In this extraordinary city called New York, education is a matter of the utmost importance to families. Moreover, an ever-growing number of those seeking to provide a world-class educational experience to their children are focused on bilingualism. Yet who can be surprised?
After all, study after study has demonstrated the myriad advantages which only a bilingual education can confer, especially when students are able to learn two or more languages at a young age. “Why Bilinguals are Smarter”, one New York Times review of the science around bilingualism posited a few years ago. This past weekend, another incisive article in the same newspaper was just as bold, presenting compelling evidence for “The Superior Social Skills of Bilinguals.”
Twice as many French speakers in 2060
Of course, there are many linguistic combinations one might imagine underpinning the bilingual education so avidly and understandably being praised, but the one dearest to us at the Lycée Français de New York is naturally that which marries English with French, the latter being one of the central languages of the Enlightenment and also one of the most essential languages of our planetary future, given the estimated doubling of French speakers around the globe over the next 50 years, from approximately 300 million today to approximately 700 million in 2060.
Adam Gopnik, Patrick Weil and Rokhaya Diallo, three of the many panelists who will be participating in the conference entitled “Le Français, Oui But Why?” taking place at the Lycée Français de New York on April 16.
Beyond its growing economic, social and political significance, however, French holds special promise because of its unique connection to “culture”, not just the intellectual, artistic and related expression of French and Francophone peoples around the world, but values and principles which arguably reflect the beauty and nobility of the human adventure as a whole.
A Fair for French-speaking cultural programs in NYC
It is this uplifting affirmation that we will be placing at the heart of a fascinating colloquium being held at the LFNY on Saturday, April 16. Entitled, “Le Français, Oui But Why,” the Lycée Français de New York, in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Québec Delegation in New York, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, the FIAF and Princeton French Theater, is honored to be organizing two remarkable roundtable discussions on French language and cultures, as well as the first-ever fair of French-speaking cultural programs in New York City and the surrounding area. Kindly note that we are also offering free artistic workshops in French for children aged three through ten. For further information, please go to our conference page and watch the short video below. We look forward to seeing you soon!
About the Author :
Sean Lynch was Head of School at the Lycée Français de New York from 2011 to 2018, after having spent 15 years at another French bilingual school outside of Paris: the Lycée International de St. Germain-en-Laye. Holding both French and American nationalities, educated in France (Sciences Po Paris) and the United States (Yale), and as the proud husband of a French-American spouse and father of two French-American daughters, Sean Lynch has spent his entire professional and personal life at the junction between the languages, cultures and educational systems of France and the United States. In addition to being passionate about education, he loves everything related to the mountains, particularly the Parc National du Mercantour.