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By Irina Demeneva

   Although learning any foreign language will open up a wide variety of opportunities and possibilities, the most common languages taught in the United States are undoubtedly French and Spanish.  As students get into high school, they are often faced with the dilemma of choosing between the two languages.  Most people seem to believe that Spanish would be the more useful language to learn because there are so many Spanish-speaking people in this country.  However, while that is true, certain facts come into play that show how French is clearly the more beneficial language to learn and is certainly more useful than Spanish. 

   French is the only language other than English that is spoken on five continents, and is, along with English, the only global language in the world.  Twenty-eight of the 56 International Organization of Francophone states and governments have French as an official language.  French is also the language that will give you the most study and career choices later on, since it is the official working language (along with English) of the United Nations, UNESCO, NATO, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Labor Bureau, the International Olympic Committee, the 31-member Council of Europe, the European Community, the Universal Postal Union, the International Red Cross, and the Union of International Associations.  French is also the dominant working language at the European Court of Justice, the European Tribunal of First Instance, and the Press Room at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium.  A recent listing of international jobs (released on December 1, 2009) distributed by the U.S. State Department showed that 92 jobs required or preferred their employees to know French, while only 36 asked for Spanish.  Of the various types of professional positions for which international organizations recruit employees, four required French, while only two required Spanish.   

   There are also many economic reasons for learning French instead of Spanish.  French is the foreign language spoken by our largest trading partner, Canada, with Quebec alone having had about $72 billion in trade in 2006.  Also, in 2006, the United States exported and imported more to countries having French as a national language than to countries having any other foreign language.  Exports to Canada were greater than the combined exports to all countries south of the United States.  France is the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world after the U.S., and in recent years, the U.S. has been the largest direct investor in France.  Two thousand three hundred French companies in the U.S. employ about 520,000 Americans.  French is also one of the languages spoken in the United States – about 1.9 million Americans speak French in their home according to the 2000 U.S. Census.  France is the world’s leader in the production of luxury goods, and more tourists visit France than any other country in the world.  The French are also a world leader in medical research:  the AIDS virus was first isolated by French doctors. 

   Throughout history, the United States and France have been closely intertwined, and as a result our culture has been very heavily impacted by the French.  Students and researchers who know French have access to many of the most important writings that we have which come from France – many of which are never translated and remain accessible only to those who know the language.  And let’s not forget that most graduate schools require the knowledge of at least one foreign language. 

   Students who learn French have access to the most widely spoken foreign language in the world after English, and they become familiar with a culture that significantly influences our own.  The French economy is one of the strongest in the world, and France is increasingly a leader in technological progress, paving a way for many incredible and well-paying career opportunities.  Unlike Spanish, French is the language of the future, and learning it early in school will be most beneficial. 

¡Viva la Español! 
Jessaca Summers        

   Why speak Spanish? Spanish is easier to learn, more fun to speak, and a much more useful language.
   With Spanish, its rules are simple, easy, and intuitive. Want to tell someone to do something? Conjugate the verb like this. Want to say you’re doing something to someone? Stick this particle at the end of the verb or right before the verb. It’s not exactly like English, but if you can get off of your safety-wheels and stop comparing it, you’ll find that it’s easy as pie. You’ll never be confused as to how to pronounce a word, as everything is written phonetically – get your pure vowels and diphthongs straight, learn how to pronounce your H’s and J’s, make sure to be relentless with your RR’s and LL’s, and you will do fine.
   It’s also fun to speak. Sure, it’s not quite as elegant as French, but it’s more…fun. You get to roll the words on your tongue, you get to play with the sentences and their order, and you get to just have a blast! French sounds like phlegm, too, doesn’t it? Like something’s caught in the back of their throats? Yeah.
   Finally, it is more useful. Even here, in the middle of Nowhere, WI, you can find many native Spanish speakers, some of whom don’t speak English or speak it very poorly. There’s also many Spanish-speaking countries right out your back door, relatively speaking. Central and South America, anyone? Also, just a little farther away, there’s Spain. The cultures of the Spanish-speaking world are diverse and rich, and learning about each one is a journey in itself.
   In the end, it’s up to you to decide what language you want to study, be it French, Spanish, something else, or nothing at all, but I would highly recommend Spanish.