La francophonie behind the scenes

During the entire month of March, we at the Alliance Française de Chicago have hosted a variety of events as part of our Festival de Francophonie. By the end of the month you’ll have had the opportunity to learn about Russian and French cultures influencing each other, hear about books from around the world, eat amazing food, and see films that explore a variety of Francophonie experiences. While we have a lot of fun presenting you with these events and we hope you have fun attending, we thought it would be good to also give you a little bit of background on why exactly we celebrate Francophone cultures and International Francophone day beyond just the fun of experiencing new cultures.

Finding Love at the Alliance Française

By Monica Fredette (With input from Yves Fredette) I met the love of my life on March 10, 2007 at Le Festival de la Francophonie at Chicago’s Alliance Française. It all started with a look at current events in a “Time Out Chicago” magazine while awaiting my hairdresser, Parto Nadiri. As I searched for upcoming events, I circled quite a few things of interest, but quickly honed in on the French event since I felt very at ease using my language skills learned in college and while studying in France.