Summer Camp 2010, French Heritage Language Program: Nous dansons

Nous dansons pendant notre "summer camp".

About FHLP

The French Heritage Language Program is a program of the non-profit foundation FACE, in partnership with the French Embassy in the United States. It is designed to support and enrich the teaching and learning of French language, literature, and culture for students of Francophone background in New York City. The primary objectives of the program are to help these students develop proficiency in French (reading comprehension, writing, oral expression and other literacy skills), and keep a connection to their respective cultures and identities, while increasing their opportunities for success in their new environment.

Through university partnerships, this project also hopes to contribute to scholarly research in the field of heritage language learning. As a pilot program, it is a place for pedagogical and methodological exploration, and a way to build new partnerships. We seek to develop curriculum models that can be replicated and adapted in other cities in the United States. The French Heritage Language Program works closely with the Internationals Network for Public Schools.

About FHLP, MIAMI

In partnership with the Miami Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance, the French Heritage Language Program now offers French heritage classes in Miami, Florida. The new programs also receive the help and support of the City of Miami, the Little Haiti Cultural Center, and the French Consulate in Miami.

On February 27th, 2010, the first class was inaugurated at the Little Haiti Cultural Center in the presence of French Ambassador to the United States Pierre Vimont, French Consul General in Miami Gaël de Maisonneuve, Haitian Consul General Ralph Latortue, and Miami Mayor Tomás P. Regalado. Eighteen students from 8 to 10 years registered for the class to learn, or brush up, their French, and explore the Haitian culture.

As thousands of Haitian children have sought refuge in Miami after the earthquake that hit their country in January 2010, the demand for education in French has increased sharply in the Miami area. As a consequence, FHLP is now augmenting its capacity to be able to bring new classes to this population. These additional efforts will initially focus on Miami due to its large existing Haitian diaspora, but the program is also looking to help in other cities with sizeable Haitian communities, such as Washington DC, New York, and Boston.

In Miami, our goal is to start helping 60 students aged 6 to 18, with 3-hour weekly classes. As public schools start to enroll new Haitian students, we will start offering our culture-based French language classes in schools as well. These classes will be intended to bring comfort to the students, and to help them maintain a strong connection with their language and culture of origin during their stay in the United States.

On March 15th, 2010, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy organized a benefit concert in partnership with the New York French Institute Alliance Française (see related articles on our FHLP in the News webpage). Half of the proceeds from this event will help the French Heritage Language Program launch its new classes. During the concert, three Haitian students currently enrolled in the French Heritage Language Program spoke before an audience of 400, telling the reasons why learning French matters to them.

Summer Camp 2010, French Heritage Language Program

sábado, 17 de julio de 2010

Nous dansons

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