FROM: Dr. Arcides Gonzalez RE: Study French
Sent: 12/19/2022 8:20:20 AM
To: Students, Faculty, Staff
Attention: All International Studies, Business, Nursing, Art, language students, and all other majors/minors (including our Canadian/African/Haitian students who study at our university), JOIN US IN:
French 347 (AFRE 347) Francophone Africa, French 101 (AFRE 101) Elementary French I & French 102 (AFRE 102) Elementary French II, all offered this SPRING 2023!
If you’re interested in learning about the world and about French Africa in particular, AFRE 347 (on Gen Ed menu) is for you. AFRE 347 is taught in English, so it’s open to all.
AFRE 101 is open to all beginners who are interested in learning French. This course is good to satisfy a language requirement, to prepare yourself for graduate school which oftentimes requires knowledge of a foreign language, or simply for travel to a French-speaking country for business or pleasure.
AFRE 102 is open to all those who have previous knowledge of the language whether their own or HS or took AFRE 101 at this university.
Why study French? Here are just a few of the reasons:
- Forbes reports that French is the language of the future, according to a study by Natixis investment bank projecting French will be the "most-spoken language in the world" by 2050. Read the article and think about the study's methodology, to see if you agree with the bank's analysis. (https://www.forbes.com/search/?q=language%20of%20the%20future&sh=10fa9653279f)
- ABC News reports that according to Bloomberg Rankings, French is the second most useful language in the world for business. It is spoken on all 5 continents whereas Chinese, Arabic and Spanish are regional.
- Studying French makes you smarter!
“…. scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age. (“Why Bilinguals Are Smarter.”) (https://www.nytimes.com/by/yudhijit-bhattacharjee)
- French is one of the easiest languages for native English speakers to learn. In 1066, the French Duke of Normandy conquered England and made French the official language of England for a time. As a result, more than half of our current English vocabulary comes from French—words like avenue, university, café, exam… sound like and are spelled like their French counterparts.
Register today for French 347 and/or French 101/102!
For more info contact: Dr. Arcides Gonzalez at gonzalez@pennwest.edu or our department at: speer@pennwest.edu
