The Spire

Sean Rego ’26

Opinions Editor

This might be a controversial opinion, but I can understand why. At first it might seem strange that out of all the major languages, I’d say French is the second most important (and actually on the rise). Some may say that with the existence of Spanish or Mandarin, how can that be so? At least from my own understanding though, the French language is extremely underestimated in terms of reach and influence on our modern world. 

And yes, before going any further, I did take French in high school and I am taking it at Holy Cross, so my bias might be at play. However, I’m also a Russian speaker and come from a lusophone background, and yet I have not reached the same conclusions for either Russian or Portuguese. Furthermore, my French is… comme ci comme ça… so I’m not trying to congratulate myself for learning an important language. I’m instead defending a language that I feel is too often labeled as overrated, when in fact it is one of the best choices for Anglophones to learn. 

At the beginning of the semester, I was sent an article from The Intelligencer, titled “Pick a Practical Major, Like French”. This article didn’t focus on more traditional arguments for learning French, but instead hinted on something on which I’d like to expand. Something that makes French break free from stereotype, which I think will ensure that it is the most important language (behind only English) in the years to come: La Francophonie. 

The Francophonie is a group of nations that identify with French language and culture. This realm of French is as vast as it is diverse. For example, five European countries speak French officially, including Switzerland and Belgium. Importantly, major capitals of the EU, UN and NATO are situated in these five French-speaking countries. Off the bat, we already see the Francophone influence on the domain of Europe. 

But that’s just one continent. Just across to the North, several million Canadians speak French. Although this is largely concentrated in Quebec, speaking French is a near-customary skill for many professions in Canada, our very close ally. Haiti and other Caribbean regions also value French in professional life. In Asia and Oceania, there are small outposts in New Caledonia and Indochina, remnants of the still relevant French influence in the Indo-Pacific. 

The real star of this though is Africa, and is the major reason that I regard French so importantly. 29 countries speak French on the continent, with 21 having it as official languages. The biggest Francophone city is not Paris or Brussels, but actually the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa. Right now, Africa makes up a massive percentage of the French speaking population of over 300 million speakers. The continent’s population is expected to explode fourfold by 2100. Estimates suggest that by just 2050, there will be several hundred million people speaking French globally. 

Some may counter this by saying that for many of these speakers (as for those of today), French isn’t their native tongue. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. Au contraire, it allows differing people from the shores of Madagascar to the deserts of Morocco, to communicate in a common language. To me, that makes it all the more important to learn French. If the French language holds true to these expectations, it will become the key to diplomacy for much of Africa and beyond. 

Although I’ve talked much about the French language, I haven’t talked much about the nation of France. However, we cannot forget that La Métropole is an incredibly powerful and influential nation-state in her own right. France is a founding member of NATO, and French is considered the second language of the alliance. France has a strong military, one of the few blue water navies, and a relevant political scene. In NATO, the EU and UN, the French aren’t afraid to voice their opinions and pressure others. Even by herself, France makes the French language heard globally, whether in cuisine, fashion or diplomacy.

With such a fierce and historical motherland, a young set of eager nation-states in Africa and possibly over a billion future speakers, French may very well surpass just about all the other languages in terms of usefulness. It will match the geographical expanse of Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic, while also rivaling Mandarin in number of speakers. For Anglophones deciding which language they may want to study, that could be the winning factor. 

I remember hearing about President Macron’s visit to Burkina Faso in 2017 where he spoke confidently about the future of the French language. He’s seen the same data we have: the forthcoming rise of Africa, the young torchbearer of the Francophone sphere and the continental wildcard it will be. He said “It is not just a heritage to be protected. It has a future and this future is playing out in Africa…French will be the first language of Africa…perhaps of the world”.  The latter speculation is just a little too dreamy in my opinion, for English is a juggernaut unrivaled. But indeed, French has a promising future, unique from its lingual counterparts. In Europe, Africa and the Americas, you can hear the growing voice of the Francophonie. Ultimately, I trust that, in one way or another, French will live up to its ancestral calling as a global Lingua Franca.