Ten Reasons I Love (and Envy) the Alliance Francaise

If you read my book proposal, you know that I consider the Alliance Francaise (AF), and similar linguistic organizations, to be a model of the kinds of language centers that I would love to replicate throughout the Diaspora.  I definitely recommend that you take some time to visit their sites for inspiration:

• the international organization’s website
• the U.S. affiliate website
• the New York center’s website

To get you up to speed on what they are doing, I have selected ten interesting items from the New York center’s website.

• Language immersion programs for toddlers, including special classes for “bilingual toddlers” (presumably those kids being raised in a home where French is spoken by at least one parent).  As a parent who is working very hard, almost every evening, to teach his toddler Hebrew, I can only wonder why the Jewish community doesn’t try this.  We talk so much about the critical need for Jewish education; why not start language learning when it can have the greatest impact?
• Likewise, the New York center’s French library (“the leading private French library in the U.S.”) contains its own children’s library, described as “a library within a library… a special place for kids and parents… where you will find lots of great books to read in French”.
• An extremely wide range of instructional levels, including specialized language classes at the advanced levels.  “We offer over 200 French language & culture courses at all levels on a range of subjects.”  (Could you even dream of an ulpan in New York, one of the world’s most Jewish cities, containing a course catalog with 200 course offerings?)
• Creative, active learning opportunities that take place outside of a classroom.  These “language immersion experiences” range from Yoga in French to a bi-monthly French Happy Hour.  You don’t necessarily need to be completely fluent in order to participate; the Happy Hour page states that the program offers ”a fun, welcoming environment to socialize in French for all levels of experience”.
• English for Francophones: the AF certainly serves as a “two way bridge”, not only helping English speakers master French but also assisting those French who seek to master English.  I am guessing that both groups of students are encouraged to mingle (in French, of course!).
• Formal links to study abroad opportunities: an almost seamless connection between the programs in the “diaspora” and those back in the mother country.  For comparison, imagine participating in an ulpan program in New York, and then transferring to an ulpan-based vacation in Jerusalem – with your transcripts following you as you went, so that all of your learning experiences could be integrated into a single, uninterrupted course of study!  Frankly, I’m not sure that the AF programs are this well integrated, but I can definitely see a strategy here.
• The Linguality French Book Club: this library program helps you read current popular books (i.e. popular in France) with special annotation, instead of translation.  “With just a basic grasp of French, you can enjoy wonderful contemporary literature and raise your culture quotient several notches…  As a bonus, each of our titles comes with a FREE audio CD containing a fascinating 35- to 45-minute conversation in French with the author, with a full transcript included.”  Actually, I think that the Jewish Agency, to its credit, did publish an “Easy Hebrew Library” of contemporary Israeli literature; I think that it was discontinued in the mid-70s.  On another “related tangent”: here is a link to a wonderful publisher (hopefully, still in business) that produces Hebrew-English children’s books.
• Multiple levels of AF membership, tailored to suit individual budgets and needs.  An aggressive corporate sponsorship program is also maintained.
• Member discounts that provide significant savings on French-related products and services.  I can imagine that this could tie in nicely with corporate sponsorship programs.  (Along these lines, do you think that El Al would offer a special “ulpanenrollee” rate to fly to Israel?)
• The AF facilities in New York are incredibly chic, almost reason enough to make a visit even if you don’t know (and don’t even want to learn) a word of French.  As the AF site states, they are ”housed in a beautiful Beaux Arts building reminiscent of the architecture of Haussmann Paris”.

UPDATE (Dec. 25): If you enjoy thinking about the intersection of francophone culture and Zionist identity, then you might want to take a look at this interesting blog that I recently discovered.  (Personal confession: when I first saw the title of this blog, I thought it would be for fans addicted to the old Friends television series.)