The Alliance Francaise, an organization which promotes the
French language and culture around the world, is to open a new
school in Beijing and offer courses at the newly-founded schools in
the eastern cities of Jinan and Qingdao this year.
Jean-Pierre de Launoit, president of the Alliance Francaise of
Paris, said at a press conference Monday that China has become the
organization's fifth biggest network in the world with 19,069
members in 2005 and an average increase in student numbers of
around 19 percent.
Launoit estimated the alliance will enroll nearly 20,000
students in 2006 and the Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan and Hong Kong
branches will become the biggest in China.
Founded in 1883, the Alliance Francaise has stopped at nothing
to promote the French language and culture. Now it has 1,074
branches in 136 countries, with a record of 420,708 students around
the world in 2005.
The first branch in China was set up in 1953 in Hong Kong, said
Alain Rechner, the general delegate of the Alliance Francaise in
China, adding the organization's network in China, though rather
young, has been developing very rapidly since 2000, with almost one
branch opening every year.
Besides Hong Kong, it has another 11 Chinese branches in the
cities of Macao, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan,
Nanjing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Dalian, Jinan and Qingdao.
According to Rechner, the alliance will not cease its expansion
until its branches are ubiquitous in China in accordance with the
decision of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French
Embassy in Beijing, with the cities of Hangzhou, Chongqing,
Shenyang and Tianjin listed as future targets.
"In such circumstances, the alliance hopes to play a vital role
in training the Chinese students who want to go to France to study
and the relevant staff for the 2008 Olympic Games," he said.
As a non-profit organization, the alliance has been supported by
the government. All the French presidents have been honorary
presidents of the alliance of Paris, with the branches' presidents
named by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which together
with local governments of France prop up the alliance
financially.
In addition to language teaching, the alliance also provides
various cultural activities and services such as concerts, picture
shows, film exhibitions, photo shows, ad shows, wine festivals,
libraries and consultations on travel to France.
Olivier Guyounarch, press counselor of the French Embassy in
Beijing, attributes the alliance's success to its combination of
being a language school and a cultural media source.
"Some students enrol out of a desire to learn the language,
while others are keenly interested in the French culture and art,"
the counselor said.
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(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2006)
