Francophonie Week celebrates more than a language: it brings to life a global community of over 300 million French speakers across more than 80 countries. Through creativity, dialogue, and cultural exchange, students experience French beyond the classroom, as a vibrant and living language.
Francophonie Map 2025 (Dark Blue – Native and official majority language, Light Blue – Official language, not native, Pale Blue – Language of culture or administration de facto, without official status)
Exploring French Through Words
Students from Grade 3 to Grade 12 participated in Francophonie dictations, each level tailored to their abilities, from early spelling discovery to advanced grammar. Dictation develops precision, concentration, and a deep connection to the French language.
In elementary school, storytelling rallies brought French to life as students moved from class to class, listening to lively readings of Francophone tales. These activities nurtured listening skills, vocabulary, and a love of narrative.
Francophonie Comes Alive: Quiz, Treasure Hunts, and Exhibitions
Exhibitions like “Dis-moi dix mots” encouraged students to reflect on French through themes such as technology and the environment. “French and Me” (FLSco, Grades 1 & 2) showcased personal, creative connections to the language.
FLSco students designed interactive activities, treasure hunts, Kahoot quizzes, and “Questions for a Champion”-style games, turning French into a playful, collaborative experience that reinforced vocabulary, critical thinking, and teamwork.
In Qingpu, FLSco students celebrated La Chandeleur with their parents by cooking crêpes together: a joyful hands-on experience combining culture, language, and family participation.
Meet the Masters: Artists Bringing Francophonie to Life
Outstanding artists and creators brought Francophonie to life, inspiring students through powerful encounters at the crossroads of cultures, language, and creativity.
Workshops with LaoShu: Students combined ink painting and poetry, inspired by French literary traditions like Baudelaire, connecting Chinese art with Francophone culture.
Meeting Zhang Ruling: the bilingual poet demonstrated how French and Chinese poetry can foster intercultural dialogue and creative expression.
Performances by Li Song: The Chinese comedian used humor, wordplay, and music to explore cultural contrasts between China and France, creating a lively, hybrid show that engaged students.
Encounter with Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt: The renowned writer, playwright, and philosopher shared stories and insights, highlighting the global reach and creative power of French culture and literature.
Francophonie on the Table and Beyond
Francophone Cuisine: Children from Kindergarten enjoyed themed breakfasts such as pancakes with maple syrup, rice pudding with honey, and pains au chocolat. For everyone, the canteen served Francophone lunches including Moroccan chicken tajine, French hachis parmentier de canard, Canadian ham with maple syrup, and Cameroonian platine mat ball.
This week also celebrated mathematics, showing how Francophonie can be experienced through reasoning and collaboration, with students taking part in challenges from the Kangaroo Challenge for elementary students to Maths Olympiads, the Math Without Borders contest for Grade 10, and a photo contest themed “Math in Real Life”.
Global Connections: Exchanges with students from Macau Anglican College created meaningful intercultural interactions, emphasizing French as a language of connection and openness.
A heartfelt thanks to the French Embassy in China and the French Consulate in Shanghai for their support.
More than a celebration, this week showed how Francophonie is brought to life by our students: through their creativity, initiative, and engagement.
Supported by the school’s dynamic projects, French becomes a language to create, connect, and express. Not just learned, but truly lived, every day.