Why do you want to learn french?
Because I love the all of it. Everything about France I like. People, food, language, places, beaches, and everything, just everything.
103 Comments
I want to, if nothing else, give every language on Duolingo a try. French is a beautiful language, and even though I get frustrated with their silent letters sometimes, I remember my experiences in France and Senegal. Something great about any language, but French and Portuguese in particular, people are impressed or excited to hear that you're learning their language. Both languages hold exceptionally high importance to a lot of their speakers, and it's great to learn these, as it opens another door into someone else's culture.
we share the same interest, cause I want to learn french and Portuguese too.
Because I live in the USA and I can go to Quebec to practice it. I can go to Mexico to practice Spanish. Other language choices would require a LOT of money and vacation time to visit and practice with native speakers.
You can practice with native speakers online. No vacation time and very little money required :)
That helps, for sure, but there's nothing quite like being in a place where everything around you is in a foreign language - money, music, signs, radio, television, groceries, restaurants, newspapers.... everything. It's magical. Learning French means I'm much more likely to enjoy that kind of an experience than if I were to learn German or Italian, living where I do.
But yes, I do practice online sometimes and it is also a wonderful experience.
Agreed! I spent three weeks in Peru this Spring and it was amazing. A few people know a bit of English here and there but most of the time we were left to "just figure it out" as my teacher would say. I was surprised at how confident I was at getting around by myself at the end of the trip.
I took French in high school and I really want to brush up on it, since I'd lost A LOT. I remember in college I ended up talking to some French guys on chat roulette- I was the only one who spoke French of my friends, and one guy on their end spoke English and we were able to communicate very clumsily. But my boyfriend is pursuing a wine career and I might dive into doing it professionally as well within the next few years, so it will come in handy when we finally take our pilgrimage to France!
is exactly was happening to me. I took french trough my high school years, but it wasn't never enough so i decided to keep learnig
I am learning French because many of my favorite piano composers spoke French. (Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Erik Satie and some others) Also, because I just love the language. I think it's one of the most prominent languages of the fine arts too.
After visiting Paris last year - and having NO French language skills... I decided that I needed to learn some French before I head back for another visit.
thats amazing! I'd never been to paris but im sure that one day i will, and i want to be prepared for that
I moved from Vancouver (hardly any French to be found aside from food packaging) to Montreal (rather a lot of French, surprise surprise). Plus knowing a second language seems like a generally good idea.
I may only be 11 but I still want to learn french so I can become a doctor, also because I worry a lot about the futre :-) plus I always wanted to go paris, merci et au revoir
I wish I had started younger, though it was much more difficult to connect with speakers and learning methods when I was that age. I say go for it and don't give up!
I know english and Arabic perfectly but I really want to learn a 3rd language and I took french till 9th grade at school (I'm 3rd year medical labs student) so here I just signed in duolingo today after recommendations from a german friend that it is a very good website. I really do hope this goes well.
Because I've been to France over 20 times (1 to 3 times per year) and still don't speak a word. I speak German and I have been there once, I will be going back to France in January and many times again in the future so I hope to be able to contribute on the next trip and future trips. Thanks for the help DUOLINGO!
Because I intend on doing Linguistics as a University degree, and I absolutely love French culture and their way of living so I intend on living there when I'm older. I was thinking about doing International Law as well.
I was in Paris around 2 years ago.
This was my first big trip and me and my best friend traveled from Norway all the way to Montenegro with Interrail.
When we where in Paris we didn't really have any issues with speaking english but we did learn some of the polite phrases which we used, a lot.
I just wanna learn so that next time i can keep a conversation, i can speak with the natives on their turf and also i have way to much free time on my hands so its going to be french now and then spanish.
So i guess that's why, i love to talk to people and i want to learn how to speak not only french but spanish, italian and some other languages so that when i'm out and traveling, communication will never be a barrier.
I want to learn French for many reasons. First of all, I found out that I like learning other languages. Learning other languages can help me see, in a way, how other people around the world see their lives. It can help you understand the cultures that speak it, learning the constraints and benefits that each language has. One day I hope to visit Europe so hopefully I'll be able to practice it in France. On the other hand, learning French, one of the worlds most spoken languages, can considerably increase your job opportunities. We are living in a world that's aiming each day towards globalization, and learning to speak other languages gives you a professional and personal advantage.
First of all, my mother speaks fluent French and teaches it to children, so it's a given that I want to learn more. I love going to Paris but it's really hard without at least knowing the basics in French. But even if those didn't apply to me, learning a new language to me is fun and exciting. I know it takes a lot of hard work because I am currently bilingual. Just to see yourself progress from only knowing how to say sentences like "The girl eats an apple" to beyond what you imagined you could ever do is rewarding on its own. I'm not very far in learning French but someday I hope I will be. In the school I go to there is only Spanish classes, which I have enrolled in, but it would be terrific if they taught French. When you learn a language, it helps you not only speak to and understand other people, but it helps you learn more about their culture, such as their interests, food, and country in general. And, overall, the French language and culture seems great and there is no language I would rather learn right now.
I'm learning because I like learning new languages, there is no special reason.. Maybe I'll learn German or Spanish after French.
I don't know how they translated En attendant Godot, but this is one of my favorite novels / theater plays of all time, in any language.
Becausa I love it. I love French, and I also love Paris. I wish I would go to Paris someday. I come from Vietnam. Nice to meet you!
To help my children who do French at school. One of them has only just started French at school and their school report said that they had only been taught Level 1 & 2 so far. Yet they gave my child a 4c. (Primary teachers and parents in the UK will understand).
I've grown up in USA. On both sides, my family histories are French. My great grandpa spoke French. He fought in the war, and they all called him Frenchie because of his thick accent. He was the last in our family to speak French, and he never taught his children the language. My first and last names are French, so the language is already part of my daily identity.
I have no one near me to practice it. I've never traveled to francophone places. Learning a language, and particularly the one that is meaningful in my family's histories, is my opportunity to think more broadly and understand a whole other culture.
I am very excited to have DuoLingo for this.
I certainly hope you will find reasons to appreciate the language and the culture of people who speak it. I have nothing against learning a language in high school, but it tends to kill motivation and creates resentment when we are forced to learn something.
I totally agree! I started Italian in high school because it was my only option other than Spanish, and at first I only saw it as a language. Now, having just returned from an immersion trip in Italy, I am so grateful that I worked hard these past years because they really paid off! My teachers were also very motivational, though, and had an actual passion for the language, so I guess it really depends on what teacher you have.
The teacher does play a part, but the general attitude of the class and your own personal motivation have impact as well (positively or negatively).
Because french is such an elegant language to speak and because I don't want to waste 3 years of french in school.
French is an official language here in Canada, and I see and hear it everywhere, so I would like to understand it better. I also enjoy many French-language films, and a lot of my favourite bands are French, Belgian or Quebecois.
Mainly for work reasons, but I'd quite like to live there too. Best of luck!
I live in Canada and we are a bilingual country. Further more, I live in New Brunswick and there is a fair amount of bilingual communities for me to practice in. It is easier to get a job with both languages under your belt. The Canadian French speakers are basically required to speak English so I think it is only fair that the Canadian English should be too. Plus I enjoy a challenge!
I'm more or less with you. I'm from New Brunswick originally and would like to move back there eventually. But in order to get a decent job, particularly with the government, you absolutely need to be bilingual and French immersion schooling was insufficient for developing language skills that would hack it in the job market.
Don't they (the federal government) offer courses for employees not meeting their minimum language proficiency requirement? I had a placement job in Ottawa for the federal government and every English native had to take French classes. They always asked us (I'm a French native fluent in English) to practice their French with, so they can get better and stop getting these mandatory French classes.
I mean they would probably hire someone not speaking French or English well enough, but force them to take classes to get better until they get to the minimum level required to work for them.
cool! i HAPPEN TO HAVE ALMOST THE SAME STORY, I am originally from New Jersey but I moved to Dominican republic very little and then after 13 years I moved back to US
I was introduced to it in first grade, and then second grade they changed it to Spanish! >:( in the beginning of second grade, my teacher asked me what color I wanted to draw with and I said rouge (just a fun fact ;) ). Ever since then I wanted to go back to French but I kept getting denied and once I was denied again in the beginning of high school, I took it in my own hands and couldn't have been happier :)
Now I'm just like you--I love everything about it. The pronunciation, the music, etc. etc.
Haha me too. In first grade of high school I learned Japanese and in second grade they changed it to French! My French teacher doesn't really teach well and it made me annoyed so I and a lot of my friends kinda hated the French language because of her haha:) But I love learning languages and I think it won't hurt to learn French by my own here. It's even more fun than learning from my teacher:)
Because it ounds pretty cool, and I also like French music and culture. I'd also like to travel to French Guiana and Martinique someday.
As Irtward noted, French is one of the two easiest languages for a resident of the United States to practice and be exposed to. French media is common and high quality compared to other languages. I like the look and sound of French, even if the written languages seems messy. I like how similar many of the words in French are to English, making French easier to learn than other languages for me. While I am allergic to a significant proportion of the food of European French countries, I do love their dishes when I am cheating. Belgium, France, and Switzerland are interesting countries, both politically and historically. They are rich countries with a high standard of living and a high level of educational and scientific achievement. Along with English, French is the official language of the European Space Agency and European Organization for Nuclear Research. Thus there is a very small chance French could be useful for me. Lastly, I need to study a language besides English for college.
love France, love French and have been obsessed with Paris for about a year !!!!!! :)
I'm going to McGill as a graduate student, and while I understand the campus itself is English-speaking and one can probably get by speaking English in the area, I would feel better -- and I suspect miss a lot less and be able to enjoy myself more -- if I at least had something of a grasp on the French language as well. It sure seems a lot less structured/orderly than German though....
My family is French Canadian. My mom introduced me to French when I was in kindergarten. She told me that Rosetta Stone was a game and I absolutely loved it! I only learned simple words, but it was a good starting point. After, I took a small class after school in 2nd grade and I took a Spanish class in 3rd grade. I also took French in middle school and high school. So, I guess it has always been a part of my life. I love the sound, the way it looks, the way words can be used artistically and lyrically, and how thinking in French feels (if that makes sense). Also, I live in New England, so there are many people who come here from Quebec.
I'm learning it because I have French citizenship inherited from my great grand parents that immigrated to Australia 100+ years ago.
French is the most romantic European language. It is the language to express your feelings. I love French and France (Except their football team :) )
1838
56 days ago my brother said:
- Hey, do you know duolingo?
- No, what is it?
- It's a site where you can learn languages for free.
- Cool, I'm giving it a try.
So, this is how it went.
well done. The same happened to me but 3 days ago and it was with a friend. But I'm only on level 7 in french.
I work for a Canadian company in an office based in the U.S. and I have to communicate with our sales force out of Quebec and I would love to be able to communicate more effectively without a translator.
Because I want to spend a portion of my summer in France and I thought going into it without knowing anything outside of bonjour wouldn't be the smartest decision. I've always thought of becoming bilingual and even though I had motivation (practical and personal) I never really stuck with other languages.
I hope to possibly gain employment in Ottawa one day and this keeps the option alive. Having been quite proficient in high school it was a shame to have to stop taking French due to the size of my school and I'm ecstatic to have found Duo.
I am a huge film buff and luckily the English Language is the best language to speak for that area since America has played such a huge role in global cinema and has always put out both popular and artful films, as well as the fact that English subtitles are the easiest to find for internet sources. French is definitely the second best language to know since the wealth of great French films is almost as great as English ones and they've been consistently making great films since the creation of cinema.
Here are some of my favourite French language films:
La Haine C.R.A.Z.Y. (from Quebec) Cleo de 5 a 7 Incendie (from Quebec) Trois Couleurs: Blue/Rouge Les Diaboliques Copie Conforme (also English and Italian) Inglorious Basterds (also German and English) Les 400 Coups A Bout du Souffle La Regle du Jeu Xala (also Wolof from Senegal)
Because I'm watching Inglorious Basterds and Shoshonna is THE coolest character on the face of the planet and I do believe much of that has to do with her speaking french.
I'm Canadian and I really think I've got to know French or there's a whole part of the country that I'm less able to understand. And that would be unfortunate.
I love French books and movies (I cried my eyes out reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog) and my favorite movie is Amelie. I also just love languages in general, so I will probably at least try out everything. For a while I got bored and started learning Polish on polishpod101.com kind of for no reason. I'm also looking forward to when Japanese is put in the incubator. :-)
- 875
Native speaker of Hungarian, I can speak English and Portuguese very well. I studied Latin at University, so it was almost natural for me to want to learn a Romance language. Did a bit of Italian and Spanish first, but then fell in love with Portuguese. After a few years' hiatus here I am learning French :) To me it sounds really beautiful, I love French music a lot, too! I am also interested in cycling, so it's nice to speak/understand one of the major languages of this sport. I haven't tried my language skills with native speakers yet, but the time will come soon, I'm sure! Bonne soirée à tous!
I really want to go to France. I am a sophmore in a tiny high school, so they don't teach French, and in college, I am hoping I can Study Abroad there. And I want to go there for my "senior trip". I wouldn't mind living there for a summer.
I had French in high school for six years (eight-year grammar school) and I learned absolutely nothing, so I decided to work on it this way. I'd lost my patience with language teachers once before when I was fifteen and got my English to the B2 - C1 level by myself. This is similar, I guess. Besides, I love languages. I would really love to learn as many of them as possible. French was the obvious choice, since I was taking it in high school.
Im going into the Peace Corps in September! I'm leaving for Cameroon where I'll be living for two years and the community I'll be apart of is francophone so I need to learn me some French. <.< I'm pretty nervous because other than duolingo I've never had any experience with French before but I hear the language trainers there are top notch so here's to hoping!
From what I hear you are given ample opportunity to pass the tests and will be better prepared than anywhere else could hope for. Best of luck and thanks for serving.
I took French when I was in high school, but I've forgotten almost all of it. I just like languages and want to be fluent in at least 3.
Love the culture and French music and I hope to live there some day! Also to say with pride that I am trilingual.
Hi, I just want to advise people that wanting to learn French because "I like French culture" is not going to be sufficient motivation to learn and maintain it. People should try to find something more substantial, otherwise it will just become an activity you get frustrated and bored with.
Best wishes
I think that people getting bored with it depends on much more than just the reason behind learning it. There are people with, perhaps, a spouse or relatives that speak French who will start to learn and never carry it on, and then there are people who just say, "Because I want to speak French," and they will see it through.
I understand where you're coming from with thinking that a vague reason is little better than no reason, but to someone who feels that it is important to them to read the works of even just one author in another language, I think it is far more constructive to support them and say, "This is something you can do, and we're all rooting for you."
I understand it's the polite thing to do, but unfortunately I think the pretentiousness of saying "I'm going to do hundreds of hours of work so I can read a book in its original language, even though it's already been translated" is a bit much for me.
Best wishes
Which is pragmatic, for sure. It's the same as, "Why work for a paycheck if someone is going to give me one for free?" And it's an easy perspective to take if you're born in an English speaking country. But if you think of language like music, then consider: would you want to listen to covers of all your favorite songs redone in the same genre, never knowing whether or not the band that covered it got the subtleties of the original, or whether it's actually anything like the original at all?
You make some good points. I understand how wanting to read or listen to an original can first inspire you to learn a language (I was inspired by something pretty trivial myself), I just don't think alone it is enough.
I don't mean to be the motivation police, I just feel we should take it quite seriously, because the opportunity costs are massive, rather than treating it as no big deal and it doesn't matter if you spend lots of time doing it as long as you can read or listen to your original.
I only wish the best for the people I'm criticising, I just don't think it is appropriate to be positive all the time.
Regards
Very true, and perhaps the amount of time I've wasted doing trivial things makes me want to support people when they take on something like this. I, like many other people, spent far too much time playing video games and wasting my time doing things like that when I was younger, and now all I can do is kick myself for not being more productive. If kids could be engaged in language-learning these days the way they are with online games, we could be a much more culturally fluent society.
The biggest problem is that people will believe what they are told. If you tell them that they can't do it, then they won't, because they will believe it is the truth. You're right, it is a significant investment of time. And I understand what you mean about it being crazy to learn a whole language for one single thing; the thing is, the journey there is where the adventure lies and from there, a whole lot of new paths are opened.
Well ,I learn France just because I have to past the exam , not really love it.
I always loved the country and it's seems like such a beautiful and romantic language to learn :). Plus there's many places here in the U.S where i can get help learning it face to face and a few of my friends know too.
Because its one of the most important and significant language and i have a huge craze about it
French culture is probably one of the most interesting of all and I plan to retire in France or Switzerland!
I was originally born in Congo, though I've spent the vast majority of my life in the US. When I go back to visit my family, I want to know enough that I can freely talk to them.
Because I enjoy listening spoken French and It is likely that I will spent an year in France.
because its a big step for me and by knowing french i could get much closer to my dream - going to an art university in france :)
i want to learn french because i right know Spanish also Spanish and french sounds like
I originally justified it with work, but the fact is that I just love the sound of the language, I love the cinema and culture, and France is the most likely detour I'd make when visiting my family in England.
I was also curious to find out about whether French people are as haughty as they are stereotyped to be (which I thought it was doubtful, since everyone I know who has been to France and had bad experiences didn't speak any French), and to see how the people there see me as an American (which generally has been lukewarm, but pleasantly surprised that I have an interest in learning their language).
I will probably work on Spanish next, as it is definitely more useful here in southern California, but I was surrounded by it for so long I wanted to try something different first.
I started French in elementary in Michigan before my dad enlisted. I am now in Texas high school, home schooled, and the only language they had was Spanish and I refused to learn it so my mom got my into a course my high school approves of and it is not engaging at all. I was determined to learn French so i decided to check out duolingo which I found on pinterest and I love it! My sister started Spanish and i am determined to learn faster than her!
Parce que j'aime beaucoup France, Québec et Louisiane Acadien. :) Un jour, j’espère de vivre au Québec.
I've always been determined to learn it, so I adore having Duolingo as a buffer over the summer for my classes and as an add-on (There are certainly things I don't learn in my class here)
French is really just beautiful, I love the pronunciation and the fact that they hardly pronounce the ends, "est-ce que", the way it rolls off the tongue. I honestly have no urge to learn another Romance language, (I want to then go on to focus on Germanic, particularly those derived from Old Norse) but French has always had a resilience with me. I just love it.
Plus, I'm going to live there for a month next summer, so I should hope I like it!
Because I love French movies and subtitles are in the way of my full appreciation of the art of film making!
My dad's side is French, so I thought it would be cool to try it out! (It's also a beautiful language)
