What is International Francophonie Day? The Perfect Excuse to Learn to Speak French

With over 369 million French speakers around the globe why not celebrate? Since 1970, when the Niamey Convention was signed, International Francophonie Day (website) is celebrated every year on March 20th. There are 77 countries in the world where French is the language of record, or in some cases like Canada, it is one of two or more spoken tongues.

To honour this worldwide salute to French language and culture, we have teamed up with Frantastique to give you a chance to practice your French daily. Sign-up now for French online lessons for 30 days at no charge (yup it’s free!) just follow this link. This self-paced program is suitable for all levels beginner to almost bilingual, and all you need is 10-15 minutes a day. The exercises blend language skills of oral comprehension and reading, written text and grammar. Review points retest skills and areas where you might have struggled in the past, but mostly it is a fun, quick way to learn French.

When you sign-up during this 30-day offer, you will be automatically entered into a random draw to receive six (6) months of French lessons at no charge. The winner will be chosen via a random draw on April 20th.

Why Learn to Speak French?

It expands your brain.

According to the Guardian, “Learning a foreign language can increase the size of your brain. This is what Swedish scientists discovered when they used brain scans to monitor what happens when someone learns a second language.”

It helps to broaden your experience.

Keith Van Sickle and his wife Val reorganized their lives to be able to spend part of each year in Provence. His first book One Sip at a Time: Learning to Live in Provence is a collection of humour-filled short stories from their visits to the area. Early on the couple determined that if they were going to spend time in France, they wanted to be able to communicate in the local language.

We asked Keith his thoughts on the importance of having a decent level of French comprehension and speaking skills in Provence. KVS: For a short vacation, a basic understanding is enough. However, to live there conversing in French is essential if you want to engage with the people and culture. If you are ok living only among expats, it’s not that important. Once you start to learn the language, you will understand how hard French is. However, if you want to learn French, this will affect what kind of experience you have in Provence (and the rest of France). Read the full post here.

You meet people.

Expat Gayle Smith Padgett and her husband Ralph decided to spend their retirement years in Provence. In her recently published book, Passion for Provence: 22 Keys to La Belle Vie she admits that they both struggled with learning the language. However, having achieved a base in spoken French, they have met people, and enjoyed their belle vie in Provence.

Why are you waiting? Here is the link for 30-days of free Frantastique French lessons.