The Brooklyn-Queens Bilingual Group held an informational panel for parents and community members interested in starting a French-English Dual Language Program in East Brooklyn this past weekend.

The potential program could serve students in East Flatbush, Ditmas, Lefferts Gardens, Canarsie, Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Many Francophones live in these neighborhoods, but French programs in the public schools there are sparse.

Keynote speaker Isabelle Barrière, a professor at Brooklyn College and Yeled V’Yalda Research Institute, emphasized the need for such programs considering French is the sixth most common language spoken in New York, and 22,000 children in the city speak French at home daily.

“There is the issue of heritage language learners, when the language you are learning is in the context of minority,” Barrière said.

This is the case for many of New York’s French speakers who hail from francophone countries in West Africa and the Caribbean. Without formal education, Barrière said, there is a good chance that these students will lose their French skills.

Moreen Tonny, founder of the Brooklyn-Queens Bilingual Group, stressed the need for increased communication with recent immigrants who might want these programs in East Brooklyn.

“The only challenge we’ve got is getting the word out to them,” Tonny said. ‘When we talk to them, they want their kids to have access to this program. But they don’t know where to go and find the information.”

Programs like the French Heritage Language Program (FHLP) do reach out to those communities by providing free school day and after-school programming to French-speaking students in public schools and community centers across the City. Program Coordinator Benoît Le Dévedec emphasized the need for more formal education in French from a young age, so that the work of the FHLP would better complement and reinforce what students have already learned in school.

“I think that we are planting very good seeds here,” Le Dévédec said. “There are many ways for students to value their French at school today; they can even get college credits for it. Taking French, or continuing education in French, can be an asset not only for the students, but for the schools themselves. This makes French more sustainable in the long run.”

Principal Lena Barbera at P.S. 20 in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, also stressed the benefits schools can reap from offering dual-language programs. P.S. 20 began its inaugural French-English program this fall, welcoming its first class of kindergarteners.

“I think this is just what our school needs to set us apart and make us unique, in an area where everyone is competing,” Barbera said. “Schools are like businesses now. We need to sell our programs, and this is a great service to the community.”

Barbera highlighted the impact parents can have on the creation of programs, a sentiment echoed by parent and Founder of La Petite École preschool, Virgil de Voldere.

“It’s very hands-on; it’s very grassroots,” De Voldere said. “There is really a buddy system, and everyone can work together.”

Francophone students of the French Heritage Language Program (FHLP) recently received a special ambassador from France to their classroom.

Aline Pognonec, a visiting scholar from Sciences-Po in Paris, visited the class at Brooklyn International High School as part of the One To World Global Classroom program. The non-profit connects international scholars and visiting Fulbright grantees to New York City public school classrooms in an effort to introduce new cultural perspectives to students.

Pognonec talked to the students about cultural stereotypes.  Growing up in France with a French father and American mother, she told the class she has experienced stereotyping from both cultures. 

The students then broke down stereotypes others might label them with, like “I am smart, but I’m not a nerd” and “I’m a great athlete, but I’m not stupid in school.” They recorded their ideas in a class video, available above.

Most FHLP students hail from West Africa and the Caribbean, and grew up speaking French. Global Classroom Coordinator Laura Tajima and FHLP Coordinator Benoît Le Dévédec both said this lesson on stereotypes works particularly well for immigrants, because it helps them build self-confidence to share their backgrounds.  Hearing from foreign students like Pognonec about their personal challenges and successes excites students to express themselves.

“It’s about opening up this safe place to talk about these ideas about cultures and their perspectives,” Tajima said. “It’s really great to see those connections and the students opening up. Students see people sharing their cultures really confidently, and then they feel more confident about their own backgrounds.”

One-to-World receives support from the American Society of the French Legion of Honor to provide programs by French nationals about their culture and global issues.  This connection makes the partnership between the FHLP and One to World a natural fit.

“It’s a great idea to have these workshops and really promote this interest in France and French culture, and really support these students,” Tajima said.

Tajima said she looks forward to working with the FHLP again in the future, since both organizations aim to help students develop and express their own cultural identities.

“I think it would be great to help them connect with some more French-speaking students who are here to share their stories,” Tajima said. “I think it would strengthen both organizations. I think they [the FHLP] are working with a great population, and their teachers are really strong. It would be great to strengthen that partnership in the future.”

Brooklyn International High School is one of ten New York high schools to benefit from the French Heritage Language Program, which serves approximately 400 students in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn. The FHLP is an arm of the non-profit foundation French-American Cultural Exchange, and works in partnership with the French Embassy in the United States. To support the program or find more information, visit www.facecouncil.org/fhlp. The program coordinator, Benoît Le Dévédec, is also available by email at heritageprogram@facecouncil.org or by phone at 212-439-1438.

           The Malian Cultural Center (MCC) celebrated the achievements of its students last Saturday with a Journée Internationale de l’Enfance party in Harlem.

The French Heritage Language Program (FHLP) awarded students who completed French classes last year with certificates as part of the event. Students also received free copies of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince translated in Bambara, a language spoken by the majority of Malian people. The French organization Succession Saint-Exupéry donated the books to the FHLP to give the students.

Center Director Assetou Sy, known as Madame Sy, said the FHLP classes provide students with an important connection to their heritage they would otherwise miss out on.

“You have kids who don’t speak French but who spoke it before, and when they come to the center, they speak French again,” Sy said. “We are very grateful to the French Heritage Program.”

Kids danced to hip-hop played by a DJ as parents and other attendees looked on and socialized, sipping complimentary glasses of traditional homemade jus de gingembre. The cultural center also sponsored face painting, balloon animals and organized games for the children. 

“It’s to promote kids having fun, but it also promotes culture and makes everybody come together,” Awa Sakho, who teaches FHLP classes at the center, said of the event. “Everything we do is to find a way to develop culture, diversity and how to live in an open community together.”  Sakho also teaches at the New York French-American Charter School and the Villa Française center, both in Harlem.

Both Sakho and Sy said everyone, not just Malians, are welcome at the MCC, located in the Bronx.  People from many different places including Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Haiti and America participate in center events.

Sy called the event a great success, especially for its first year. “Maybe next year it will be even bigger than this,” she said.

The French Heritage Language Program (FHLP) held auditions last Thursday at International High School at Prospect Heights for an original francophone musical comedy project.

Many students hailing from countries such as Haiti, Senegal, the Ivory Coast and Togo showed off their singing and dancing talents before program directors, hoping to gain a coveted spot in the show.  The musical will speak to the diverse experiences of these students and their families.

“This musical will tell your own stories,” professional musician and FHLP teacher Yacine Boularès told students in French.  “It will be about young francophone immigrants, just like all of you, and how they integrate into American society.”

Boularès will write and compose the original musical using the personal stories of students as inspiration.  This unique project is an integral part of the French language and culture classes offered by the FHLP at Prospect Heights this year.  A group of professional musicians will play the music for the show, and additional expert instructors in voice and choreography will train the students.

The project will showcase the rich diversity of francophone culture in America.  Significant populations of francophone people originating from the Caribbean and West Africa live in New York, and the production will feature their heritage through unique music and theatrical performance.

The musical will provide participating students the chance to explore their personal cultural identities through the arts by promoting personal expression and helping students gain self-confidence.  The project fits in with the FHLP mission of linking French language education to participatory cultural and social activities grounded in the backgrounds of the students themselves.

The musical will debut in June 2014 as part of the FHLP’s end-of-year “Color My French” Festival.  The FHLP, a branch of the non-profit French American Cultural Exchange, has helped over 2,500 children, students and adults improve their French language skills and connect with their francophone heritages since it began in 2005.  The program holds French language and culture courses throughout the city for under-served francophone populations.  

For more information please visit the web site at http://www.facecouncil.org/fhlp/, connect on Facebook, or contact program coordinator Benoît Le Dévedec at heritageprogram@facecouncil.org or 212-439-1438.

Earlier this week I visited Brooklyn International High School (BIHS) to meet key people involved in the French Heritage Language Program (FHLP). The FHLP provides native French students in the New York Public Schools with an opportunity to practice and improve their French skills.

One charismatic former student, Bassirou Kaba, journeyed back to his alma mater to promote the program. As he spoke he transitioned seamlessly between French and English, explaining to fellow native French speakers how the program could benefit them not only socially, but career-wise as well. Kaba told his former peers how participating in the FHLP helped him to become truly bilingual, conversationally, academically and professionally.

Kaba now studies at Borough of Manhattan Community College. He expressed the FHLP had helped him become more confident in both his native French and English, which helped him perform well in high school and transition to college. He also emphasized how fun the after-school program is, and how “just a little effort” by students to perfect their French skills can go a long way toward improving future prospects in both the academic world and the job market. Kaba himself exemplifies the success of the program, showing BIHS students how studying French can help them pursue their goals.

Besides after-school opportunities for native French speakers, the FHLP will offer a course at BIHS for all students interested in learning French as an elective during the school day. This class intends to ground students with little or no prior French in the basics. It will also welcome native speakers interested in reviewing and helping their peers. This classroom interaction allows students to learn from each other, exploring the French language and sharing cultural experiences.

Jean-Baptiste Jocelyn, an FHLP teacher, will instruct the school-day class open to all students in addition to the native speakers group after school. Jocelyn hails from Haiti and is fluent in French, Creole and English, acting as an invaluable resource to students interested in improving their language abilities. He aims to instruct students not only in French, but also to open their minds to francophone culture throughout the world. He will assist students struggling with their work for core academic courses by explaining the content in French, strengthening understanding in both languages and improving students’ overall academic achievement.

The instrumental support of Head Principal Pamela Taranto and Assistant Principal Fred Wambolt makes French classes at BIHS possible, where the school has hosted FHLP initiatives for six years. The school belongs to the International Network for Public Schools, a network open exclusively to English Language Leaners.

Some New York City high school populations boast as high as 25 percent French speakers, making the FHLP an essential resource to students who may speak French at home, but almost never use it academically. Though BIHS represents the growing Francophone presence in New York, welcoming many students from West Africa and Haiti, it does not count itself among the public schools with French dual-language immersion programs. Holding FHLP classes for students allows the school to support the needs of its French-speaking students, while also giving the entire student body a chance to broaden its horizons by exploring francophone culture.

Brooklyn International High School is one of ten New York high schools to benefit from the FHLP, which serves approximately 400 students in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn. The FHLP is an arm of the non-profit foundation French-American Cultural Exchange, and works in partnership with the French Embassy in the United States. To support the program or find more information, visit www.facecouncil.org/fhlp. The program coordinator, Benoît Le Dévédec, is also available by email at heritageprogram@facecouncil.org or by phone at 212-439-1438.