In this day when the world is shrinking, many of us are slowly becoming aware of the importance of learning a new foreign language.

Some of us are satisfied with the few words we learnt in school and college. However, the pleasure in learning a foreign language is more than knowing a few common words. An obvious reason to learn a new language is to be able to communicate with the people who speak it. For those travel buffs, learning a new language is an added advantage.

Speaking another's language shows respect for that culture, and people in every country prefer it when tourists make an effort to speak the local language, even if all you can say in it is "hello" and "please." This is a way for one to open up to new ideas and new ways of looking at the world. From a business point of view, speaking more than one foreign language will increase one’s marketability.

After English, French is the most taught language is schools. The United Nations, European Courts of Justice, other International Agencies are some of the institutes where French is considered an important asset. French plays an important role, either as an administrative, commercial, or international language or simply due to a significant French-speaking population.

Some facts:

128 million Francophones - Speak French (as a native or adopted language) fluently and use it on a regular basis.

72 million "partiel" Francophones - Live in a francophone country but do not speak French regularly, due to limited knowledge.

100-110 million students of all ages - Do not live in a francophone country, but have learned/are learning French in order to communicate with Francophones.
A French speaking country is termed as a Francophone country.

So where do you stand in this? Don’t you think its time for you to start learning a foreign language? Why not learn the second most spoken language French?

Here are ten reasons why learning French is any day better than watching TV:

1. No fighting over which French to speak
2. You can always find something to talk about
3. There aren't any commercials
4. You can speak French even when the electricity goes out
5. Don't need to pay for the good conversations
6. No one will tell you that French rots your brain
7. French dinners are much better than TV dinners
8. Almost never hear complaints about "French violence"
9. You don't need a remote to change the subject
10. The "French guide" is free.

Contribution: Shrithi Malaika, Chennai
shrithimalaika@gmail.com