It was our pleasure to welcome Béatrice Hansen Prat, who came to interview our team for Fransklæreren, the magazine for French teachers, published by the Fransklærerforeningen i Norge (ANEF).
Interview – Nous avons rencontré l’équipe de Fransk kulturhus
A year and a half after its creation, the cultural centre Fransk kulturhus, heir of the Institut français’ courses centre, moved into its location at St. Olavs gate.
So, are you happy with your new premises?
We are all delighted: modern, spacious, luminous and quiet premises located in the heart of the city and very easy to access. Our four large classrooms, our workspaces as well as the nice welcome/library space are the perfect setting to welcome all of our activities.
You are not the only one to offer French courses. What are your assets?
Our offer is comprehensive with courses for all levels, from beginner to advanced. Our courses are tailored to the students’ age: children, teenagers, students or adults. For instance, our courses for beginner or francophone children are very popular!
Moreover, we offer different types of objective-based courses: linguistics, conversation, thematic, in person or online. We also assist institutions and companies with their specific professional objectives.
One of our specialties is the preparation for the TCF, DELF and DALF certifications, which are very popular with prospective students or expatriates in a francophone country. We are also an examination centre for the TCF Canada.
What is your cultural offering?
We offer a large selection of courses and activities. For example, we participate in Oslo “kulturnatt” and organise, with passionate partners, cultural outings, “Art de Vivre” courses, workshops, meetings with authors. We are even thinking of doing karaoke soon. The Franco-Norwegian Cafés, that we have been organising for free since the very first days, in person or online, are based on diverse topics and are very popular. For children and teenagers, we organise “creative holidays courses”. The first edition of the “Fransk Sommerskole” in August was a resounding success.
Moreover, we put at the disposal of our visitors a library with a particularly large selection of books for children, comics and novels, as well as educational resources. The books can be consulted onsite, with or without a cup of coffee.
Among your activities, which ones are particularly relevant for our members?
For those who wish to refresh their language skills, we offer general French courses up to C1 level. For those who wish to practice French in a specific context, we can recommend a conversation course, or a thematic course on current events, history or literature, or an “Art de vivre” course in French, and of course our thematic cafés which are open to all. We also share playlists and recommendations for French books, films and series which can be used in French class by your members.
Do you have partnerships with didactic training centres in France?
Of course, we do! We work with accredited centres and institutions in several regions of France, which allows us to ensure pedagogical and didactic continuity for the students we have been following for several years now, while offering a cultural immersion.
Any plans for the future?
Absolutely! Without revealing them all, we can already tell you that we will continue to develop our cultural offer for all French speakers and Francophiles in Norway, extend our training courses to teachers and the didactic field and share with them, and your members in particular, new educational resources.
