Emmanuel Macron's ambition for the French language and multilingualism

French president Emmanuel Macron spoke before the members of the French Academy, but also before 300 young to present a "new vision, uninhibited, of Francophonie and multilingualism".

 

Here are the major points of the strategy developed to defend Francophonie (the French-speaking world as a whole), boost French language and make the language go from 5th to 3rd rank of most spoken languages worldwide. 

International students' training 

"We cannot be such country anymore that imposes an ordeal to international students who want to come to study. France must increase the number of international students on its soil, and the number of students coming from emerging countries must double. Indian, Russian and Chinese students must have the greatest numbers". 

Objectives:

• Doubling of the number of international students in France, coming from emerging countries by 2025;
• Doubling the workforce in French institutions present abroad by 2022.
• Doubling the number of joint degrees, the development of partnerships between French and international institutions. 
• Doubling the workforce in French high schools abroad, the "backbone of our education ambition abroad" by 2030. 
• 500 schools aboard offering sections labelled as bilingual and French-speaking (209 now) by 2022. 
• Improve the reception conditions for international students in France.
• Attract more international students in French business schools.

Actions: 

• Maintenance of the government budget dedicated to mobility scholarships; 
• Maintenance of the resources of the AEFE (French Agency for French Learning Abroad); 
• Design of a comprehensive plan to improve the reception of foreign students in France with the help of Campus France;
• Creation of a Maison des Etudiants de la Francophonie (House of Francophonie Students) at the Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris(150 seats),
• Organisation of the Conference of the 20 years of the Bologna process in May 2018 in Paris; 
• Organisation of the Conferences of French-speaking Universities;
• Creation of regional training centres (Mexico, Lebanon and others) to train teachers in French high schools abroad;
• Development of Business French learning and certifications in the business industry; 
• Facilitate the issuance of travel visas for students who passed a Masters' degree or a Doctorate degree in France.

The "Campus France Meetings" will be held in November 2018. The main theme will be the Francophonie. They will allow French institutions to develop partnerships with foreign institutions, including French-speaking institutions. 

 

Support to education and creation in Africa

• Doubling of the resources of the French Agency for Development to reach 350 million Euros each year;
• A 200 million Euros matching contribution of France's commitment as part of the Global Partnership for Education;
• Deployment in all French-speaking African countries of the support program for teachers in the "APPRENDRE" program;
• Support to the development of national languages in primary schools;
• Launch of a call for projects called "Afrique créative" (Creative Africa) by the French Agency for Development;
• Creation of a fund for the young cinema creation in Sub-Saharan French-speaking Africa by the National Centre of Cinema; 
• Organisation of a Season of African Cultures in 2020. 

 

Occupational promotion of French teachers

• Creation of an International Volunteering Program for French Language; 
• Doubling of the number of missions of the civic service; 
• FLE training (French as Foreign Language) for 4,500 French assistants coming from France every year;
• Doubling of the help from the International Federation of French Teachers;
• Creation of an International Day for French Teachers in 2019.

 

Expansion of French language through digital technology

• Massive deployment of the social network for French teachers, "IFprofs", in 150 countries by 2021, 
• Perpetuation of the "Mon idée pour le français" platform ("My idea for the French language");
• Launch of a "France Education" platform, a contents aggregator for French learning by the start of academic year 2018;
• Creation of the 1st incubator dedicated to language learning: "la fabrique numérique du plurilinguisme" (The Digital Factory for Multiliguism),
• The objective of France Médias Monde is to reach 150 million people by 2020 (135 today); 
• Development of actions by Canal France International in critical French-speaking regions.

 

Improvement of French language in economic and diplomatic regions

• Creation of a multilingual label for companies to boost multilingualism and interculturality; 
• Support to a project of a European code of corporate law in French; 
• Development of French learning in the Business sector; 
• Preparation of an action plan specifically designed for the linguistic training of European officials.

 

Support to translation

• Creation of a Grand Prize of Translation;
• Creation of a Translation Prize of Arabic works into French;
• Creation of a Translation Prize of works in the language of a guest of honour at the Paris Fair; 
• Encourage the creation of a "French-speaking Academy" to collect the diversity of uses of the French language and participate in the production of dictionaries in French.

 

Impulses for cultural industries  

• Organisation of an Assembly for publishing in French as early as summer 2018 in Saint-Malo during the Etonnants Voyageurs festival;
• Creation of a Cité de la Francophonie in the castle of Villers-Cotterêts, birth city of author Alexandre Dumas;
• Installation of the French Institute and the Alliance Française in a single location in Paris.
• Opening of 10 new Alliances Françaises per year starting in 2019. 

 

In France

• Libraries stay open on Sundays and in the evening;
• Increase the volume of French classes for refugees: 400 hours per capita (250 now); 
• Introduction of more French-speaking writers (other than French) in school programs;
• Organisation of an International Contest of Eloquence in French, with a finale held in Paris before the opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. 

 

A National Council for Francophonie will meet once per year at the initiative of the French president to assess the implementation of the strategy.

 

In late 2017, the Campus France Kantar survey on the image and attractive power of France for international students had stressed the importance of a study stay in France to develop the Francophonie worldwide. 

79% of international students who could not speak French before arriving in France now say they can speak fluently or have a good level at the end of their studies. 

Back home, after their studies, 72% of them use French as work language and 76% use it in their personal life. 

65% of international alumni from the French higher education system have personal contacts with France. 40% went back to France since the end of their studies for a personal reason.