POURQUOI PARLER FRANCAIS? WHY SPEAK FRENCH?
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ten reasons to study french
HOW SPEAKING MULTIPLE LANGUAGES BENEFITS THE BRAIN:
why learn french?
The Most Practical Foreign Language
Richard Shryock (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
When universities look at applicants, they do not start looking at the bottom of the list to see who has done only the minimal amount of requirements necessary or taken the easiest route available, they start at the top of the list and look for those students who have risen above the rest. High school students should consider studying at least four years of a foreign language
· The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language 2008 Survey indicates that more students are interested in studying French than any other foreign language in the United States.
· French as a foreign language is the second most frequently taught language in the world after English.
· French is the only language other than English spoken on five continents.
· French, along with English, is the official working language of the United Nations, UNESCO, NATO, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Olympic Committee, the European
Community and the International Red Cross, just to name a few…
· One example of the importance of French can be seen in a recent listing of international jobs (12/1/09) distributed
by the US State Department: 92 required or preferred French, 36 Spanish, 11 a UN language (Arabic, Chinese,
English, French, Russian, and Spanish), 7 Arabic, 5 Russian, 1 Japanese, 1 Hindi, 1 German, and 1 Chinese.
· French is the foreign language spoken by our largest trading partner (Canada).
· The province of Quebec alone is the sixth largest trading partner of the United States with approximately
$72 billion in trade in 2006.
· From 2003 to 2008 trade between France and the United States increased by 59% with one billion dollars of transactions taking place every day.
· France has the fifth largest economy in the world after the U.S., Japan, China, Germany (2008). In 2006, the French GDP was $2.231 trillion and China's was $2.668 trillion.
· France is the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world after the U.S.
· In recent years, the U.S. has been the largest direct investor in France. France is nearly tied with Japan, Germany and the Netherlands as the second largest foreign investor in the U.S.
· 2,300 French companies in the US employ approximately 520,000 Americans.
· Overall, the French export more per capita than the Japanese and more than twice as much as the Americans.
· France is the world's leader in the production of luxury goods.
· More tourists visit France than any other country in the world.
· France gives more foreign aid per capita to developing nations than does the US.
· France is a major world research center in the field of high energy physics.
· The French are a world leader in medical research: the AIDS virus was first isolated by French doctors.
· The French are the world's third manufacturers of electronics equipment.
· European leader in aerospace (Aérospatiale, Arianespace, Airbus...).
· The fastest train (TGV) is French.
· The smart card was used on a large-scale basis in France.
· France is the world's third military power (after the US and Russia), and has the world's second largest defense industry (i.e. except missiles, radar technology.)
· The French have nearly 15,000 troops on peace-keeping duties in 15
· France is the world's second largest builder and exporter of civilian and military aircraft and helicopters
· France has one of the most advanced systems of telecommunications in the world.