There are also many French-Spanish cognates, and students who already speak Spanish are encouraged to learn French.  Since both languages are Latin-based, much of the vocabulary is similar:  ami= amigo, numéro= numero, and French people greet each other with "Bonjour!" which means "Good day!" as does "Buenos dias!"  Most Spanish-speakers have an insight into other areas of the French language, such as grammar rules and sentence structure, due to these similarities.

Learning French can also be an advantage later in many career areas.  American companies have over 2,000 subsidiaries in France, and even more in other French-speaking countries; French companies have over 600 subsidiaries in the United States.  Major corporations with headquarters in the U.S. and France include:  IBM, DuPont, General Foods, Sara Lee, Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, General Motors, Eastman Kodak, Michelin, Bic and many more.

  Besides being the language of France, French is an official language in more than 25 countries around the world, on almost every continent.  There are French-speaking communities in the U.S., mostly in Louisiana and New England, and along our border with Canada.  French is one of the official languages at the United Nations and the traditional language of diplomacy and the Olympic Games..

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