Alliance still firm even after 50 years

EDUCATION PROFILE:It's not just the language that draws 4,000 students a year to the iconic Alliance Francaise building on Dublin's Kildare Street. They come to absorb a bit of French culture on Irish soil too, writes LOUISE HOLDEN

IRELAND IS not known as a babble of languages. In fact, we tend to rank poorly on international studies of multilingualism. Decreasing numbers of students are taking foreign languages at second and third level.

Why then, is Alliance Française in Dublin the third largest institute of its kind in Europe, after Paris and Brussels? Dublin has had a quiet but passionate love affair with French for 50 years, says Alliance director Claire Bourgeois.

“Irish people love French for a whole range of reasons,” she says. “In French we call it a ‘Cote D’Amour’. I don’t know if there’s an English translation. Our older students have houses in France. Our adult students use it in business. Teenagers study it in school. We even have mother and toddler groups coming here to learn French.”

It’s not just the language that draws 4,000 students a year to the iconic Alliance Française building on Kildare Street. They come for French film, music, wine, literature and food. They come, says Bourgeois, to absorb a bit of French culture on Irish soil. “This is a sociable place,” says Bourgeois.

“There are people who have been coming here for 20 years. I am amazed sometimes at what piques people’s interest. We held a talk on Marcel Proust last week and expected about 10 people. We had a full house.”

The Alliance Française network is unique among cultural institutions. Unlike its German or Spanish equivalents in Ireland (Goethe and Cervantes) the institute is not funded by the government back home.

The board of Alliance Française in Ireland is made up of Irish people, and chaired by Alan Dukes. The building is Irish-owned and the staff paid from Irish tuition fees. This model is replicated in the 1,000-strong network of Alliances across the world.

Alliance Française is gaining a larger footprint in Ireland, even as student numbers pull back slightly in the recession. There are now six Alliances in Ireland since the new Galway centre was opened last month. Bourgeois has plans to deepen links with the community, especially at the level of schools. “French is not part of the curriculum at primary level in Ireland, but the younger students begin a language the better,” she says.

“There is a demand for French language tuition so we provide teachers to primary schools. All our teachers are French and are trained, to degree level, in teaching French as a foreign language. Often the classes are provided out of hours as an extra curricular activity. We would like to get more schools involved.”

In order to extend its reach into classrooms, Alliance Française is now providing in-service training for post primary teachers of French.

“Our aim is to provide six workshops a year,” Bourgeois explains. “We have already had two three-hour workshops; one on using interactive whiteboards in French teaching and one on using acting techniques. The teachers really enjoyed the sessions, not just because of the content, but because it gave them a chance to interact with other French teachers, which they rarely get a chance to do in the ordinary course of their work.”

The Alliance also provides a well-stocked library of French books and films which attracts many teachers into the centre.

Bourgeois, who took up her role here in 2008, is always on the look-out for pockets of Francophile culture in Ireland – a Cajun band, an Algerian restaurant and, more recently, a Haitian community with which she might link up with on fundraising to help victims of January’s earthquake. “Unfortunately, I have yet to find such a community in Ireland,” she says. “Francophone culture is not strong here.”

Bourgeois has had to revise her view of French since coming to work in Dublin. A previous posting was with Alliance Française in Toronto; the French language is regarded as sacred by many Canadians.

“The Québécois are very careful with the language,” says Bourgeois. “They try to protect it from globalisation or anglicisation. They try to use French words for everything; it is considered politically incorrect to use English words in place of French words.”

The 375-year-old French Academy (L’Académie Française) in Paris issues French words for English neologisms, such as e-mail (courriel) and software (logiciel), to help guard against linguistic drift.

However, says Bourgeois, most French people, and the media in particular, like to use modern terminology.

“I came to Ireland with a Québécois attitude about the language, but since then I have become less conservative,” says Bourgeois. “Language is about communication and we focus on that here in the Alliance.

“Furthermore, I couldn’t get over how many French words Irish people use in the course of everyday English speech. It made me realise how languages interface and that it is not a bad thing.”

The 50th anniversary of the Alliance in Dublin is hoped to increase the level of interface between Irish people and French culture and language. Bourgeois has plans for Breton bands in the St Patrick’s Day parade, Irish-French photography exhibitions, a French music festival in centres around Dublin and French tall ship, the Belem, is due to arrive in Dublin Bay on Bastille Day.

Prepare for a French revolution.

Cultural calendar

In 1960 the Alliance Française in Dublin was officially recognised by the French foreign ministry, although the institute has had a presence here since 1907.

In 1984, the French government provided funds for the purchase of the iconic Kildare Street building where many thousands of Irish students have gathered to share French language and culture. This year will see Alliance Française take France to the streets of Dublin.

• Look out for the following anniversary events:
• Gala dinner with President Mary McAleese at the Hibernia Club in May.
• Photographic exhibition Beckett in Parisin April.
• Special edition of the Franco-Irish Literary Festival in April
• Fête de la Music – the French music festival will see French music played in venues around the city in June.
• The French tall ship Belemwill arrive in the Dublin docks in July, where it will be celebrated with a French market and various cultural events.

For information on dates and venues visit alliance-francais.ie