Learn French
for Business
From a boutique in Paris to a boardroom in Kinshasa, French is everywhere. And its reach keeps growing. If your organization does business in the French-speaking world, providing language training for your employees is essential.
So let’s look at a snapshot of the impact of French around the world, the use of French in business, and the factors that make classes in business French effective.
- 321 million people worldwide speak French, making it the fifth most widely spoken language globally after English, Mandarin, Hindi, and Spanish.
- French is an official language in 32 countries, giving it a strong presence across Europe, Africa, North America, and beyond.
- French is spoken on every continent, with the largest concentration of speakers in Africa. Rapid population growth there is expected to push the global French-speaking population past 700 million by 2050.
- French plays a major role in global diplomacy. It is an official language of the United Nations, European Union, NATO, and the International Olympic Committee.
- France has a $3.6 trillion GDP, ranking as the world’s seventh-largest economy, and French is widely used in industries such as luxury goods, fashion, hospitality, culinary arts, international development, aerospace, and energy infrastructure.
Meetings are one of the toughest tests for non-native speakers of any language. So don’t be surprised if even your employees who studied French in school struggle in meetings.
Native speakers use idioms and accents that classroom French doesn’t prepare you for. To a non-native’s ears, a conversation in French will feel hard to keep up with (even though speakers of each language actually talk at about the same rate).
Phone meetings are particularly tough since participants can’t read facial expressions to help fill in the gaps. We’ve also talked with Americans who are surprised at how French business can be more formal than Americans are used to. In French offices, hierarchy and protocol really matter.
Reports, emails, presentations—a professional’s day includes a lot of writing. That writing can be agonizingly slow if you’re pausing to look up every word in a French-to-English dictionary. French business writing also has its own conventions.
Emails, for example, typically include more pleasantries and warming up before getting to the point (unlike the American tendency to dive straight in).
Strong French skills don’t automatically translate to strong presentations. Non-native speakers are often surprised that listeners have trouble processing what they’re saying because of their accent. (Some didn’t think they had an accent at all!)
French professionals pride themselves on thoughtful debate. So they may expect more back-and-forth discussion than American presenters are used to.
Every field has its own terminology. If your employees last studied French when they were in high school or college, they probably didn’t learn the words and phrases they’ll need daily at work. This is actually one of the biggest gaps in corporate language training: instructors who can’t teach the specialized vocabulary your team will actually use.
Besides the formal language needed for emails and presentations, your employees who work with French-speaking colleagues also need to understand everyday French idioms and slang. This will help them make friends both at work and outside the office.
However, French expressions can completely throw off someone who has only had formal language training. It’s harder to keep up with conversations that lead to the relationships that will help them thrive in France.
Employees Relocating Abroad
If an employee is moving to a French-speaking country (or they might in the future), put them at the top of the list for language training. Relocations are expensive: Think tens of thousands of dollars when you factor in an employee’s family. And roughly 40% of all relocations fail. Stronger French skills help your expat employees adjust faster and stick with their international assignment. Don't forget that spouses and kids need language and cultural training, too, to help them feel at ease in their new home. Enrolling the whole family is solid insurance against homesickness and expat burnout.
Teams with French-speaking Members
Anyone who works with French speakers can become a better collaborator by deepening their language skills. Even if a non-native speaker seems to feel comfortable with French, remember that most employees using a second language at work feel a lot less confident speaking up in meetings and sharing ideas. That’s lost potential for your organization: You don’t want to lose an innovative idea because the employee who thought of it is uncomfortable speaking at meetings.
Leaders of Global Work Forces
Executives working internationally need French to genuinely connect with their workforce and position their companies in global markets. The cost of poor communication and cultural disconnect adds up fast. Being monolingual just isn’t realistic anymore for leaders operating globally.
Professionals Working in
French Markets
You don’t have to be based in France for French to matter. If your company sells to French-speaking customers or operates in Francophone regions, language training pays off. In North America alone, Louisiana, Vermont, Maine, and Quebec have significant French-speaking business communities. Major global hubs like Montreal, Geneva, and Brussels are heavily French-speaking, too.
We know that launching French language training at your organization is a significant investment. The good news is that employees can make meaningful progress that shows up in their job performance sooner than you might expect. Just two hours per week is enough to build momentum, and programs typically start at about $100 per week.
From years of experience working with large organizations, we have seen that one on one instruction with a native speaker is the most efficient path to fluency. These sessions are just as effective online as they are in person. Instructors tailor lessons to each employee’s role, goals, and interests.
They also share cultural insight, including business etiquette and communication norms, that textbooks simply cannot provide. Native speaking instructors are especially valuable for employees who already have some French experience and want to refine their pronunciation and speak more clearly.
In our experience, managers begin noticing improvement after just 10 hours of training. This happens because we prioritize real conversation practice that helps employees apply what they learn immediately in meetings, emails, and presentations. After 100 hours of training, the difference in communication skills is significant and measurable.
The key is finding training that fits your employees’ actual needs. Since they’re learning French for business, their instructor should have real experience teaching French in professional contexts.
See how language training has helped foster growth, employee well-being, and productivity at Crate & Barrel.
Ferrovial wanted to ensure that both local and international employees collaborated at peak productivity.
See how Zurich ensured a smooth transition for an employee & his family with language training.
Contact us today to schedule your free consultation to discuss your company’s French training needs.