One of the fun aspects about writing books is having translated versions in different languages. It’s great to know that a funny idea in English works just as well in other languages. As I’m based in France I’m always really excited to see my books in French.

Recently, there was a global celebration of francophonie, an expression used to describe the French-speaking world. Eighty countries and governments belong to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), which promotes international cooperation and cultural exchanges. This year’s annual event was celebrated with festivals, exhibitions and other similar activities. The focus of the 2015 event was the hospitability of the French language, and on those words that French borrowed from other languages. Did you know that out of the estimated 60,000 words that make up the French language, almost 9,000 have a foreign origin?

Francophonie – it’s not too late to learn a foreign language

Since foreign languages are badly taught in schools, it’s no surprise that many people still have ambivalent views about them. It also doesn’t help when people start to mix irrelevant political views with the status of a language. French is an important world language and is spoken by over 220 million people around five continents. According to the Observatoire de la Langue Française, French is the third business language after English and Chinese.

If you’ve considered learning French or any other foreign language, but have been put off by bad experiences at school give it another go! It’s never too late to start and learning a language is fun—not to mention being good for you! At the end of the day, language is about cultural exchange. If you are improving your chances of communicating and interacting with the millions of other people on this planet, how can that be a bad thing?