Is Learning French Worth It?

If you are thinking about learning French or maybe you have already started, you may be asking yourself if learning the language is worth the effort.

The simple answer is that Yes, French and any other language can be very worth it. It sounds stupid, but it will always be useful in the right situation. It’s down to you to ask yourself if you will find yourself in that situation.

If you can find a use for the language, it will be very worthwhile for you to learn it. Luckily it doesn’t take much effort to find a use for French and I will go through some of the main ways you can use it below.

(If you are wanting to learn French you can check out my unofficial French Course and get a grasp of the basic structure of the language)

French Is Used A Lot Around The World

France isn’t the only place that speaks French. It’s actually a very popular language worldwide. It’s often used as an administrative language and is one of the official languages of the UN, the EU and the Olympics.

Wikipedia suggest that there is 76 million native speakers of French and about 235 million daily, fluent speakers.

They also say there is and another 77–110 million secondary speakers around the world. Simply put, a lot of people speak French and you are always going to find a use for it, making it a very worthwhile language to learn.

Can You Find The Worth In Learning French ?

Asking if French is worth learning is really  a question that can only be answered by you. While a lot of people use it worldwide, you need ask how it will play a role in your life.

Are You Going To Get A Practical Use From Learning French?

Do you have a solid reason to learn the language, are you going to get any use from it? This could be as simple as wanting to enjoy talking with people or watching TV and movies. Entertainment is perfectly valid reasons to learn French and will give you a good piratical use of the language.

Learning French Can Help With Travelling

The popularity of French around the world means that no matter where you travel to you are probably going to be able to use it. I am sure you could just argue you can do the same with English, but if you have both you are going to be pretty covered no matter where you go. 

If You Are Relocating, French Will Be Worth It  

The same goes for if you want to move to a country that speaks French. I’m sure you could get by with English, but it’s going to a lot easier knowing French and you will definitely think it was worth the effort to learn when you are able to just ago about daily life with ease.

French Will Be Worth It For Work

If you need French for your job, you are certainly going to get some practical use from it. It should be pretty obvious that it is going to be a worthwhile thing to learn if you need it for you job.

You can also learn the language with the goal of getting a future job that involves French. In general jobs that require you to use more than one language will pay a lot more, so all that effort to learn the language could really pay off, literally with cash.

Do You Get Joy Form Learning French?

Maybe you do not really need to know French for any real practical reason, but doesn’t mean it’s not worth learning. If you find it fun, that alone can be worth it.

If you live somewhere like the middle of America, where the chances of needing French are pretty much non-existent, that’s fine. We still have the internet and you can still find reasons to use the language.

French Culture Is Worth It

French and Culture are two words that you will often hear together. The French are famous for their rich history with the arts, literature, fashion, food and architecture. If you have any interest in these, then learning the language can open you up to a whole new level of pleasure in these areas.

French Romance Can Be Worth It

While this isn’t a reason to learn a language, it can sometimes lead to a romantic encounter. As I said near the start, French is spoken by millions of people all over the world and also opens up a whole new pool of potential dating partners.

Learning French Is Fun

You may also be the type of person that just enjoys learning french.

You can get a lot of satisfaction from learning a language like French. It’s very rewarding to slowly decode everything and start understanding it. Even if you are sat all alone in your bedroom with no plans to ever use the language in the real world, this enjoyment you get from learning can be totally worth it.

(You Can read more about the opposite of fun – What Is The Hardest Part Of Learning French?)

Using French To Study Other Things

Once you have learned French you can use this to learn anything else you want.

You could go to a university in France and take a subject that you love. Maybe you want to take up psychology, now you can move to Paris and study it there. 

You are no longer limited to having to only learn information in English. While there will obviously be topics that are taught in both languages, I am sure you can find plenty of things to learn that are exclusively French. This extra information that is available to you can be well worth the effort of learning the language.

Learning French Is Worth The Benefits Of The Mind

Language learning is generally very good for the brain. It is basically like doing mental exercises.

Learning French is going to be a challenge, but it can keep your brain busy and in turn, keep it healthy. Studies have showing that learning languages as an adult, can slow down the natural aging process in the brain. This basically means you are holding off diseased like Alzheimer’s which is always a good thing.

Learning a language will also help increase your logic skills and help you be better at thinking creatively. These things are a great benefit and make the whole process totally worth it. A healthy brain healthy and acquiring a new language are all positive things.  

English Gains

Although you are studying French, It can actually help you improve your English.

Understanding how a new language works helps you realise things about English. You will tend to compare what you are learning to your own language and you will start to see English in a new light and start to understand how it works and use it better.

More Languages

Once you get proficient in French it can be the stepping stone to more languages. You will have proved to yourself that you can learn a language and more importantly French is a good gateway into other romance based languages like Spanish or Italian.

(You can also read more information about – Why Learn A Foreign Language?)

Conclusion

It doesn’t really matter why you want to learn French and it doesn’t really matter how you will end up using it. All you need to know is that French can be very worthwhile and if you put the effort in, you will get a lot from it.

It really can really open up a whole new world and if you haven’t started already, you really should start to learn it.  

(You can read more about The Extra Benefits Of Learning A Language)