Why Study French
The rich cultural traditions of France are world-renowned: its poetry and painting, film and philosophy, fashion and cuisine are celebrated globally. French is also a major language of politics, diplomacy, science, technology, commerce, and travel. An official language in 29 countries and an administrative or cultural language in many others, French is one of the world's most geographically widespread languages. It is currently the fifth most widely spoken language globally, with approximately 321 million speakers. This number is projected to exceed 700 million by 2050, with the majority of growth expected in Africa.
Beyond the beauties, intellectual challenges, and just plain fun of language study itself, then, studying French opens a world that extends from the Caribbean to Southeast Asia, Quebec to Casablanca, Senegal to Switzerland. Study abroad opportunities abound. And here at Northwestern, you can enjoy courses (in French and in English!) on topics ranging from medieval epic to New Wave cinema, from the thought of Derrida and Foucault to contemporary African novels, from the Haitian Revolution to the radical politics of the 60s.