The French Academy of Minnesota - French School, Preschool and Elementary

Why French?

Why French?

French is spoken by more than 270 million people in the world: 80 million native speakers and another 190 million secondary speakers on five continents. French is the 2nd most commonly taught second language in the world (after English) and ranked the 2nd most influential language in the world.

It is the language of the fifty-six countries that form La Francophonie, the equivalent of a French commonwealth. Although more people speak Chinese, Hindi, and Spanish, French is spoken in more countries - over a greater geographical area - than any of these, making French second only to English as a global language. French is also one of the official languages for NATO, INTERPOL, and the United Nations and the 3rd most common language on the Internet.

More than a third of all English words are derived directly or indirectly from French, and it's estimated that English speakers who have never studied French already know 15,000 French words. French is the lingua franca of culture, including art, cuisine, dance, and fashion.

France has won more Nobel Prizes for literature than any other country in the world and is one of the top producers of international films.

… and one more thing - Spanish is not easier to learn than French!

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