L'Alliance Française souffle ses 130 bougies

A l'occasion de son 130ème anniversaire, le président et les directeurs de l'Alliance Française

ont été reçu à l'Elysée.  Dans son discours, le Président François Hollande a fait l'éloge de la langue française "une langue pleine de découvertes, ... des mots que l'on apprend à connaître même au soir de sa vie"...  Il ajoute que "la langue française, c'est une langue de l'émancipation.  Apprendre le français, c'est pouvoir lire dans les textes la Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen de 1789...".  

Rappelons que l'Alliance Française est implantée sur les 5 continents et a le mérite de promouvoir

la francophonie et la culture française à travers plus de 800 chapitres répartis dans 136 pays.

"Bon anniversaire, 
Nos voeux les plus sincères..." 

Nicole Yancey, Alliance Française de Norfolk 

Soirée Beajolais Nouveau photos by Elli Williams

 

A small selection of the wonderful photographs taken by photographer Elli Williams of our Beaujolais Nouveau evening. To see the photo album click here. 

Having trouble receiving emails from the AFC?

For Gmail Users:

If you have Gmail your inbox may now be divided into tabs. To make sure you receive AFC invitations & newsletters in your Inbox (or 'Primary tab'), the easiest way is to:

• left-click and hold on an email from us and to drag it from the Promotions tab over to the Primary tab.
• Releasing the mouse drops the email into the newly selected tab.
• Once dropped, Gmail displays a yellow box asking if you want to make this change permanent. Click Yes to ensure that all messages from our address will appear in your Primary tab going forward. 

For other email users:

Add director@afcville.org to your Contacts. Check through your spam folder and mark any email from the AFC as "Not Spam".

We want to make sure you stay in touch & receive our invitations!

UVA Film Festival

The Alliance Française is proud to be sponsoring the UVA Film Festival this year!  The Film Festival will be this February 12th-16th. Like last year's festival, all films will be free to the public, with receptions afterwards, and screened around Charlottesville. The following films will be screened:

• Le Bonheur d'Elza, 
• Le Chat du Rabbin, 
• Holy Motors, 
• De Rouille et d'os, 
• and two films by Cameroonian director Jean-Pierre Békolo, who will be visiting during the festival.

Last year's festival was a great success, and was made possible by contributions from the community- if you would like to help, please contact AFC teacher Holly Runde.

French jazz at Cville Coffee

A French-American Songbook 

At the end of this month, singer Paulien will present her take on the chanson française here in town at C'ville Coffee.  Accompanied by accordionist Matty Metcalfe and Chris Dammann, Paulien will perform French tunes beloved on both sides of the Atlantic (such as "La Vie en Rose," "La Mer," and "Les Feuilles Mortes") as well as some selections that are not as well known.  Sit back, enjoy a coffee, and be transported to the City of Lights! 

When: Saturday, November 30 @ 8:00 p.m.
Where: C'ville Coffee (1301 Harris St, Charlottesville, VA 22903)

To learn more about Paulien, visit her website here.

Charlottesville High School Orchestra's trip to France

Charlottesville High School’s award-winning 55-member String Ensemble has been

invited to perform in Paris, France and in our sister city, Besançon in June 2014. The

String Ensemble reflects the richness, diversity, and potential of our community’s youth,

with representatives from many nations, racial/ethnic groups, and economic strata. Laura

Mulligan Thomas, after thirty-two years conducting the CHS Orchestra, describes this

year’s String Ensemble as the best she has ever led.




The trip presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to broaden and enrich these young

students’ world view, to allow them to serve as ambassadors for our community, and to

cultivate and reward the pursuit of true excellence among our community’s youth, but it

needs the community’s support.



For information on this community-based fundraising effort, contact Joseph Allen,

Orchestra Booster Liaison, at allen@virginia.edu or 434-260-1260.


The CHS Orchestra will present their Winter Concert on Wednesday, December 4 at

7:30pm at the Martin Luther King Performing Arts Center.


For information about the trip to France and performances by the Orchestra, visit the

website at www.chsorchestra.org.

2014 AFC School Calendar

by Nathalie Pincham, AFC Director 

The AFC School Calendar for 2014 has just been confirmed. We will be moving from eight to six week sessions next year and will be inserting more weeks off in between sessions, to allow for "breathers" in between sessions, for possible catch up weeks or even opportunities to offer special workshops or immersion classes. Memorial Day and Labor Day weeks are off.

Above is a picture of the sessions of the first six months of the year. To download the complete calendar, please click here and scroll down to: List of Holidays & Session Dates

Meet Corey Steinhouse, the new addition to the AFC team!

by Nathalie Pincham, AFC Director

This summer, Corey Steinhouse joined the AFC as Executive Assistant to the Director.

Corey is a graduate of the University of Virginia where he received his Bachelor of Arts, with distinction, in French and Spanish in 2012. In addition to his studies of French, he has also spent substantial time in France itself. He also worked as an English-language assistant in the Académie of Grenoble during the 2012-13 school year.

Because of his background in French studies, experiences in France, and love of Francophone cultures in general, he is a perfect fit for the AFC. Look out for him at one of our upcoming events and be sure to say Bonjour!

La Fête du Beaujolais Nouveau

Each year in France, at precisely one past midnight on the third Thursday of November, one of the most frivolous and animated rituals in the wine world begins: the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine each fall.