Our aim is promoting the French language, culture and values, says Isabelle Colin, director of the Alliance Française de Malte-Méditerranée.
Language is not simply a means of communication. Language defines and signifies worlds, enriches traditions, inspires culture. It’s a ticket to travel. It’s the beginning of every story – and lives on beyond the end.
This is why learning a language is not just about proficiency or grammatical discipline – rather, it’s about becoming familiar with the source, its culture and its people.
“The Alliance Française de Malte-Méditerranée has been in Malta for 63 years, forming part of a network of over 800 Alliances Françaises in more than 130 countries. Our main aim is promoting the French language, culture and values,” says Isabelle Colin, who took over the direction of the Alliance Française Malte-Méditerranée in September, 2019, after several years on the board of directors as vice president.
A teacher by profession, Isabelle’s commitment is towards the proper functioning of the Alliance Française – in order to enrich the proficiency of the language in Malta.
The Alliance Française is well positioned to do that – as its teachers are extremely qualified, and it is the only accredited centre in Malta for the DELF and DALF examinations, the TEF and other certificates and diplomas from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris and La Sorbonne Nouvelle.
“We have about 300 to 350 students every year – of whom some 70 per cent are Maltese –from young students to adults who want to learn or improve their French for professional reasons. And we enjoy significant success – with an almost 100 per cent success rate in our DELF examinations.”
An almost 100 per cent success rate in our DELF examinations
Isabelle adds that apart from teaching students, an important mission of the Alliance Française is training its teachers.
“We provide them with a variety of resources that can be used for their courses, and we also organise training sessions. We recently hosted a series of webinars in collaboration with the Association des Professeurs de Français à Malte, the Department of Languages and Humanities in Education of the University of Malta, and the Secretariat for Catholic Education. These webinars were animated by Adrien Payet, an expert in training of French teachers around the world. The five webinars focused on online teaching methods, and how to make them interactive.”
French may be spoken by 270 million people worldwide – and is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union. However, locally, the Italian language may have an edge, due to the proximity of Italy as well as the easier accessibility of Italian popular culture.
“However, in recent years, access to French culture has been improving,” says Isabelle. “The popularity of the Lupin series on Netflix attests to that.
“Like travel, culture is essential in helping people discover France, its beautiful and musical language, and culture. This is why the Alliance Française is heavily involved in organising cultural events,” Colin says.
“Every year, we are involved in Francophony Week, the Fête de la Musique, the wine-tasting celebration Beaujolais Nouveau and the Book Fair, while throughout the year, we organise the French Film Days in collaboration with Spazju Kreattiv Cinema and collaborate with ŻiguŻajg and the European Art Cinema Day.
“This summer, we also contributed to the Festival Respir(e)! in collaboration with the French Embassy and, together with a number of European embassies, various cultural institutes in Malta, and Arts Council Malta, we launched the EUNIC Malta Cluster. The first event to be organised by the cluster will be a European film festival which will culminate with the European Art House Cinema Day in November .
“The Alliance Française also invites various high-profile artists – and later this year, we will have the pleasure of hosting French director Patrice Leconte.”
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the Alliance Française to make some changes. During lockdown, cultural events were cancelled and all classes were held virtually – now these are being held online for adults, and according to a hybrid model for younger students.
“We have to adapt,” Colin says. “But our aim remains the same – to promote the French language, culture and values.”
For more details and information visit https://alliancefrmalta.com/.