So many French words have been incorporated into English that we may not even realize that we are hearing French among the languages spoken around us. French is both a global and a local language, spoken by over 320 million around the world and by more than 33 million in the Americas (Nadeau, 2021). In the US, French ancestry may be traced to Canada, Haiti, France, and other areas of the world, particularly African and Caribbean countries.
It is important to consider the reality that the learning and use of French in the US provides access to a global skill and ensures the survival of a heritage language within families and communities.
The good news is that many individuals and organizations in the US encourage, support, and provide opportunities for the use of French in a wide range of settings and activities.
The future of French is framed by and grounded in Francoresponsabilité—a term first used in Québec—defined as développer l’usage de la langue française au quotidien, or developing the use of French in our daily lives, and Franco-activisme—active support for and commitment to French language learning and use and Francophone culture (France-Amérique, 2019, p. 1).
French Language Learning and Use in the US
In the US, French is spoken in the home by two million people, and more than ten million have French ancestry. Much of what is now the US once formed part of Nouvelle France, and French is widely spoken in northern New England and Louisiana. French speakers/Francophones include mother-tongue speakers, heritage-language speakers and learners, and those who have learned French as an additional or world language. Many in the US face the challenge of preserving their family language and of transmitting it to the next present and future generations.
French is learned and used in the US both in traditional educational institutions and in a wide range of community, social, and cultural organizations, and learning environments range from traditional face-to-face on-site meetings to online and hybrid settings.
The American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), founded in 1927, has as its mission “to promote throughout North America the teaching and learning of the French language and French-speaking cultures and civilizations. Our professional organization welcomes and supports educators of French at all academic levels as they seek to broaden their own and their students’ linguistic and cultural horizons to foster and strengthen cross-cultural understanding” (AATF, 2025).
No discussion of French language learning in the US and around the world would be complete without the Alliance française—founded in 1883, and with over 430,000 students in 829 alliances in 135 countries around the world (Fondation, 2025). In the US, there are more than 100 AF offices.
Local initiatives include a wide range of organizations and programs throughout the US, including the Franco-American Centre (FAC) in Manchester, NH, the mission of which “is to preserve the rich heritage of our French communities. We promote history, culture, and education with an understanding of their historic contributions, cultural and artistic expressions, both past and present” (FAC, 2025).
Building on the successful initiative in support of the membership of Louisiana in the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie in 2018, co-founders Scott Tilton and Rudy Bazenet “launched the New Orleans Foundation for Francophone Cultures in June 2020 as a cultural institution aiming to support the revitalization of Louisiana’s heritage cultures, with a focus on Creole, Cadien, and Indigenous communities” (Nous, 2025).
The French-American Academy (FAA), founded in 2007, with the motto “cultivating global leaders in a changing world,” provides bilingual education from preschool through high school. It “strives to provide the highest educational standards with a bilingual, comprehensive curriculum in a safe, nurturing, and creative environment. We foster an atmosphere that promotes critical thinking, curiosity, enthusiasm, and a strong work ethic. In addition, we encourage the physical, social, and emotional development of our students in a nurturing, multicultural setting. Finally, we cultivate diversity and inclusion as well as individual talents. Most importantly, we aspire to see our students become well-rounded, lifelong learners, who are respectful, confident, positive, open-minded, and globally literate” (FAA, 2025).
CinéSchool is an innovative Villa Albertine program under the leadership of Nathalie Charles. “Launched in 2021 by Villa Albertine, the French Embassy in the US, and Albertine Foundation, CinéSchool is an educational film program designed for young audiences, aiming to facilitate French language learning in the United States through French-language cinema” (Villa Albertine, 2025). An example of its innovative and creative approach is its 2024 launch of the innovative Les Grandes grandes vacances, in observance of the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
In educational institutions, language learning has traditionally existed within a framework of language as a school subject or body of knowledge to be absorbed. However, in an immersion-learning setting, the language being learned is also used as the medium of instruction.
Le français des affaires is a program of the International Chamber of Commerce of Paris and Ile de Frances designed to promote and encourage knowledge of French for professional purposes. TAPIF, the Teaching Assistant Program in France, offers US students an opportunity to teach English conversation in French schools and, most recently, a pathway to a career as a French language educator.
French for All
Partnerships have long played a role in supporting and advancing languages, and several French government initiatives have played innovative and significant parts. Most recently, the French for All initiative, launched during President Macron’s state visit to the US in 2022, is working to effectively address the shortage of French teachers through collaborations to provide education and training to native French speakers here in the US who might be interested in a career in teaching French.
French Dual Language Program
This initiative builds on the earlier French Dual Language Program, launched by President Macron during his visit to New York to address the General Assembly in 2017. The Dual Language Program not only supported the development of French dual language programs in US public schools (this is important, as these schools are open to all) but also supported master’s programs in immersion education for teachers and the development of curriculum materials in French for US schools.
While it is essential for language educators, supporters, and stakeholders to support language programs at all levels, whether traditional or immersion programs, as well as language learning beyond the traditional classroom in our communities, immersion is widely considered to be most effective in leading to a successful learning outcome, and Fabrice Jaumont has been described as the “Godfather of language immersion programs” (Pergament, 2014). In the NYC public schools alone, there are some 545 dual language programs for students in grades K–12.
French for All, launched in late 2022, is based on “the principle that foreign language education should be a right, not a privilege, for the next generation of learners in a globalized world” (Villa Albertine, 2023). In its first year alone, French for All supported the Multistate Pathways to Teaching French and the TAPIF to Teacher programs, both designed to address the shortage of qualified language teachers. In addition, it supported the French Heritage Language Program in its expansion beyond New York City, and the new French in Higher Education program, intended to support postsecondary programs in innovation and immersive internships. Beyond French for All, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy supports French–American collaborations and exchanges.
It is also important to support the continuation and expansion of dual language immersion programs generally, and both practitioner and research resources play an important role in bringing needed data and information to educators. Case studies clearly demonstrate how dual language immersion can help to improve academic outcomes and, in the longer term, individual and societal outcomes and beyond.
The French immersion program in Manchester, New Hampshire, scheduled to launch in fall of 2025, is among the most recent success stories. Boston Public Schools offers an immersion program in Haitian Creole and, in addition, Princeton University plans to offer Haitian Creole courses in fall of 2025.
Access and affordability remain key issues, and free and affordable curriculum materials (OERs), as well as scholarships and grants to cover tuition and fees, are needed. Funding for study abroad and virtual study abroad options are also needed.
Conclusions: Francoresponsabilité and Franco-Activisme
In terms of the future of French, Francoresponsabilité and Franco-activisme are essential. The good news is that we can all be francoresponables et franco-activistes, in both our personal and professional lives, supporting both the learning and the use of French in our classrooms and communities.
References
Alliance Francaise USA. www.afusa.org/about-the-alliance-francaise
Fil d’Alliances. www.fondation-alliancefr.org/?p=2258
Fondation des Alliances francaises. (2025). www.fondation-alliancefr.org
France-Amérique. (2019). “Franco-Responsibility: Louisiana Rises to the Challenge.” https://france-amerique.com/franco-responsibility-louisiana-rises-to-the-challenge
Nadeau, J.-B., (2021). www.ledevoir.com/societe/597077/de-la-terre-de-feu-a-la-terre-de-rupert-33-millions-de-francophones
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. (2022). (OIF).
www.francophonie.org/la-langue-francaise-dans-le-monde-305
Pergament, D. (2014). “Making Language Immersion Fun for the Kids.” New York Times.
Villa Albertine (2023). “One Year of ‘French for All’: Cultural Services of the French Embassy celebrates early success of initiative supporting bilingualism and access to language instruction.” https://villa-albertine.org/frenchculture/press/1-year-french-for-all
https://recitsfrancophones.buzzsprout.com
www.newyorkfamily.com/the-best-bilingual-education-for-new-york-city-kids
www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/how-schools-can-expand-dual-language-immersion-programs/2025/02
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/haitian-immigrants-united-states-2022
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/sub-saharan-african-immigrants-united-states-2019
www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/07/olympics-french-connection.html
Kathy Stein-Smith, PhD, is associate university librarian and adjunct faculty in foreign languages and related areas at Fairleigh Dickinson University–Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, New Jersey. She is chair of the AATF (American Association of Teachers of French) Commission on Advocacy. She is Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques and a member of Pi Delta Phi, the national French honor society. She is the author of three books and several articles about the foreign language deficit.
