La Francophonie

La

Francophonie

In the 19^th and 20^th Centuries, France was the second-largest colonial empire in the world behind the British Empire.  It held territories in North and South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

History : A Colonial Empire

North America

In North America, it all started in 1605 when France took over Acadia, in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada.  A few years later, in 1608 Samuel de Champlain founded Québec, which became famous for trading fur.  In 1699, France claimed more territories in North America with the foundation of Louisiana. France also claimed colonies in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Indiana, and Minnesota. Not only that but France also expanded in the Caribbean and South America.  They held territories in French Guiana, Saint Kitts, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Africa & Asia

In Africa, French colonial expansion expanded in Senegal, Cameroun, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Benin, Niger, Chad, Congo, Madagascar and Mauritania.

In the Middle East, they controlled Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria, and Lebanon.

In Asia, they took over parts of India, Reunion, Seychelles, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan. And finally in Oceania, they controlled French Polynesia, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia.

Because of France’s colonial expansion, an organization was created.  This organization is called “ The International Organization of Francophonie” or as it is known in France as OIF “Organization international de la Francophonie”.

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OIF CREATION

Open Ended

What colonies did France hold in the United States? Name the states.

What is La FrancophonIe?

“La Francophonie” is defined as the world community of French-speaking countries, or the collective unit formed by French-speaking people.  It is an international language movement led by government and nongovernment organizations in over thirty countries where French is official or used by a significant population. Therefore, a “Francophone” is someone who is a French speaker.  Currently, there are more than 300 millions “Francophones”.  Two of every three Francophones live outside of France, and in more than forty countries on five continents.

A Community

La Francophonie is a community, based on a common language, which believes in the unity and diversity of culture.  It should come as no surprise that French has for some time been one of the most widely used languages in the world, and for a long time, was the only language of international diplomacy. It is used alongside English as a working language at the United Nations, the European Union and the Olympic games.

OIF Organization

OIF was created in 1970. Its motto is égalité, complémentarité, solidarité ("equality, complementarity, and solidarity").  The organization has 57 member states and governments, three associate members and twenty observers.

 

As an organization that mobilizes resources for cooperative activities among people who use French as a common language, it has increasingly become a forum where nations linked by the French language can work together towards common values, peace, justice, security, solidarity, democracy, and the respect of human rights.

Multiple Choice

What is la Francophonie?

• An imperialistic movement with possible ties to the illuminati created by people named Franco.

• A U.N. organization that believes in modernization of 3rd World Countries.

• A French speaking community that believes in world domination.

• A community, based on a common language, which believes in the unity and diversity of culture. 

The four missions of the organizations are:

1) Promoting French language and cultural and linguistic diversity,

2) Promoting peace, democracy and human rights,

3) Supporting education, training, higher education and scientific research,

4) Expand cooperation for sustainable development.

Missions

Through its various organizations and associations, La Francophonie promotes the sharing of experience and ideas, and the implementation of common projects.  Currently, La Francophonie is a forum for cooperation in nine technical fields that are considered priorities: agriculture, energy, environment, culture, communications, scientific and technological information, language industries, legal cooperation and education and training.

Priorities

Mission

The organization holds a Summit every 2 years. The last few summits took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012 and in Dakar, Senegal in 2014, Antananarivo, Madagascar in 2016 , in 2018 Armenia hosted. The 2020 conference was cancelled due to covid but brought back in 2021 in Tunisia.  

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Summits

Games & Festivals

In 1989, the organization began the “Francophone Games” which was a sporting event for all French speaking nations. The event takes place every 4 years. Games include: Wrestling, tennis, football, table tennis, handball, cycling, Boxing, Beach volleyball, basketball and Judo. There is also a cultural event that goes along which includes music, poetry, photography, sculpture and even street art.  The Last “Jeux de la Francophonie” or “Francophonie Games” took place in 2013 in the city of Nice, France. The last event took place in 2021 in Canada. This year it will be held in République Democratic de Congo. The OIF also organizes music festivals around the world every year.

 

Multiple Choice

What is a "Francophone" ?

• Someone who speaks French.

• Someone who is not learning French.

• Someone who hates French but is learning it.

• Its a new cellphone company.

The emblem of the OIF is made out of 5 bands with different colors: green, purple, red, bleu and yellow. They represent the 5 continents and a good representation of the diverse colors of the flags of the members of the organization. It forms a circle to show a harmonious collaboration between all members.

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Emblem

Gabon Mali Switzerland

Greece Morocco Tchad

Guinea Mauritius Togo

Guinea-Bissau Mauritania Tunisia

Guinea Equatorial Moldova Vanuatu

Haiti. Monaco Vietnam

Laos Niger

Lebanon Rwanda

Luxembourg Senegal

Madagascar Seychelles

Albania Cameroun

Andorra Canada

Armenia Republic of Central Africa

Belgium Comores

Benin Congo

Bulgaria Democratic Republic of Congo

Burkhina Faso Djibouti

Burundi Dominica

Cape Verde Egypt

Cambodia France

Les Pays Membres

Multiple Choice

How many Francophones are there?

• More than 100 million but less than 200.

• More than 300 million but less than 400 million.

• More than 600 million but less than 700 million

• 273 million

Multiple Choice

What is the Moto of la Francophone?

• égalité, continué, justice

• égalité, fraternité, solidarité

• égalité, complémentarité, solidarité

• égalité, électricité beyoncé

• Respect, Justice et cooperation

Multiple Choice

OIF was created in _________

• 1989

• 1965

• 1699

• 1970

Multiple Choice

Il y a _______ pays membres.

• cinq-sept

• quatorze-sept

• cinquante-sept

• vingt

Multiple Choice

Name 2 Countries in Asia that are members of the OIF.

• Lebanon & Vietnam

• Laos & Djibouti

• Vietnam & Albania

• Cambodia & Albania

Multiple Choice

What is one of the missions of OIF?

• Expanding the French colonial empire.

• Supporting sports around the French speaking world

•  Promoting peace, love and rock & roll.

• Supporting education, training, higher education and scientific research

Multiple Choice

The 2021 Summit of the OIF was held in _________.

• Madagascar

• Senegal

• Tunisia

• Armenia

Multiple Choice

Les 5 couleurs of the OIF emblem sont _________

• blue, vert, rouge, turquoise, marron

• vert, rouge, violet, bleu, jaune

• rouge, violet, orange, bleu, jaune

• violet, vert, rouge, noir, jaune

Open Ended

What did you learn from this lesson?

Poll

Do you prefer doing a lesson like this or having this as a research project?

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