Providing high schools students from a French speaking background with free French classes and community-building.
Overview
Maintaining French as a heritage language can be challenging for families who have recently immigrated to the US. The French Heritage Language Program (FHLP), a free after school program offered at public schools and community centers, offers Francophone students a space to connect with their French-speaking peers. This connection has traditionally led to students feeling heard and empowered and helped preserve precious language skills that can pave the way to higher education and future careers.
Grants for Schools
The French Heritage Language Program call for applications is currently open. School districts, after school programs, and community organizations wishing to implement affordable French courses for youth for whom French is a heritage language are invited to apply for a grant of up to $30,000 by December 15, 2023. Learn more.
Making French an Asset for New Americans
The FHLP offers a project-based, differentiated pedagogy adapted to the needs of French heritage speakers. The program creates its own teaching resources, mainly based on cultural and artistic projects, and focusing on West African and Haitian content as a means to valorize the native cultures of its students, the majority of whom hail from those regions.
FHLP classes offer students opportunities improve literacy in French, accelerate English language learning, and receive academic support in their home language across subject areas. Students enrolled in the program also have the opportunity to take the AP French exam for college credit and to obtain the New York State Seal of Biliteracy. FHLP also helps students find internship and job opportunities that capitalize on their bilingual and multicultural skills.
FHLP courses use the successful teaching method of the Internationals Network, dedicated to facilitating recently immigrated students’ success in the US. All teaching resources, designed and regularly updated by professionals, are freely available here for teachers, schools, and other institutions in the US.
Recognized by UCLA’s National Heritage Language Resource Center as one of the most well-established heritage language programs in the US, FHLP has served more than 2,500 K-12 students and now serves communities in New York, Florida, Maine and Massachusetts.
To learn more, contact FHLP here.
This program is part of French for All, a new comprehensive initiative to support equity in access to French language education in the United States.