Why French?

To succeed in a global economy and to be an informed citizen in the 21st century, take French! A few benchmarks provided by the International Organization of Francophone countries (O.I.F.) explain the global relevance of this language.

• Worldwide, 220 million people speak French ( 9th most widely spoken language and only language, like English, to be spoken on five continents).
• In most of the O.I.F member countries, 60% of the population is under 30 years old.
• It is the 3rd most widely used language on the Web with 5% of Internet pages, after English (45%) and German (7%) and ahead of Spanish (4.5%).
• Africa is the continent with the largest number of French speakers, with 96.2 million French speakers in the IOF member countries.
• French-speaking countries account for 19% of world trade in goods.
• French is the 2nd most widely spoken foreign language (19%) after English (41%) and ahead of German (10%) and Spanish (7%) in the European Union.
• 85 international organizations have French as an official language (ex: the United Nations)

Becoming proficient in French increases your chance to gain employment in international law, finance, trade, banking, and communications as well as for graduate studies in the humanities and social sciences.

Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF)

The Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) is a joint initiative of the French Ministry of Education, the Centre international d’études pédagogiques (CIEP) and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. The program’s goal is to strengthen English-language instruction in French schools by establishing a native speaker presence, while also providing American Francophiles with excellent teaching experience and first-hand knowledge of French language and culture. Assistants, who are required to have completed at least 3 years of post-secondary education, teach English for 12 hours per week in up to 3 schools. In addition to this 7-month contract, assistants receive monthly stipends and health insurance. Learn more about this program.