Organisation Internationale De La Francophonie
Francophonie Festivals are celebrated each year throughout the world. This year, China celebrated it in March for the 20th time. This festival spreads the beauty of the French language and culture.
Major events included French music, various films seen for the first time in China, culinary delicacies, wine tastings, fashion shows, book discussions with writers, science fairs and sports competitions.
French-language bands from Quebec, Switzerland, Belgium and France performed live concerts.
Each of the Francophone participating countries selected two young film industry professionals to work with counterparts in China to produce a documentary with a Chinese theme.
The Francophonie website: http://francophonie.faguowenhua.com/en/ shows these statistics about the French language:
- 5th most widely spoken language in the world (after Mandarin, English, Spanish and Arabic)
- The only language apart from English to be spoken on every continent
- 274 million speakers spread out over 102 countries, 1% of which in the “Asia/Oceania” region
- 2nd most studied foreign language in the world: 125 million French-learners in 2014
- 4th most used language on the Internet
- 3rd most used language in business
- 2nd most used language for dissemination of international news in media
Some French language facts in China:
- Almost 100,000 learners of French
- Approximately 1,500 teachers
- Over 140 universities with a French department
- 13 Alliances françaises
The International Organization of Francophonie (OIF)
- 80 States and governments (57 member states and 23 observing states)
- One of the IOF’s missions is to promote the French language and cultural and linguistic diversity.
These festivals are a great way to learn about another language and cultures and at the same time brings people from different parts of the world closer.