The Sunday News
Joel Tsvakwi, Sunday Life Reporter
ALLIANCE France Colleges in Zimbabwe have recorded a surge in the number of people taking interest in learning French.
This was highlighted at the Alliance Francaise de Bulawayo Open Day event held recently at the organisation’s offices in Parkview suburb.
“The response is gradually getting better, as many people are considering learning the French language,” Alliance Francaise de Bulawayo managing director Philipp Durands Massie said, adding that this was a sign of cordial relations between France and Zimbabwe.
French Open Day was incepted in 2015 and is run concurrently, in Bulawayo and Harare.
The event is held as a way of raising awareness about what Alliance Francaise offers.
“We launched this Open Day event last year in an endevour to open our doors to the public. This is a platform for us to mix with the public. The public is accorded the opportunity to appreciate the French language,” adding that the institution recorded an increase in the number of students wanting to learn the language in 2015 compared to 2014.
“In 2014 we had 550 students and in 2015 we have 637 and this is an improvement, as a result we are consolidating our French clubs in various schools and in the near future we are planning to bring French lessons to high density suburbs,” said Massi.
He also acknowledged the economic challenges faced by many Zimbabweans, stating that they had since opened a centre in the CBD to avoid learners walking long distances to the main office in Parkview.
Scores of people from all walks of life thronged the Alliance De Bulawayo for the Open Day.
Alfred Zulu, a seasoned local French tutor and director of classes at the facility, underscored the need for Zimbabweans to take the offer of the Zimbabwean Government to learn the French language for social and economic benefit.
“It’s a pity that skilled Zimbabweans are leaving the country to be immigrants. Instead they should seize the opportunity to teach other locals and the Francophone people to understand Zimbabwe,” he said.
Alliance de Francaise Bulawayo is a cultural centre that was established in 1940 and the French language is recognised as Africa’s second language. It is also an official Sadc region language out of two other languages.
“Dozens of French teachers have been trained in Zimbabwe but they are nowhere to be found. They are leaving despite Government’s investment in them to learn and teach the language,” said Zulu. He added: “I teach French for people to use it in business, sport, and various cultural exchange programmes so that our people will not shy away from French economies in their bid for socio-economic transformation.”
