Alliance française (French pronunciation: [aljɑ̃s fʁɑ̃sɛːz]; "French Alliance", stylised as af) is an international organization that aims to promote the French language and francophone culture around the world. Created in Paris on 21 July 1883 under the name Alliance française pour la propagation de la langue nationale dans les colonies et à l'étranger (French alliance for the propagation of the national language in the colonies and abroad), known now simply as L'Alliance française, its primary goal is teaching French as a second language. Headquartered in Paris, the Alliance had 850 centers in 137 countries on every inhabited continent in 2014.
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History and role
The Alliance was created in Paris on 21 July 1883 by a group including the scientist Louis Pasteur, the diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, the writers Jules Verne and Ernest Renan, and the publisher Armand Colin. The project was directly linked to the colonial aims of the French Third Republic. France believed it could spread civilization to colonies and promote French imperial grandeur by propagating their language internationally.
The organization finances most of its activities from the fees it receives from its courses and from rental of its installations. The French government also provides a subsidy covering approximately five percent of its budget (nearly 665,000 € in 2003).
More than 440,000 students learn French at one of the centres run by the Alliance, whose network of schools includes:
a centre in Paris, Alliance française Paris Île-de-France
locations throughout France for foreign students and
1,016 locations in 135 countries.
The organizations outside Paris are local, independently run franchises. Each has a committee and a president. The Alliance française brand is owned by the Paris centre. In many countries, the Alliance française of Paris is represented by a Délégué général. The French Government also runs 150 separate French Cultural Institutes that exist to promote French language and culture.
The Alliances organize social and cultural events, such as art exhibitions, movie festivals, social gatherings, book clubs.
By country
France
Fondation Alliance française
Alliance française Paris Île-de-France
The Alliance française Paris Ile-de-France is a Higher Private Education Institute. Located in the centre of the capital, the Alliance française Paris Île-de-France receives more than 11,000 students from 160 countries arrive every year. It is the oldest one since the school has offered courses in Paris since 1894.
Until 2007, the year of creation of the Alliance française Foundation, the Alliance française Paris Île-de-France was called "the Paris Alliance française".
It was divided into three branches: the International Relations (DRI), the School of Paris, and the Department of Human and Financial Resources (DRHF). In 2007, the DRI has become the Alliance française Foundation, while the School and the DRHF became the Alliance française Paris Île-de-France.
Three conventions are now governing the relations between the Foundation and the Alliance française Paris Île-de-France:
a financial agreement: the Alliance française Paris Ile-de-France supports the Foundation financially.
an agreement for the premises: the Paris Alliance française donated its building in Boulevard Raspail to the Foundation at the time of the division in 2007
a teaching agreement: the Alliance française Paris Ile-de-France supports the Alliances françaises worldwide in their projects to professionalize their teaching and administrative staff. More than 40 missions per year are made abroad.
Alliance française Montpellier is a French language school in the south of France, a private higher education institution providing French courses for foreigners (FLE) and a non-profit association, established in accordance with the statutes and objectives of the Alliance française Foundation. This study centre is part of the network of Alliances françaises de France.
Africa
Botswana 1
Comoros 3
Eritrea 1
Ethiopia 2 (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa)
Ghana 4
Kenya 4 (Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Kisumu)
Lesotho 1
Madagascar 29
Mauritius 6
Mozambique 1
Namibia 1
Nigeria 10 (Alliance française de Port Harcourt, Alliance française de Lagos )
Southern Africa 13 (Alliance française of Port Elizabeth)
Swaziland 1
Tanzania 2 (Dar es Salaam, Arusha)
Uganda 1
Zambia
Zimbabwe 1
Americas
Argentina there are 72 partnerships with 16,000 students forming a network is considered one of the largest and oldest in the world. In Rosario, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Campana, Santa Fe, Mendoza.
Bermuda has one Alliance française.
Bolivia has five Alliances françaises in all the main centers of population: Cochabamba, La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Sucre, Tarija.
Brazil There are 39 Alliance française schools in Brazil, and six partner learning centres. Out of the federation's 26 states, only seven have no schools or learning centres. Alliance française has been in the Brazilian educational scenario for more than 130 years, since 1885.
Canada has 13 Alliances françaises in nine cities from coast to coast: Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto (five campuses, located in Spadina, North York, Markham, Mississauga, and Oakville), Ottawa, Moncton, and Halifax.
Chile has six Alliances françaises in six cities in Santiago, Viña del Mar, Concepción, Curicó, Antofagasta and Osorno.
Colombia has more than 20 Alliances françaises in 16 cities.
Costa Rica has three Alliances françaises, the first in Barrio Amón, in the East side of the capital San José and another two, one in La Sabana (West side of the capital) and also in Heredia, another province of Costa Rica.
Cuba has three Alliances françaises, one located in Santiago de Cuba and the other two in Havana City.
Dominica has one Alliance française, in the capital city, Roseau.
Dominican Republic has 4 Alliance françaises, one in the capital city, Santo Domingo, and others in Santiago, Mao and Monte Cristi.
Asia and Oceania
Australia has 31 Alliances françaises organizations.
Bangladesh has two Alliances françaises organizations, in Dhaka (Alliance française de Dhaka, two branches located in Dhanmondi and Gulshan) and in Chittagong.
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia has one Alliance française, located in Siem Reap.
China has fifteen Alliances françaises organizations: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Jinan, Chengdu, Wuhan, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Xian, and Nanjing.
Hong Kong has three Alliances françaises centres, one in Wanchai, one in Jordan and another one in Shatin. Alliance française de Hong Kong was created in 1953.
India has 24 Alliances françaises located in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai (Alliance française de Madras), Coimbatore, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow, Jaipur, Karikal, Kolkata, Madurai, Mahé, Mumbai, New Delhi, Nashik, Pondicherry, Pune, Mysore, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum, Vadodara.
Indonesia has four Alliances françaises located in Medan, Balikpapan, Semarang and Denpasar.
Kazakhstan has two Alliances françaises located in Astana and Almaty.
Kyrgyzstan has one Alliance française, located in Bishkek.
Macau
Malaysia has three Alliances françaises centres, with two of them in Kuala Lumpur and another in George Town, Penang.
Maldives has one center in the capital city of Malé.
Europe
Albania has five Alliance française organization located in Durrës, Elbasan, Korça, Shkodra and Tirana.
Armenia has one Alliance française organization located in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
Belgium has one Alliance française organization located in the capital Brussels.
Croatia has five Alliances françaises organizations located in Dubrovnik, Osijek, Rijeka, Split, and Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.
Hungary has five Alliances françaises organizations located in Debrecen, Győr, Miskolc, Pécs and Szeged.
Iceland has one Alliance française organization located in Reykjavik.
Ireland has six Alliances françaises organizations. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is home to the second largest Alliance in Europe. There is also a location in Cork, Ireland's second city. Other locations in Ireland include Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Waterford, which also has a branch in Wexford. Alliance française de Cork also organises the Cork French Film Festival.
Italy has thirty-seven Alliances françaises organizations located throughout the country.
Malta has one Alliance francaise organization located in Floriana.
Moldova has one Alliance française organization located in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova.
Monaco has one Alliance française organization located in the Principality, at the Embassy of France in Monaco.
The Netherlands counts 32 Alliances Françaises, the main one being located in The Hague, followed by 3 major other one in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. This network is very dynamic and powerful.