Five Reasons To Learn French (Or Another Language)
Learning another language isn’t difficult. It just takes a bit of effort, dedication — and common sense.
If you’ve been considering learning a foreign language, such as French, well, there’s no time like the present.
Learning a foreign language may seem like a difficult task. Not only is there an entirely new vocabulary to learn, there’s not always time to practice pronunciation and there’s always the idea that you’re making a fool of yourself.
Contrary to belief, there is no such thing as a “hard” language. In fact, a native English speaker can be considered fluent in nearly a dozen common languages with just about 600 hours of study. It’s just about finding time to make language learning a priority in a busy life.
People living in the United States may find it more beneficial to learn Spanish, given that recent census data shows that is the most common non-English language spoken in the country. But if you want to learn a language in which you have a significant head start (but don’t know it yet), let’s focus on learning French. Here are five reasons why.
1. You already know many French words
In “Fluent Forever,” which aims to ditch the traditional methods of learning through textbooks and apps to make language learning easier, author Gabriel Wyner notes how similar French is to English. “English vocabulary is 28 percent French and 28 percent Latin,” he wrote. “As soon as an English speaker learns proper French pronunciation, he or she already knows thousands of words.” That includes not just words like “baguette,” “café” or “téléphone,” but also words that have crept into French like “week-end” and “jogging.”
2. It’s used all over the world
According to Ethnologue, more than 270 million people, or 1 in 28 people on the planet, know French. The Académie Française, a Paris-based organization that is “in charge” of the language (yes, that’s a thing), reported in a 2014 study that the number of French speakers will triple in the next 40 years. It’s an official language of the UN, the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee. It is also spoken on every continent, meaning it could be useful wherever you visit.
3. It will help you expand your worldview
You may have read “The Little Prince” or watched “Les Misérables” — the play or the film — and enjoyed them. Imagine what it would be like to be able to experience them in their native language? Learning French can open doors to new worlds. Many employers or universities ask for competency in a foreign language as part of applications, and speaking a foreign language can offer the chance to work or study abroad. Practicing the language as part of a French club, which often includes native and nonnative speakers, can introduce you to new people and allow you to build new relationships. And if you really want to see how others view the U.S. and the changing world in which we live, pick up a copy of Le Monde or log onto its French-language website.
4. You will keep your brain sharp
Research has repeatedly shown that learning another language can stimulate the brain and help improve thinking and memory, even if that process occurs later in life. A long-term study authored by Dr. Thomas Bak, a psychology professor at the University of Edinburgh, demonstrated over 60 years that those who had learned a second language were able to delay the effects of cognitive aging. Critical-thinking skills are also put to the test during the language-learning process, especially if your vocabulary hasn’t been fully developed. How else can you work your way through asking for directions or trying to reserve a table when you have no other option but the new language?
5. It allows you to learn other languages
French is called a “gateway language” because once you learn how it is structured, those principles hold true for many other languages. (English, believe it or not, is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn.) And remember how we said English is 28 percent Latin? It’s what’s known as a Romance language, a family of similarly structured languages that includes Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. The Foreign Service Institute has labeled them all as Level 1 languages, which means they are among the 10 simplest for an English speaker to learn.
Remember, fluidity is an abstract concept. How often do you stumble over trying to find the right word in English? How many times do you come across a word that you must look up to determine its meaning? Learning another language is, after all, a lifelong task — but it’s still one that will reward you with immediate results.
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