If you speak French you would be feeling at home in 29 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas where French is the official language. The good news doesn’t stop there; French is also being spoken in 54 other countries making the number of French speakers all over the world close to half a billion. Countries like Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg in the European Union has French as one of their official languages in addition to their native official language. In Canada French is one of the two official languages, the other one being English.

The continent of Africa has a good majority of French speaking people, thanks to the French invasion back in the 18th and 19th centuries. The same can be said about a few countries in Asia like India, Singapore, Lebanon, Laos and Cambodia. Even in the United States of America English is the most spoken language, followed by Spanish and French. Technically speaking French is becoming a very important language in the present era; it is advised to start learning French as soon as possible before it is too late to sit down and worry that you didn’t.

Learning French isn’t very difficult as many of us would imagine, French has the very same 26 letters derived from the Latin alphabet as we do have in English with five diacritics and two ligatures in addition. If you thought that pronouncing the different French words would be impossible think again, thanks to the grave and acute accents used in French words learning the pronunciation of French words will be purely fun. The French have the habit of borrowing many words from other languages and 25% of the words come from English while others come from Arabic, German, Spanish, Italian, Persian and Sanskrit to name a few.

Jan Angelo is an Online Marketing Consultant. You can read his review of Rocket French by clicking on Rocket French

Chamonix is a town located in the eastern part of France in the Haute-Savoie department. A spotlight was first cast on this little town during the 1924 when they hosted the Winter Olympics and showed the world just how good this hidden gem was for winter sports.

If you still don’t know Chamonix, maybe another name would ring a bell; Mont Blanc.
Yes the town of Chamonix sits right at the foot of Mont Blanc, and without a doubt, Mont Blanc has become the main draw over the years. With Chamonix being famous for its winter sports, its safe to say most of the town is centered on being a key sports hub, in its own quintessential way. If you came for adventure, Chamonix will be your new best friend.

If you visit Chamonix during the winter, you’ve hit the jackpot. From beginners to the experts, take your pick from snow boarding to skiing on Mont Blanc and her sister mountains, go on a snowshoeing track or a glacier decent. Everything and every sport you try out, you can be assured, would feel like a world class experience. Even if you don’t ski, I strongly suggest you take a cable car lift up to peaks like L’Aiguille du Midi, Les Grands Montets and Le col de Balme which offer panoramic views of clouds and mountains and beauty like you’ve never seen.

If you happen to stop by during the spring or summer, fret not, Chamonix is an all year round fantastic place to visit. Go hiking, mountain biking or paragliding if you dare, and enjoy yourself to the extreme; after all when people come to Chamonix, rarely do they ever come for a tranquil peaceful and quiet stay.

A lovely alpine town with a small population of about 100,000 people, Chamonix is like little paradise nestled between the valleys. Take time to walk around and explore Chamonix and you’ll realize what wonderful architecture and history this town is filled with. Visit the alpine museum and exhibition center if you’d like to know more about the history of this valley.

Visit the statue of Horace Benedict de Saussure (initiator of the first ascent of Mont Blanc), proudly displayed in the towns center and when you’ve worked up an appetite at the end of the day, Chamonix’s gastronomy will definitely not disappoint. From local specialties to fine dining and fusion food, you’ll find something to suit your taste in an ambiance that speaks for itself.

Orson Johnson writes for Holiday Velvet, a website providing Chamonix accommodation and Villa bookings.

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1. Online Learning
Online learning is the hot trend in language education. There are now hundreds of different programs, courses and websites offering various French courses from beginner right up to advanced training.

2. Think in French
Without realizing it, we are always talking to ourselves in our head. Stop for a moment and listen- hear that voice? No you are not crazy; those are just your thoughts. Well, what if your thoughts were in French instead of English? You can practice French in your head wherever you are.

3. Practice your vocabulary
The saying practice makes perfect is not a myth, imagine speaking French everyday. This would have such a positive effect on your learning that it’s invaluable. Compared with someone who rarely exposes himself or herself to French, hearing, speaking and writing it on a daily basis is the only way to train your brain to think of it as natural.

4. Do your homework
Most online courses and software will set homework tasks for you (of course, you are already working at home). These are simply tasks to do away from the computer and generally involve writing or speaking to other people. By completing these tasks you enhance your skills and start getting into the groove of using French away from your computer.

5. Read French
Buying French newspapers and books is a great way to expand your learning. Obviously you need to be an intermediate French speaker at this stage but you’ll quickly advance your skill if you are regularly reading French publications. Most public libraries have selections of novels and non-fiction books in various languages. Watching French movies is also a fantastic way to pick up new words and usages.

6 Go to France
Obviously going to France or another French speaking country is the best way to learn more French in its natural environment. By speaking to native French speakers you will learn new words and ways of using words and sentences that can only be learned by being there. Once you have completed several French courses this is the next step.

Improving your French is important. It is not enough to merely complete one course and then stop using French; you must use it everyday and surround yourself as much as possible with the language in all its forms – print, television and in person.

You can learn how to speak French using a program called Rocket French and if you would like to find out more about it you can do so by Clicking Here Now

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