Learn French for Global Communication

Global or international communication is the development and sharing of information, through verbal and non-verbal messages, in international settings and contexts. It is a broad field that incorporates multiple disciplines of communication, including intercultural, political, health, media, crisis, social advocacy, and integrated marketing communications, to name just a few. Individuals with a degree in global communication might find employment in advertising and marketing, public relations, international journalism, foreign service, politics and lobbying, publishing, online media, entertainment, or any other industry with an international focus. And what’s better, if it comes armed with the global language such as French. French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the language of European diplomacy and international relations.

Exchange of information across geographical and social divides, and communication, both of which are impacted and influenced by culture, politics, media, economies, health, and relationships in the age of globalization, forms a part of global communication. Strategies and practices adopted by global communication, allow marketers and creative directors, public relations specialists, political consultants, market researchers, journalists, non-profit leaders, and other professionals in foreign or international industries to develop and share messages that reach audiences across borders, whether to resonate politically, help sell a product, or expose illegal labour practices. Global communication can take various forms, including global advertisements, political speeches, journalistic news stories, social media posts, press releases, books and traditional print publications, and more.

Global Communication boasts of a dynamic relationship between globalization and the use of language in communication, that causes information flow via a cultural exchange, influencing the culture, society, economies, and politics through emerging global media (e.g. digital technology, social media). Global communications work such that transnational academic partnerships can impact learning outcomes in African countries, or patterns of feminism can affect international advertising or strategic communication practices via social media platforms stand to reshape environmental activism in Asia. Global Communication might also play a critical role in a global public health crisis.

What’s better if it’s done in French?!

French is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents, most of which are members of the Organization Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), a community of 84 countries that share the official use or teaching of French. The language allows you to enter the culture of over 300 million French speakers in more than 50 countries worldwide. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. The language of love belongs to the Indo-European family.  Owing to France’s past overseas expansion, today, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. In both English and French, a French-speaking individual or nation is referred to as a Francophone. Surprisingly, the language of love and culture is also a language of analysis. It emphasises logic, reasoning, and critical thinking. French equips students with crucial abilities for discussions such as bargaining and case presentation. Learning French also aids in the acquisition of more than one language. 

One definition proffered by Congolese linguist Salikoko Mufwene is “languages spoken as vernaculars or as lingua francas outside their homelands and by populations other than those ethnically or nationally associated with them”. According to the 2014 report of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), 274 million people speak French, of which 212 million use the language daily, while the remaining 62 million have learnt it as a foreign language. The OIF states that despite a decline in the number of learners of French in Europe, the overall number of speakers is rising, largely because of its presence in high-fertility African countries: of the 212 million who use French daily, 54.7% are living in Africa. In 2015, approximately 40% of the francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania.

Spanish sociolinguist Clare Mar-Molinero proposes a series of tests that a language needs to pass, relating to demographics, attitudes towards the language, and political, legal, economic, scientific, technological, academic, educational, and cultural domains. French establishes itself fully on this criteria. It is estimated that 75 million people worldwide speak French as a main or first language. French is also one of six official languages used in the United Nations.

German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon [de] says that what determines whether something is a world language is its “global function”, which is to say its use for global communication, in particular between people who do not share it as a native language and with use as a lingua franca—i.e. in communication where it is not the native language of any of the participants—carrying the most weight. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union.  Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German; in certain institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union). French is also the 18th most natively spoken language in the world, 6th most spoken language by a total number of speakers and the second or third most studied language worldwide (with about 120 million current learners). 

Ammon formulates a series of indicators of globality, i.e. factors useful for assessing the extent to which a given language can be considered a world language. 

Chief among these indicators is the number of non-native speakers. French is estimated to have about about 235 million daily, fluent speakers; and another 77–110 million secondary speakers who speak it as a second language to varying degrees of proficiency, mainly in Africa. According to the OIF, approximately 300 million people worldwide are “able to speak the language”, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses.

Another indicator is the number of native speakers, which although it is not in itself a criterion for globality, empirically correlates positively with it and may influence it indirectly by making the language more attractive. French is estimated to have about 76 million native speakers worldwide. 

Other potential indicators of a global language are economic strength (measured as the native speakers’ GDP), a number of countries that use the language as an official language as well as those countries’ geographical distribution, international business use, and prevalence in scientific publications. French is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents, most of which are members of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 84 countries that share the official use or teaching of French. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the United Nations, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the World Trade Organization, the International Olympic Committee, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese.

Other than the above-mentioned reasons, French is considered a world language also, due to its status as a super central language in de Swaan’s global language system. Now, as mentioned earlier French is the dialect of choice for over 300 million speakers across the globe. Naturally, a language that is vastly spread, is definitive in connecting you globally. Once a lingua franca of the world, French hasn’t lost its charm or importance, despite having lost its place to English as the sole language that essentially connects people. But, in recent years, French has learning has picked up big time with more and more people learning the language across the globe. Furthermore, French is an extremely beneficial language for those who plan on mastering it. French is the only language along with English which is spoken across five continents. France is home to some of the best Universities in the entire world. With institutions like the Sorbonne and Pierre Marie Curie University, learning French is bound to give you an edge when considering these Universities. additionally, learning a decent level of French also enables some students to achieve a government grant to enrol into any postgraduate course of their choice and ultimately procure a globally recognized degree. Learning French essentially means being able to communicate with 300 million speakers worldwide. French as the third most used language on the internet, connect you with these 300 million speakers online. Finally, France, as the world’s fifth-largest economy, attracts all sorts of entrepreneurs, artists, philologists and students. Learning French would mean being able to communicate with them as well. French also qualifies an individual to secure many jobs in multinational companies as MNCs generally require candidates who can speak more than just one language and preferably one spoken by a huge clientele. In fact, Careers like Translator, Interpreters, Flight attendants, Editors, Ambassadors or Diplomats, Lawyers and Think Tank staff, all prescribe an individual to learn French due to different reasons but ultimately because of French either helps them develop an extra skill or expand their knowledge. 

Essentially, because of its uncanny parallels to other Romance languages such as Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and so on, knowing French alone will undoubtedly give you a head start on learning the others. Learning French helps one improve his artistic and critical thinking skills. It is a global language as recognized by the United Nations and a very influential language as it is a language of culture, including art, cuisine, dance, and fashion. French is also the 18th most natively spoken language in the world, the 6th most spoken language by a total number of speakers and the second or third most studied language worldwide.

If you consider learning French then Multibhashi offers great French courses, Click here, to enrol.