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Resources > Alliance Française Foundation

posted on

06 Sep 2010

Alliance Française Foundation

Alliance Française is the national French network of cultural and language training centres worldwide. 

The network is coordinated by the Alliance Française Foundation (Fondation Alliance Française). For over a century, the Alliance Française has been seeing through an ambitious project: spreading French language and culture well beyond the borders of France. Known the world over, the Alliance is present in 129 countries where it has adapted its recipe to over a thousand local committees.

The Alliance Française was created in 1883 in Paris under the aegis of Paul Cambon and Pierre Foncin, around personalities such as Jules Verne, Louis Pasteur, Ferdinand de Lesseps, Armand Colin and Jules Renan. Today, it is the leading cultural network worldwide, with 850 establishments in 136 countries on all five continents. Each year, 500,000 people, of all ages, attend Alliances Françaises to learn French and more than 6 million people participate in their cultural activities.

All Alliances Françaises work towards three essential tasks:

  • Offering French classes for all, both in France and abroad
  • Spreading awareness of French and Francophone culture
  • Promoting cultural diversity