26th edition of the French Language and Francophonie Week

The 26^th edition of the French Language and Francophonie Week will be held from March 13 to 21 in France and everywhere in the French-speaking world. This year, due to the health crisis, the event for French language lovers is held in digital format. French-Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani, winner of the Goncourt Prize in 2016, is the patron of this year’s event, placed under the general theme of air.

The French Language and Francophonie Week was created by the French ministry of Culture to offer the general audience an opportunity to celebrate French language, and more broadly “the language of Molière and Senghor, in all its diversity and expressions”, as the French government’s information website describes to present the event. The Week is held on all continents, and an increasing number of stakeholders take part in the event.  

Travelling with the times

This year’s edition of the Week focuses on the theme of Air, with the title “Un bol d’air” (A breath of fresh air). The website of a fully-comitted Ministry of Culture details the reasons of this choice and describes how this concept can unite.

Air is before everything “a common good to protect for the future of mankind”. But air is also a concept often associated with “mobility and travels”, which led to the symbolic image of “adventure, and borders to cross”. According to the ministry, air is also “the breath of life that connects us to others, linked to energy and health”, a breath that also evokes “artistic creation, poetic inspiration, music”.

Living the Francophonie in all its forms

 To bring this theme to life, the week is organised in collaboration with the OPALE network (French-Speaking Network of Political and Language Planning entities), which offers a wide range of activities. These events, which can be discovered in detail on the dedicated website, can take many forms. They range from digital concerts of French songs, a dictation to be done individually or in groups, a remote calligraphy workshop, a video conference on language, a theatrical performance, a poetry competition, a literary meeting, etc. All these events allow all the public to demonstrate in a concrete way “their love for French language by celebrating its richness and modernity”.

Having your say

 The Week will also include an important event: the launch of the “Dictionnaire des francophones” (Dictionnary of French Speakers), a digital tool illustrating “the exceptional richness of the French language, its diversity, its creativity and its constant evolution”. This collaborative dictionary was the initiative of the French President, and was designed by the Ministry of Culture and Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with diverse entities, including from the academic and research world. The new dictionary takes the form of an application to check thousands of words from all over the French-speaking world brought together in a single interface enriched by user contributions. According to its designers, “the French language belongs to everyone, and everyone, wherever they are, will have a say!”

Learn more on: 

- the French Language and Francophonie Week 

- the Dictionnary of French Speakers

Photo credit: © ministry of culture