Ideally located in the heart of Norway’s capital, Fransk kulturhus offers activities around the French language and culture: French courses for children, teenagers and adults, thematic experiences about culture and the professional world, summer schools, immersive days for schools, trainings for teachers. The offer is varied and tailored to meet both families’ and professionals’ needs in this francophile country. This house of culture also hosts a rich francophone library and is the only DELF-DALF/TCF examination centre in the country.
Philosophy of a living place
Promotion of francophone cultures, intergenerational sharing and Franco-Norwegian friendship are part of daily life at Fransk kulturhus, whose location in the city’s epicentre makes this spirit of openness visible and accessible. In the welcoming open space, you will find passers-by and students enjoying the café area and browsing trhough the latest library’s books, while the glass-walled classrooms provide an unobstructed learning environment for students. For users outside Oslo, there are still plenty of opportunities: digital resources, online cultural events and, most importantly, a dynamic camera system in the classrooms that allows everyone to participate in class, regardless of where they live
Pedagogy in service of students
Fransk kulturhus’ inclusive and communicative pedagogy is a source of motivation. From the very beginner levels, students improve with confidence thanks to a global immersion pedagogy. We use French from the very first lesson. The courses are based on communication and action-oriented principles: the student plays an active role in their learning process through varied and enriching activities. We learn while having fun, discovering and using the language actively.
Learning is global and intergenerational. The general courses offer comprehensive learning and are divided into homogeneous sub-levels adapted to the learners’ needs. In the thematic and conversation courses, students participate in debates, discover current events, produce stories and develop their language proficiency. The “art de vivre” courses combine an introduction to French-speaking cultures with the discovery of the language in various fields. The corporate trainings apply these principles to the professional sphere: the course participants are being prepared for collaborations with the French-speaking world, from a linguistic, cultural, economic and technical point of view. The children’s courses offered to beginners or bi-national families provide a caring educational environment where the child is an active participant in the classroom. The trainers’ trainings meet the need for a competency exchange between the FLE (French as a foreign language) and the local school system.
French language certification centre
Several times per year, in collaboration with Institut français de Norvège and France éducation internationale, Fransk kulturhus organises the DELF-DALF exams. The candidates, whose motivations are numerous (studies, move, nationality), are coming from the whole country and the centre’s team prepares them for the exams and helps them feel confident on D-Day. The centre also offers the TCF, an official language certification that can be used, as the DELF, for several administrative procedures.
From exams to travels in France, there is only one leap that students take thanks to a solid network of partners. Fransk kulturhus connects the locals with schools established in France for language courses in different cities. Others participate in our famous French-Norwegian cafés where, once a month, French and Norwegian speakers meet to exchange in both languages around carefully chosen discussion topics; a real invitation to travel and intercultural exchanges!
Article published in Journal des Français à l’étranger.
