The internet is certainly dominated by the English language and English-speakers. However, as our family discovered, the Net can also be used as a powerful tool for learning another language--in this case, French.

My high school-age son and daughter were hard-pressed for real-world study material for their high school French course. We found that obtaining French-language books, magazines, and newspapers in home-town USA can be a challenging task. Mail-order imported books and magazines are way over our budget.

The occasional French-language newspaper or magazine in the local bookstore is weeks old, but still commands imported-luxury prices. And French audio? Except for static-filled shortwave broadcasts, don't even ask!

The answer? Check the Net! A little research showed us that, the combination of France, Quebec (Canada), and the fascinatingly diverse French-speaking countries of Europe, Africa and the Caribbean Islands, French is definitely one of the biggest languages on the Web after English.

There are literally thousands of French-language sites accessible with an ordinary browser. There are all-French search engines, free-shareware libraries, and even downloadable French- language browsers for the true Francophone [French-speaker].

From daily news bulletins to recipes, and from travel-guides to audio feeds,"Oui, on parle francais sur l'Internet" whether you live in El Paso, Dhaka or Johannesburg.

Qui, quoi, ou?

Probably the best place to start exploring the French-speaking Internet is with a French-language search engine. Netscape provides a good French-language search-engine through its own French language search page, called Escapes , which is accessible to anyone, even if you don't have a Netscape browser on your computer. The French edition of Yahoo, YAHOO.FR offers a similar service for beginning "Internautes" of the French web.

If you already know enough basic French to read simple text, the French National Research Council (CREN) website allows a more advanced search, centering on France. This site will allow you to browse through lists of French websites by theme, and has a search box where you can enter any subject you want (en francais, of course!), to find the information you want anywhere on the French-language Internet.

For advanced students (and expatriate Francophones) who want to see the latest French-language news headlines, the official French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) has late-breaking news, weather and sports, 24 hours a day online. .

Several Paris newspapers have their own websites, with daily news and features (some of these sites require special software for best use, but all have links and instructions online). Some of the most familiar Paris daily newspaper home pages include: LIBERATION, L'HUMANITE, LE FIGARO, and PARIS MATCH.

If your computer can receive live online Internet audio, some popular French-language radio programs from France, Canada, and even Africa are available through the French Radio Station List , courtesy of French Yahoo. This ever- growing list of links is updated continuously, and has something for virtually every program taste.

But what about computer programs in French? The field of computer programming is almost completely dominated by English-speakers. However, France Telecom does maintain a website called The Blue Bazaar (Le Bazar Bleu) , where you can download trial shareware programs free of charge, including a few items in French.

For the French language learner, there is Lectra, , a basic French-language reading program, and also Verbs, , a bilingual program that helps English-speaking students to conjugate those annoying French verb-forms.

The more advanced French student (or aspiring French chef) will enjoy programs like Toque Blanche (Chef's Hat) , an instant French menu-maker program, complete with recipes for more than 200 authentic French meals, plus the "correct" wines and cheeses that go along with each.

The Internet has given birth to a whole new vocabulary, in French as well as in English. Many English words have crossed directly into French, to the dismay of the linguistic purists of the French Academy.

"L'Internet," "le hacker," "le Web," and "cyberspace" are only a few of the terms that will be familiar on the French-language internet. However, there are truly new words that confound even native Francophones.

Here are a few cyber-terms that you may encounter online, with their English-language equivalents (if you can't understand the English terms, simply ask any computer-literate teenager to explain!):

la toile--the [computer] screen bogues--"bugs"

le logiciel--the computer program

le systeme d'exploitation--the operating system

internautes--Internet users, web-surfers (that's you!)

telecharger--to download

accueil, page d'accueil--home, homepage

le reseau--the net, the Web.

surfer le reseau--to surf the net

enregistrer--to save, capture, or write to disk

affichage--filing, file structure

l'octet--byte

ko--(kilo-octet)--kilobyte

mo--(mega-octet)--megabyte

effacer--to erase, delete (also "supprimer")