Pourquoi étudiez-vous le français?
Why are you studying French?
“The language is pretty”
“Macarons”
“I love the culture!”
“I love that it’s a proper language”
It’s fun to discover, for me, why young people choose to learn French. There are usually other foreign languages available to students, so why French?
I’ve been teaching French to middle and high school students in Boston’s Metro West region for the past eight years. Learning why students choose French has been an interest of mine from the start. In many towns, most students are required to study a language at school. Uncovering the reasons why a young person opts for French illuminates valuable information, and helps guide me towards satisfying students needs and desires in the learning routine. It’s important that people enjoy the process of learning French (or any language), so it’s helpful to me to learn more about their motivations.
In the middle school where I teach, this academic year, one hundred and forty French learners were surveyed as to why they selected French. Students were allowed to check off “All that apply” as to the reasons they chose French. In my town, the language selection process starts at the end of fifth grade, at the age of ten or eleven. Let’s remember that most students will have the guidance and encouragement of their parents and families to make their language selections. Language classes begin in the sixth grade at middle school.
Here are the results of this year’s survey:
50% I WANT TO GO TO FRANCE ONE DAY (one student replaced France with Switzerland)
49% THE FOOD
40% SOMEONE IN MY FAMILY STUDIED FRENCH AND LOVED IT
36% SOMEONE IN MY FAMILY SPEAKS FRENCH
30% I DON’T KNOW WHY
19% MY PARENT MADE ME TAKE FRENCH
14% I WENT TO FRANCE AND WANT TO GO BACK
54% ANOTHER REASON
Out of one hundred forty students surveyed, seventy-five of them took the time to write another, more specific reason as to why they signed up to learn French.
In addition to the four listed at the beginning of this blog, here are a few more reasons “Why I’m studying French”:
“It sounded fancy and elegant”
“I’ve always liked the idea of speaking French since 4th grade”
“So I can speak French to my friends”
“French is cool”
As a lover of the French language and culture myself, a Francophone and Francophile, I have to agree that “French is cool”.
I’ve been a member of the French Library since 2015, and this is the place in Boston to nurture your own love of the French language and of French (and global) culture.
Consider asking yourself: “Why am I (or should I be!) studying or learning French?”
****
Tom Moon, French Library Member
Why are you studying French?
“The language is pretty”
“Macarons”
“I love the culture!”
“I love that it’s a proper language”
It’s fun to discover, for me, why young people choose to learn French. There are usually other foreign languages available to students, so why French?
I’ve been teaching French to middle and high school students in Boston’s Metro West region for the past eight years. Learning why students choose French has been an interest of mine from the start. In many towns, most students are required to study a language at school. Uncovering the reasons why a young person opts for French illuminates valuable information, and helps guide me towards satisfying students needs and desires in the learning routine. It’s important that people enjoy the process of learning French (or any language), so it’s helpful to me to learn more about their motivations.
In the middle school where I teach, this academic year, one hundred and forty French learners were surveyed as to why they selected French. Students were allowed to check off “All that apply” as to the reasons they chose French. In my town, the language selection process starts at the end of fifth grade, at the age of ten or eleven. Let’s remember that most students will have the guidance and encouragement of their parents and families to make their language selections. Language classes begin in the sixth grade at middle school.
Here are the results of this year’s survey:
50% I WANT TO GO TO FRANCE ONE DAY (one student replaced France with Switzerland)
49% THE FOOD
40% SOMEONE IN MY FAMILY STUDIED FRENCH AND LOVED IT
36% SOMEONE IN MY FAMILY SPEAKS FRENCH
30% I DON’T KNOW WHY
19% MY PARENT MADE ME TAKE FRENCH
14% I WENT TO FRANCE AND WANT TO GO BACK
54% ANOTHER REASON
Out of one hundred forty students surveyed, seventy-five of them took the time to write another, more specific reason as to why they signed up to learn French.
In addition to the four listed at the beginning of this blog, here are a few more reasons “Why I’m studying French”:
“It sounded fancy and elegant”
“I’ve always liked the idea of speaking French since 4th grade”
“So I can speak French to my friends”
“French is cool”
As a lover of the French language and culture myself, a Francophone and Francophile, I have to agree that “French is cool”.
I’ve been a member of the French Library since 2015, and this is the place in Boston to nurture your own love of the French language and of French (and global) culture.
Consider asking yourself: “Why am I (or should I be!) studying or learning French?”
****
Tom Moon, French Library Member
