Learn French - FAQ  


1- Why learn French?

Here are 10 reasons to learn French:

1. French is the only language other than English spoken on five continents.
2. To this day French as a foreign language remains the second most frequently taught language in the world after English.
3. French is one of the official language of all United Nations bodies as well as of numerous International Organizations (including The International Labor Bureau and the International Red Cross)
4. Despite different origins (English is Germanic language while French is a Romance language) over 40% of English vocabulary comes from French. Learning French may thus help you improve your English (especially if you are not a native English speaker)
5. Get a head start on learning other Romance languages such as Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or Romanian.
6. To be able to communicate while traveling in France. France remains the leading tourist destination in the world. 7. Discover French Cinema without relying only on (sometimes poor) subtitles. French cinema is rich and varied.
8. Discover French literature without relying only on translation. French literature is still considered as one of the world's most brilliant and is best discovered in the original text. Note that French literature is not limited  to France Literature. Indeed, numerous French-language authors from outside France including Tahar Ben Jelloun (Morocco), Amin Maalouf (Lebanon) or Amelie Nothomb (Belgium) are also well worth discovering and have contributed to the richness of French literature.
9. So that I didn’t do all this work for nothing!
10. Chinese is not easier than French!


2- How many people speak French?

It is estimated that over 200 million people on 5 continents speak French either as a first or as a second language (source: International Organisation of La Francophonie)

3- Where is French spoken?

Besides France and its overseas territories, 29 other countries have French as one of their official language:
1. Belgium
2. Benin
3. Burkina Faso
4. Burundi
5. Cameroon
6. Canada
7. Central African Republic
8. Chad
9. Comoros
10. Congo (Brazzaville)
11. Congo (Kinshasa)
12. Côte d'Ivoire
13. Djibouti
14. Equatorial Guinea
15. Gabon
16. Guinea
17. Haiti
18. Luxembourg
19. Madagascar
20. Mali
21. Monaco
22. Niger
23. Rwanda
24. Senegal
25. Seychelles
26. Switzerland
27. Tahiti
28. Togo
29. Vanuatu

While not an official language, French is also widely spoken in some other countries including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania and Lebanon.

4- I have other questions related to French language / French culture / elearningfrench.com. Where can I post my question(s)?

You can send your question(s) at: info@elearningfrench.com and I’ll do my best to answer them in a timely manner.