The “Ik Spreek ook Frans!” (ISOF) program was conceived and launched in 2022 by the Institut français NL and the Alliance Française of Rotterdam, and is being developed in the Netherlands with the support of the France Nederland Cultuurfonds. This innovative French teaching program is aimed at children aged 5 to 12 with a potential French-speaking family heritage. In particular, it is aimed at children who have grown up in immigrant families and have been brought up in a multilingual context where they may have come into contact with the French language. In the Netherlands, this is often the case with families from the Maghreb, but the workshops are also open to children from other migrant backgrounds.
The workshop leaders use dynamic, innovative methods, drawing primarily on resources and references from the students’ own cultural heritage. During the sessions, they are asked to produce something related to the theme of the sequence; this enables them to mobilize the French language in a practical context, while maintaining the playful aspect of the activities organized. The classroom context is multilingual, and the children can use Dutch, Arabic or French to talk to each other, to the teachers and to carry out their tasks. The teachers guide them, help them and teach them the French language without giving them a language lesson, but according to the objective or task of the session and sequence.
The main objectives of the ISOF programme are
- Develop French language learning by promoting children’s culture and cultural and linguistic heritage
- Teaching French through multilingualism (Dutch, Arabic, Berber, English, etc.)
- Developing children’s multilingual talents
- Creating a multicultural community where children learn by creating and having fun
In Rotterdam :
- The workshops are free for all children
- They take place at the local community centre ‘Stichting De Branding’ – Isaäc Hubertstraat 153, 3034 CS Rotterdam
- Wednesday afternoons, 3 to 4:30 p.m. for 5- to 8-year-olds and 4:30 to 6 p.m. for 9- to 12-year-olds
- Registrations are open all year round
- To register, contact program manager Fatima el Ghouizy : isof@institutfrancais.nl