I was encouraging Rebekah, a well-read young woman, to learn French. People with a rich vocabulary in English are likely to know more French words as part of their native language than they know Spanish words.

Aside from direct French phrases that creep into cultured conversations (see the Wikipedia link), there are a lot of words that we now consider "English" that are, in fact, French, or that are so close to French that we can guess at them. I'm thinking words from donjon to connoisseur (though the latter example shows archaic French spelling). 29% of English is of French origin.

A second list for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin

The list of Spanish words is much, much shorter and is mostly comprised of animals and plants:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_words_of_Spanish_origin

I'm sure that, for the average high-school student in middle America, Spanish is easier. However, for an educated and cultured speaker of English, French should resonate far, far more.