With a history dating back to the Latin language of the Roman Empire, French is one of the most popular Romance languages. Today, more than 300 million people speak French as their native tongue or second language. Originally spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, the French colonization spread French to parts of Africa, Vietnam, Canada, and many islands nations.

With millions of French speakers spread about the world, there are 54 countries that possess a significant population of French-speaking residents, reaching parts of the Pacific, South America, North America, Europe, and isolated locations in Asia. Across the globe, there are 29 countries that claim French as their official language.

In regards to the French overseas territories, French Guinea, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Barthelemy, St. Martin, and Saint-Pierre highlight French as their official language. French is the official language of the Walloon Region in Belgium with the exception of the East Cantons, which is German-speaking. It is also one of two official languages (joining Dutch) of the Brussels-Capital Region. In the province of Aosta Valley in Italy, French joins Italian as the official language. Throughout the land, an assortment of Franco-Provencal dialects is spoken about the province.

In Haiti, the official language is French, which is mostly spoke by the well educated and members of the upper class. The French-based Creole language, known as Haitian Creole, is also widely spoken throughout Haiti, as well as parts of Louisiana. Joining German, Italian, and Romansh, French is one of four official languages of Switzerland. It is estimated that 20% of all Swiss claim French as their native language.

Additional French-speaking countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Togo, and Vanuatu.

For an American studying foreign languages, French is a very popular option. With that in mind, it wasn't hard for me to decide that French would be a very beneficial language to use especially for travel abroad. Like most people however, I am challenged by not having enough time to sit down and learn not only conversation, but reading and writing. Now the difficulties of learning to read in French are not addressed in the Pimsleur French courses offered.

For most American students of French, however, this will not present a problem since the goal is practical everyday conversation and this is where Pimsleur excels. The Pimsleur language learning system is a language acquisition method designed by Dr. Paul Pimsleur. In short the method works almost entirely through listening. The lessons are 30 minutes long so they are very digestible for even the busiest person and Pimsleur courses give the student the ability to

* ask for information, directions, and give basic information about yourself and family,

* communicate basic information on various topics and participate in casual conversations,

* handle minimum courtesy and travel requirements,

* satisfy personal needs * native-like pronunciation. As someone who has used

Pimsleur for several languages including French, as a rule of thumb you should strive for a minimum of 70 percent comprehension, at which point you can move on to the next lesson. As the lessons repeat themselves and add new material, it is not necessary for you to master each lesson perfectly before moving on. So if your thinking about studying French you may want to try Pimsleur French.

Good luck with your French!