Internet. Language skills, other than English, can make the difference when it comes to getting a job, getting a better position or managing a file. Speaking French opens doors to the French-speaking market and companies. Moreover, by expressing yourself in the language of your French-speaking interlocutor, you create a closeness that can give way to a certain relationship of trust. Knowing French allows you to work in companies in France, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, and in many African and island countries.
French, a plural language
"As a language of instruction, work and exchange, French is also a language of openness to Europe and to the French-speaking world in general, a multicultural space, alive with plural identities. In our teaching, we place more and more emphasis on the multicultural role of the French-speaking world and the enrichment that our learners can draw from it in terms of their conception of the world. Moreover, this reflection on the language learnt is necessarily reflected on their own language, since Spanish itself has multiple faces, and it is good that Spanish-speaking learners understand, in their learning of another language, the immense richness of the pluriculturality of their language. In this way, the French-speaking dimension helps to dispel a rather rigid representation of French as an elitist language, perhaps not necessarily as 'useful' as English. (...)
Here is a perhaps more romantic aspect of the ties that unite France and Mexico by commenting on the admiration that certain Mexican heads of state have had for France and, in a reciprocal manner, the admiration of great Frenchmen for Mexico. Porfirio Díaz, Mexican president at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, gave the capital of Mexico a resolutely Parisian air (the Palacio de Bellas Artes is reminiscent of the Opéra Garnier), Victor Hugo wrote about his admiration for the Mexican people, encouraging them in their desire for independence, Antonin Artaud looked at the Tarahumaras for the meaning of his work, Octavio Paz represented Mexico in France, and there are many other examples in history that could justify such a strong presence of the French language in Mexico. Today, this translates into competitive economic collaboration, with France, and with Canada in a Free Trade Treaty that has allowed Quebec to successfully develop many linguistic, cultural and economic actions. Francophone diversity is also well present in Mexico, since Belgium and Switzerland also offer educational options to young Mexicans, and we, who work for the dissemination of the French language and Francophone cultures, can only rejoice at the work that awaits us.” Clotilde Barbier, FLE teacher at the University of Sonora, northern Mexico, winter 2011.