sunset over Loire River in France

French

Spoken by over a quarter of a billion people in countries around the globe, French remains one of the world’s great lingua francas. While this status is in part the legacy of the French colonial empire, it also reflects the long dominance of French and French culture in the world. At Stanford, students can take French language classes at any level, or jump right into one of the many advanced seminars offered by our faculty. From Montaigne to Montesquieu, and Pascal to Proust, we offer courses on the classics of French literature, philosophy, history, and film.