Created in 2005, the main goal of the French Heritage Language Program (FHLP) is to help francophone immigrants and young Americans with francophone background to maintain their linguistic and cultural heritage. FHLP has been dedicated to supporting underserved French-speaking youths making French an asset for new Americans.
We also directly contribute to college readiness by offering preparation for official tests like the Advanced Placement exam in French, which paves our students’ way to higher education by giving them university credits.
In addition to in-class activities, the creative workshops, field trips, and summer camps that we organize offer unique opportunities for our students to interact with francophone artists and university students, as well as to explore major sites and institutions steeped in the French language.
Today, the program is present in 4 of New York City’s 5 boroughs, and offers workshops in 10 schools within the Internationals Network for Public Schools, in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. More than 200 NYC students now partake in the FHLP activities every year. Moreover, the program’s success in New York has led to expanding classes in other states and including Boston, Maine, Miami and Philadelphia.
Discover who our students are, and how the program has impacted their lives and hear their stories through their own voices.
This year, we invite proposals for programs that help K-12 students develop their language skills as an asset in their new life in the US. Our focus includes, but is not limited to, AP coursework, college prep, and arts programs, all spotlighting Francophone cultures from Africa, the Caribbean or North America.
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Our after-school programs allow students to reinforce literacy in their home language, accelerate their acquisition of English, and receive greater overall academic support. We create our own teaching resources, mainly based on cultural and artistic projects, and focusing on African and Haitian content to respect and give value to the students’ native cultures. A strong emphasis is also placed on media-awareness, to empower our students with the necessary knowledge to interact with the media-based world in which we live.
We have developed a project-based, differentiated pedagogy adapted to the needs of French Heritage speakers.
Yann GaboriauProgram Coordinator
fhlp@face-foundation.org