Why French?

[tulosai]

Of all the languages out there, why did you choose to study French?

I initially studied it when I was very young just because I had an idea that it was the 'prettiest'.  When I was older, I studied it so that I could go live in Paris for a year and teach English in the public schools there.  Now, I study it for my own personal satisfaction and because I truly love it.

What inspired you to take up French?

[Topcho]

When I was very little, my grandmother was studying it and was buying tons of french magazines. Back then I couldn't even read in my own language, what is left in French! But I loved them all - the French cuisine magazines, the Fashion ones, and most of all, of course, the bandes dessinées like Pif. And later I entered French high school and this is how things went for me.

[btatro]

I chose French origionally over Spanish in high school because I LOATHED the Spanish teacher. Even though Spanish would have been much,much more relevant in my life! I continue to study it now ( as well as Spanish) for my own personal enjoyment. I appreciate it and continue to find it a beautiful language.

[cefmac]

I took up French because I had to - it was compulsory for the first few years of school. We started near the end of primary school, at age 10/11, then studied it at a more basic level for the first two years of high school, before being required to take a language for two more years at exam level for third and fourth year. At the end of first year, if we did well in French, we were offered a taster year of German during second year, in case we wanted to take that instead of French for our exams in third and fourth year. I did both French and German in second year but only continued with French. Back then, I studied it because I had to, but I grew to love it and ended up taking it for another two years, when it wasn't compulsory. So all in all, I did 8 years of French at school.

(I realise this must sound quite complicated if you're not familiar with the Scottish school system - we go to primary school for seven years from age 4/5 to 11/12, then high school for six years, from age 11/12 to 17/18)

[pcgamer]

To be candid with you, I didn't chose to learn French. It's was my elder brother's choice. He wanted me to learn it and started teaching me back in 2012.

[thekernel]

I never chose French. Growing up in Canada, public schooling mandated French classes as early as grade 5 or 6. Not that I minded at the time; there were things about the language that did interest me, but in the end I found a lot of the rules and words were too hard to memorize and recall.

[pojokers]

Why not!?

I think French is a beautiful sounding language and the culture is very unique and rich. I'm learning French for the same reason I learned Spanish, they sound interesting. I don;t have any real profound reason.

[leahcim132]

I was always interested in French because it sounds beautiful. I was on a French forum a while back and thus I wanted to learn French. Still learning to this day  :millionaire:

[sayitwell]

I didn't choose it!  My parents picked it for me to study in school.  The only other option was Spanish.  I really don't know why they picked French for me.  I guess it was because my brother took the language and they thought he could help me learn it with more ease.

[DiesIrae]

I had a few subjects one semester in college and I had a friend who wanted to study it. I was thinking, why not? It was fun learning with someone, although the class itself wasn't good. My French professor was mostly absent and late.

A month or two ago, while I was checking more obscure films, I watched Eva Green on Cracks and I was just fascinated by her. She sounds so cool and then I learned she is French and watched The Dreamers and I fell in love with the language again!

I'm not going to take any classes this time, I'll try to learn it by myself using my Android phone or my PC. It might be challenging but I am hoping to fly to France one day.

[xlzqwerty1]

Moving to a bilingual country being Canada, I was forced to learn French at school since grade three. Not that I'm saying I don't like French though , I actually find it an interesting and helpful language to learn and understand and it was pretty easy for me too.

Since highschool started, I've dropped French and I have to say it was one of my worst decisions of my life. Just after two years of not having french I've forgotten a lot of it. I think I should go google up some lessons again; gotta be able to communicate fluently if I ever do go to France or Quebec again

[Meera]

I keep learning French because I had it for four years in school. I was allowed to pick from Spanish, German and French and I honestly don't know why I took French, I think big reason was beacuse everyone was taking Spanish and I wanted to be in smaller class and I think my gudiance consuleor told me German was really hard so I ended up with French

[polybus]

Like some other people here I started French because it was mandatory in school. We start in Grade 4 which is about 9-10 years old. I really didn't enjoy my French classes in school and only did well enough to pass but never really learned the language.

When I was in university I decided to go back and relearn French and I enjoyed it a lot more and was able to reach a level I am happy with.

[JoeDirt]

In case you don't know, the second language in Morocco is French, we start learning it in the 3rd grade. i didn't learn French at school though, I learned it while playing an online video game and talking to other player. I wasn't really intrested in French, they say it's the language of love, but nah  :bored:.

[Clinteger]

I get asked this question a lot. That doesn't mean that I ever have a good answer though

I started taking French in school when I was 13. Since then, I really kind of just stuck with it because it felt like a waste of time to change. I had also become attached to the language, the culture, the people who speak it, and now that I'm in France, I'm incredibly glad I stuck with it.

I couldn't even imagine having chosen something else now

[wrathfulgrapes]

I already speak Spanish so I figured I might as well pick up another Romance language. Also, I think french is a pretty common language (in many parts of Europe and Africa especially) so I figured it would come in handy.

It also happens to be a very beautiful language.

[mitchellgrzechnik]

I live in Canada and speaking French opens up a lot of doors here. I started taking French in kindergarten. I was enrolled in the French Immersion program so I did all my learning at school in French. I was in love with it. Not just the language but the culture too.

[writeletters]

I began learning it because I thought it was a "pretty" language too! I now learn it because I enjoy learning another language, it's fun, a productive thing to do. One day I'd like to travel, so knowing more languages is a good thing.

[whatupswags]

I tried out for a European volleyball league, and got placed first in Belgium, then in France. I'd always wanted to study French anyway, but never went to a school that offered it. Learning French is a huge challenge, but it is one that I will always be grateful for in my life because of the new paths I have been encouraged to take with learning and understanding another culture.

[Twisted Fairytale]

It's a funny story in my family...

Originally, I had to choose a foreign language for Highschool, so I decided to take French. Everyone else was taking Spanish, but I decided to be different. So I signed up for French. My dad told me that he would learn French with me, but I wasn't learning much in school and he jumped straight on his personal studies. After the first year, he was speaking full sentences and correcting my grammar left and right while I only knew about culture.

Now I am in my fourth year of French (first year of college French), and I have a decent grasp on the language, but I am still a noob. My dad on the other hand, is fluent. After five years of studying French, he goes to France and speaks to the Frenchmen there in French. He always says "If you speak French better than they speak English, you're fluent."

Just recently, I was doing some ancestral work on my family and found that we did not come from Germany as my Grandad believed. We actually came from Alsace, France. So, unknowingly, I began to study a language my Freshman year of Highschool, that was native to my family generations ago.

[writeletters]

That's cool! I started learning French because it was always stereotyped as a 'pretty' language. I later understood that it was very difficult to learn unless you are willing to devote a lot of time and effort to it - time and effort that I do not currently possess. Maybe I'll continue where I left off some time in the future.

[Ricardo187]

Hello. I choise french because I'm forced to. I'm living at France so I'll have a hard time communicating if I don't learn the language. I so also like it aswell, so it's not a real pain.

[ValerieAnne]

Honestly, I studied French, because I was forced to take a foreign language in school. We only had two options and of the two, I'd rather learn French. I took two years of it then was forced into the other language anyway when the French teacher left and didn't tell anybody. :S

[ArchaeRogue]

I began French because at my school:

1. The Spanish teachers are all horrid and some of my Spanish speaking friends could teach better.

2. Vietnamese was a boring class and all you did was copy notes.

3. And as for Chinese, you had to be a native speaker or you'll terribly fail the class.

And I began self-teaching myself French over the summer for some reason, so I thought I should just take French. Best decision of my life, teachers are great and homework load isn't killing my shoulders.

[SpringBreeze]

I studied it when I was younger because it was a school requirement. I had a choice between Spanish and French. And so I chose French. When I got older, I chose it because it was the second most important language in international business and relations. I also thought it was very beautiful and romantic. I wanted to do a study abroad in Montpellier, France when I was in college. Unfortunately it never happened.

I study it still today because there's something very attractive about it. Also, sometimes I end up having to translate French works. French is just really useful to know.