Many people want to learn a foreign language. Be it to strengthen your CV, to go exploring, meet new people, get to know new cultures or just for fun.
The 3 ways in which, not only French, but any foreign language would help you are:
1. Competitive Advantage
2. Broadening the Cultural Horizons
3. Help acquire skills that would help in further learning
Known as the most romantic language in the world, French is also one of the top second languages taught worldwide with 110 Million native speakers & more than 200 Million second language speakers.
One of the official languages of the UN & the European Union, it is spoken as the 1st language in France, Switzerland (Romandy), Belgium (Wallonia & Brussels), Monaco, Quebec & Arcadia region in Canada and as a second language in USA (Maine & Acadiana region of Louisiana), Gabon, Mauritius, Algeria, Senegal & Côte d'Ivoire.
Competitive Advantage
Learning French can be very beneficial. Companies incorporated in France, Quebec or other francophone countries hire French speakers to aid on projects. Other companies who deal with the French speaking clients also hire speakers on premium compensation packages to aid on projects in the francophone countries.
One of the great jobs that I was offered was as a French Hedge Fund Analyst, paying 40% more than my current job (Unfortunately, it was in Chennai)
The French Embassy hires proficient speakers & the French teachers, corporate trainers & translators are also well paid.
If you’ve attained the DELF B1 (3rd level of the French diploma exam), you can work in France as an English Teaching Assistant for a period of 7 months, teaching in French schools at a fixed compensation of €900/month.
Better yet, if you’ve attained DELF B2, you can go & teach French in France.
French can also help an individual in settling in any of the Francophone country. Quebec awards 4 to 16 points to a French speaker (depending on your proficiency) in its immigration points system.
Some Universities also award brownie points to applicants who've honed a foreign language. France is a great option for further studies in the finance, medicine, fashion & retail space.
Broadening the Cultural Horizons
A French speaker has the whole world of Wine, Cheese, Theatre & Gastronomy open to them. The French eras of film & culture are considered one of the best in the world and the various festivals of France are best witnessed in their native tongue.
Broadening the Cultural Horizons
A French speaker has the whole world of Wine, Cheese, Theatre & Gastronomy open to them. The French eras of film & culture are considered one of the best in the world and the various festivals of France are best witnessed in their native tongue.
Paris is a culture in its own. “La Ville Lumiere” (The city of lights), along with its various cafes, fashion events, museums, monuments & shopping centres is worth experiencing. Although, you would be able to survive a few days with English, its worth interacting with the “Parisiens en français”.
Other famous vacation spots like Mauritius & Monaco also are French speaking nations.
Other famous vacation spots like Mauritius & Monaco also are French speaking nations.
Help acquire skills that would help in further learning
French, a romance language, is a descendant of Latin. Unlike English (A Germanic language), the romance languages have different masculine & feminine genders for the non-living objects too.
The other popular languages from the romance family are – Spanish, Italian, Portuguese & Romanian.
So if you’ve mastered French, you won’t have much difficulty in grasping any of the other romanic languages as compared to a new learner.
French, like any other European language is based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR).
All the languages in the CEFR have 6 levels:
A1 – Breakthrough / Beginner
A2 – Waystage / Elementary
B1 – Threshold / Intermediate
B2 – Vantage / Upper intermediate
C1 – Effective Operational Proficiency / Advanced
C2 – Mastery / Proficiency
Attaining a B2 certificate is more than enough to live & work in a francophone country while C1 & C2 are needed for a Ph.D / further studies
Where to learn: The best institute to learn French is “Alliance Française”. There are 19 such institutes in India (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Karikal, Kolkata, Mahe, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pondicherry, Pune, Mysore, Trivandrum)
You can choose between the extensive course (4 hours/week) or the intensive course (8 hours/week) and select a weekdays or weekends batch as per your preference.
The fees structure & semester schedules vary from city to city. An intensive course in Delhi & Gurgaon costs around Rs. 15,000 and an extensive course around Rs. 8,500 (4 months) and with 3 semesters starting each year in January, May & September.
Log on to www.afindia.org for more or better yet, shoot me a query ;)
French, a romance language, is a descendant of Latin. Unlike English (A Germanic language), the romance languages have different masculine & feminine genders for the non-living objects too.
The other popular languages from the romance family are – Spanish, Italian, Portuguese & Romanian.
So if you’ve mastered French, you won’t have much difficulty in grasping any of the other romanic languages as compared to a new learner.
French, like any other European language is based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR).
All the languages in the CEFR have 6 levels:
A1 – Breakthrough / Beginner
A2 – Waystage / Elementary
B1 – Threshold / Intermediate
B2 – Vantage / Upper intermediate
C1 – Effective Operational Proficiency / Advanced
C2 – Mastery / Proficiency
Attaining a B2 certificate is more than enough to live & work in a francophone country while C1 & C2 are needed for a Ph.D / further studies
Where to learn: The best institute to learn French is “Alliance Française”. There are 19 such institutes in India (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Karikal, Kolkata, Mahe, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pondicherry, Pune, Mysore, Trivandrum)
You can choose between the extensive course (4 hours/week) or the intensive course (8 hours/week) and select a weekdays or weekends batch as per your preference.
The fees structure & semester schedules vary from city to city. An intensive course in Delhi & Gurgaon costs around Rs. 15,000 and an extensive course around Rs. 8,500 (4 months) and with 3 semesters starting each year in January, May & September.
Log on to www.afindia.org for more or better yet, shoot me a query ;)
