Is French easy to learn?

The reasons why you should not be afraid to learn French

 

French is the fifth most spoken language in the world with over 321 million speakers according to the International Organization of La Francophonie , in 112 countries and territories around the world.

French is not among the ten most difficult languages to learn. These include Mandarin, Arabic, Russian, Polish and many others. You can find French in category 1 of the language difficulty ranking, which means it is one of the easiest languages to learn, with languages such as, Spanish and Italian all requiring approximately 23-24 weeks of study time. Things get more difficult in category 5 in which we can find Arabic, Mandarin and Korean, with up to 88 weeks of learning.

 

Most learners complain about pronunciation difficulties, which is common in almost all languages since we are not used to certain phonetics, sound and intonation, and it requires extensive learning and long-term immersion to speak like a native. Added to that, the rigorous grammar and complicated conjugation with many tenses to know, and the differentiation between the feminine and masculine can be problematic for beginners.

However, all these parameters can be easily mastered with a good learning program. You will have more chances of learning fast if you are taking group courses, allowing interactions with other people as well as sharing of knowledge.

Alliance Francaise Ottawa offers a variety of courses designed to help you learn French quickly and easily, no matter your level. You can take advantage of group classes, private classes, and oral workshops to help you master all aspects of French from speaking to writing.

 

 

Next time you think of French as a difficult language, consider the following facts:

  • French is the third language of business in the world
  • French is spoken on 5 continents
  • French is one of the most taught languages
  • France is the world’s leading tourist destination

 

All the complexity of French makes it a rich and very precise language to express one’s thoughts and ideas.