French

French is used by 80 million native speakers and around 274 million second-language speakers in 50 countries on all continents. French is the official language of many international governments such as the European Union, the United Nations, UNESCO, and NGOs such as the Red Cross. For this reason, French is the second most-frequently studied foreign language in the world. France is the sixth most powerful economy in the world and, after English, French is the most widely demanded language in academia. For professional purposes, adequate French language skills, along with English, are highly advantageous.