There are many objective reasons to learn French in France. French is a language spoken by more than 200 million people on five continents, and is useful in fields from international relations to art and culture. But from a more personal point of view, what is it that motivates people to learn the language? Ask this question to students at the Centre International d’Antibes and you’ll get several types of response: “It’s a beautiful, musical language”, or perhaps “It’s a language I have to learn for my studies in my country”, or even “I recently got a good job in a French-speaking country.” Sometimes we hear: “My boyfriend’s French, so I need to improve my skills in the language.” Other students tell us that they need to know the language because they have a second home in Antibes, and some live and work in the region all year round. One student who has children at school in Antibes told us that the repeated courses she had taken meant that she was able to help her children do their homework.
Among those students who choose the CIA, many decide to take another language course in Antibes. When asked why they have returned, it’s clear that the reasons are both emotional (“I like Antibes and the weather”, “French cuisine is unique”) and intellectual (“The teaching is of high quality”). “Perhaps many a long fidelity is attributable to certainty,” Balzac wrote. So, if lots of people are renewing their trust in us, perhaps it is because they are certain of being satisfied? In fact, for many people, there’s a bit of a love story going on when it comes to the Centre International d’Antibes. For these students, fidelity means a lasting attachment to a school, as well as confidence in a method of teaching. A German student who comes to Antibes every year told us the following anecdote: she visits a district of Antibes to do her shopping so regularly that all of the shopkeepers in the area recognise her immediately every time she comes back to our town! Another student explained that, for him, the more he learns French, the more he wants to discover new aspects of the language that he hasn’t encountered yet. As you can see, everyone has a good reason for learning French in France. What’s yours? Share it with us!
About the Centre International d'Antibes
