Launch of the kit
“Exploring WW1: learning French with the soldiers”

The Alliance Française’s French education kit, ‘Exploring WW1: learning French with the soldiers’, was officially launched on Thursday the 7th of May. The inauguration took place at the Canberra Museum and Gallery, in the presence of His Excellency Christophe Lecourtier, Ambassador f France to Australia and Mrs. Joy Birch MLA, Minister for Education for the ACT. The year 2015 was chosen to highlight the shared memory of France and Australia during the centenary of Gallipoli.

This educational tool enables Australian students to learn about the sacrifice of the Diggers on French soil all while teaching them the French language. The kit was designed and developed by the network of Alliances Françaises in Australian capital cities: Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

The kit is available online.

The launch of the kit coincided with the opening of the McIntosh collection, emblematic of the engagement of a group of Australian brothers from the Canberra region on the battlefields of the Western Front. It was also the occasion for Romain Fathi, a joint doctoral candidate at Science Po Paris and the University of Queensland to compare the differing approaches of France and Australia to the centenary commemorations for the First World War.