Penza hosted I International Forum “Frankophony”

“Equality, complementarity, solidarity” is the motto of the I International Forum “Frankophony” which took place in Penza on the 20-12 of November.

“Frankophony” is a unique event for Penza. The Forum has completed the Year of France at the Faculty of History, Languages and Literature, Belinsky Pedagogical Institute, Penza State University.

The organizers of the Forum are Penza State University, Association of International Students of Russia, Belinsky Pedagogical Institute, the Faculty of History, Languages and Literature, the Department of “Foreign Languages and Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages”.

The Forum was attended by the honorary guests: ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Gabriel Anicet Kotchofa (Benin), assistant secretary of ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Pierre Clouet (France), attache in the field of the French language cooperation Virginia Tellie, Fontainebleau city hall official representative, composer and producer Pierre-Michelle Werber (France).

PSU Rector A. Gulyakov and Fontainebleau city hall official representative signed a cooperation agreement.

“The agreement concerns the spheres of cultural cooperation such as organizations of concerts, or tourist trips. It also includes cooperation in the sphere of school education, as Fontainebleau doesn’t have a university” – commented O. Yagov, Dean of the Faculty of History, Languages and Literature.

An important stage of the forum was the opening of the French Language Resource Centre on the basis of the Faculty of History, Languages and Literature.

As assistant secretary of ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Pierre Clouet said at the opening, the resource centre in Penza is created according to the convention of joining the network of France Embassy language partners, which unites 61 Russian universities.

“The resource centre conducts contests, different events, discussions, film showings, classes in thematic sections. In the centre you can get information about the cooperation programmes for teachers and students. It is also the place for friendly communication, a part of France at the University, where you can read a French magazine or a newspaper and speak French”, said Pierre Clouet.

As the management said, not only students will be able to study there, but also everyone who is interested in the French language.

“The Resource centre has a lot of authentic materials dedicated to France. Every citizen of Penza can come to us and improve his or her French”, said Elena Shibanova, the centre Head, Associate Professor of the Department of French and Methods of Teaching French.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Gabriel Anicet Kotchofa marked that the centre opening has big perspectives, as more than 274 million of people in the world speak French. It is the official language in 32 countries, and in 57 countries it is taught as the language of communication.

“What is language? First of all, it is the instrument of communication. It is no longer important what language to learn – French, English, or Russian. Any language is wealth. I was born in Benin, where French is an official language. But this is the country where 10 million people speak 113 dialects. Unfortunately, nowadays I know only eight languages”, said the ambassador.

The Forum participants also enjoyed the meeting with the students of gymnasium no. 1 who study French.
The Forum “Frankophony” finished with a bright ceremony closing the Year of France at the Faculty of History, Languages and Literature, which took place in the concert hall “Penza Concert”.