Learning French language and culture still popular, but reasons have changed
When François Chambraud, French director of Alliance Française de Shanghai, appeared in a recent video on Shanghai’s onestop information and service portal City News Service, many viewers recognized him and the non-profit organization he leads, demonstrating its far reach in the local community of people passionate about French culture.
Founded in Paris in 1883, Alliance Française promotes French language and culture worldwide. In the past 140 years, it has developed about 830 centers in 135 countries and regions, including 16 on the Chinese mainland.
The Shanghai connection with
Alliance Française dates back to 1886, when the organization sponsored the then Franco-Chinese Municipal School, now Shanghai Guangming High School.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Alliance Française launched its first center on the mainland in 1989 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province and the second in 1992 in Shanghai.
The Shanghai center is a cooperation between the alliance and the Hongkou Community College, offering classes in French language and culture to about 4,000 students a year. It’s one of the alliance’s 15 largest schools around the world.
“The Hongkou Community College, formerly known as Hongkou Spare-Time University, was an ideal partner because it was open to the whole society, mainly for in-service workers to improve their own qualifications, and its French program was very good,” said Huang Xiaoji, Chinese director of Alliance Française de Shanghai.
The Shanghai campus now has 20 full-time teachers, 10 French and 10 Chinese, as well as about 30 part-time staff. There are classes for students of all age groups, from 3-year-olds to adults, following the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages program.
Huang said her choice of French as her second language was an instantaneous decision.
“It’s hard to explain,” she said. “One reason I can think of is the ‘The Last Lesson’ by French writer Alphonse
Now we have more people who are interested in the French language or in the French culture just for their own personal interest rather than for a very clear target.
François Chambraud Director of Alliance Française de Shanghai