4 reasons you should take a GCSE in French

Wondering whether a GCSE in French is for you? Okay, we might be biased at Learn French With Alexa, but there’s more than one good reason why taking a GCSE in French is a great idea. Read on to find out why.

Did you know that French is the sixth-most spoken language in the world, and - behind English - the most studied? French isn’t just a romantic language - it’s also extremely useful, and is used as an official language in 29 countries around the world, from France to Algeria, from Belgium to Canada. If you ever find yourself in one of these countries for work, or simply on holiday, being able to speak the local language will take you a long way!

French is also a major language of culture. From The Phantom of the Opera to the songs of Édith Piaf, some of the best films, music and literature were and are produced originally in French - and let’s face it, nothing is ever as good in translation. Many subjects you study at GCSE level don’t necessarily have real-world applications, but French isn’t one of them!

Being able to claim to speak French is great for your CV. It’s a vital skill for jobs across a wide variety of sectors, such as tourism, hospitality, translation and even certain fields within government, education and finance. But even if you’re hoping to secure a job in which knowledge of French isn’t essential, it’s always a bonus to have a knowledge of French up your sleeve to help you stand out from competitors. It shows you have an international outlook, the capacity to learn and a set of language skills that could come in handy, whatever the role. According to research by the University of Plymouth, prospective employees without second language skills are likely to lose out to those who can speak multiple languages.

Like employers, higher education admissions staff are on the lookout for students with language skills in an increasingly competitive environment. And this isn’t just the case for those looking to study a given language at university. Rather, having a GCSE in French is a display of skills, knowledge and a sense of perseverance that universities actively want to bring on board, particularly as higher education institutions become ever more international in scope. It can also open the way to incredible student exchange programmes and other opportunities abroad, or even studying full-time in a French-speaking country.

A GCSE in French isn’t only useful for learning French. You may be surprised to learn that it’s also useful for studying other languages, including English. In fact , 30% of the words we use in English originally stem from French. By having a GCSE-level knowledge of French vocabulary, you can easily figure out the meanings of more advanced words in English such as ‘vainglorious’ or ‘avouch’, or the original meaning on a word like ‘journal’ (a book for ‘daily’ prayers), not to mention loanwords and loan expressions such as debut or je ne sais quoi.

But it isn’t just English that has a lot in common with French. French is what is known as a Romance language, which means it’s part of the same language family as Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and Romanian - all languages which ultimately stem from Latin. The upshot of this is that once you’ve got a good grasp of French, learning these similar languages becomes a lot easier, and you’ll even be able to understand simple sentences or statements in other Romance languages without any prior knowledge.

Even non-Romance languages suddenly become a lot easier once you’ve mastered the fundamentals of a language like French, as doing so introduces you to the different components of a language, such as grammar and vocabulary.