The Importance of Languages
• How many languages are spoken
throughout the world?
• 100
• 200
• 300
• More than 500
Just over 6,500
• In London alone, more than
300 languages are spoken.
• The proportion of the world
which does not speak English
as its first language is:•
•
•
•
1%
25%
74%
94%
94%
What proportion of the
world speaks no English at all?
•
•
•
•
75%
60%
50%
25%
75%
How many UK companies
are losing business because of
language barriers?
• 1 out of every 100
• 1 out of every 50
• 1 out of every 5
1 out of every 5
English is not
enough!
How will studying languages
help you?
• It will increase your job opportunities
• With the growth of the European Union,
there is a much greater need for people
who have a foreign language.
• 60% of all UK trade is with non Englishspeaking countries
It will boost your brain power
• Researchers from University College
London studied the brains of 105 people
– 80 of whom spoke a foreign language.
• They found that learning another
language improved the brain in the same
way that exercise builds muscle
It will give you more money
• Learning a language can boost an
average worker’s earnings by up to 20%
• For a person earning the average
national salary, that would mean an
extra £200,000 over a working life.
It can even improve your love
life!
• A survey of 270 dating agencies found
that people who speak a foreign
language are more attractive to the
opposite sex!
Why French?
• According to employers, the languages
which most companies want are:• 1st
French
• 2nd
German
French is spoken as a native
language in:•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
France
Luxembourg
Monaco
Switzerland
Canada ( Quebec)
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Benin
Guinea
Mali
Ivory Coast
Niger
Senegal
Togo
French Guiana
Central African Republic
Burkina Faso
Congo
Gabon
La Réunion
New Caledonia
Haiti
French Polynesia
Saint Pierre
Mayotte
French is the only language other
than English which is spoken on 5
continents
• French is the second most
frequently used language on the
internet
• French is ranked the second most
influential language in the world
French, along with English, is
the official working language
of:•
•
•
•
•
The United Nations
The International Olympic Committee
The International Red Cross
The Council of Europe
The European Court of Justice
France is visited by more
tourists than any other
country in the world
• The Eiffel Tower is the most
visited tourist attraction in
the world
• The following people have
one thing in common …
• They all speak French !
Johnny Depp
Orlando Bloom
Jarvis Cocker
Ellen Macarthur
Robin Williams
Mick Jagger
Uma Thurman
John Travolta
Tina Turner
Elton John
Sol Campbell
Davina McCall
Jamie Oliver
Madonna
Matthew Perry
Lisa Kudrow
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Kylie Minogue
Which other
celebrities speak
foreign languages?
Jonathan Ross
Russian
Lucy Liu
Japanese and Chinese Mandarin
Gary Lineker
Spanish and Japanese
Gwyneth Paltrow
Spanish and Italian
J K Rowling
French, Spanish and Portugese
Arsene Wenger
English German Italian Japanese Spanish
Christopher Lee
French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian,
Greek and Swedish