Mar 04, 2005 11:14 AM
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(Updated Mar 04, 2005 11:14 AM)
The Alliance Francaise is one of the premier institutions in the world teaching French. Though it has branches all over the world, I am going to write of its Bombay branch of which I am a student and of which I know the best.
I have been a student of the Alliance since three years. I began learning this language without an iota of its knowledge and was quite sceptical on the first day when the professor began addressing us in French. But within fifteen minutes of class, the whole class began to attempt speaking phrases in French, those which were being taught to us by the professor.
That is one of the greatest strengths of the Alliance. The professors won't be caught dead speaking any other language besides French. Even if they have to explain the meaning of some difficult word or idiom, they will resort to giving clues or examples (in French) or even dumb charades. But speak in another language, they won't. It is up to the students to raise their bar by trying to speak in French, which they manage to do. The whole process of learning French at Alliance becomes a sort of a game where you juxtapose the words that you know to make comprehensible sentences.
Another favourite part of mine is their approach towards French conversation. Most of the professors during lectures divide their class into small groups and exhort them to perform a dialogue or a skit. This greatly boosts the camarederie among the students. You get the feeling that you are not alone in your quest of learning French.
At the Alliance, you not only learn French, but also get acquainted with French culture. All the professors teaching at Alliance have been to France at some point in their lives. They are full of anecdotes and examples from France and you feel transported to France in the course of the lecture. Video cassettes, audio cassettes are widely used to enhance the feel of the language. All professors have a good hold over the language (literal as well as technical) and their accents are quite good.
But this is just the tip of the Alliance iceberg. The Alliance continually brings performers from all over the world and their performances are held at places such as Tata Theatre, Theosophy Hall, etc. These performances are generally free for the current students and gives a great exposure to the students to world culture (mostly French). French documentary films and short films are also shown at the Theosophy Hall almost every day.
I am learning French since two years now, only on weekends. It has been a great enriching experience for me (literary as well as culturally). Within this short span of time (short because French is going on with my many other activities) I have been able to speak passable French and make myself understood. This I think is an appreciable achievement.
One more thing I must put down is that the Alliance attracts students from all over Mumbai. It is a good place to make new friends, people who are mostly ambitious (why else would they learn a foreign language?) and generally intelligent. I, for myself, have been able to make many lasting friendships at the Alliance.
Some of the students do feel that the professors' total reluctance to translate French words into other languages is an impediment. But it is definitely not so. Only because they do not translate are the students forced to express themselves in French. Though awkward initially, this method grows on you, and take it from me, it is the best way to learn a foreign language.
The courses are a bit expensive, but not as expensive as other languages being taught in India, like German at the Max Mueller Bhavan. However, it is money definitely well-invested.
