French under pressure: students fight against English and Russian!

French under pressure: students fight against English and Russian!

What's going on in the Ludwigslust region? A recurring topic in schools is lessons in foreign languages. French in particular is still difficult here to prevail against the overwhelming competitors English and Russian. Teacher Mareike Heidenreich from the Ludwigsluster Lennéschule describes in conversation that students often feel a high inhibition threshold when learning the French language. "French sounds strange to many and there are no direct references to everyday language," says Heidenreich.

With a special highlight, a special highlight was nevertheless provided for a fresh wind: an appearance of a native speaker, organized by the program francemobil , brought the French language and culture closer to the students. This program of the French Ministry offers free animations for schools and pursues the goal of conveying French in a playful way. "The response of our students was very positive," explains Heidenreich.

challenges of French lessons

Statistical Federal Office Were only 1.29 million pupils in Germany in the school year 2021/2022. This corresponds to only 15.3 percent of the total number of 8.44 million students, and is the lowest value of the past few decades.

To promote French lessons, Francemobil comes into play as a program in good time. It offers presence and online activities for students of all ages and has already reached over 1.3 million children since 2002. In the Lennéschule 20 to 25 pupils, the school is currently opting for French per year - a number that could be significantly higher if the language were less affected with inhibitions.

professional advantages and competencies

Why is it important to deal with French? The answer is simple: French opens doors, whether in the professional world, in tourism, in diplomacy or in journalism. Companies are looking for full-time or part-time employees who also have an affinity for French culture beyond language skills. "French is not only important for personal development, it also trains linguistic thinking and makes it easier to learn further languages," says Heidenreich.

In addition, learning French challenges brings with it, especially as far as pronunciation is concerned. Nasal vowels and silent letters can lead to difficulties, especially for German native speakers. The grammar also requires a certain degree of commitment due to its complexity and many exceptions.

Overall, it turns out that French stands in school, it is still a worthwhile undertaking to deal with this language world. The key is to make the lessons more interesting and accessible so that more students would like to learn this beautiful language.