The prejudice against learning French only applies to the French, not the lovely people they brutally conquered in Africa.

I was once at a party with a group of gentlemen from the Ivory Cost, and saying "Côte d'Ivoire? Bonjour, je m'apalle Godriq, Comment se va?" after they introduced themselves made us best friends for the evening, even through they were initially surprised and very mildly disappointed I was not a Frenchman, as my grasp of the language was those few well-pronounced phrases.

Still, a great night with them from what I remember, great people, great amounts of booze, and a great amount of French learned!