"My experience on the B2 French course at the University of Namur was magnificent. The language skills I acquired and the intercultural encounters I had were key elements in my development and my mastery of the French language. I'm grateful to the university in general for this memorable experience, which has contributed to my personal development, and to my teacher Ms Derrouich in particular for her teaching". Adam Alhamamda is one of 17 students taking the French as a Foreign Language course at UNamur during the 2022-2023 academic year. His testimony illustrates the richness of this programme offered in partnership with Hénallux.
On the picture: François-Xavier Fiévez, Vice-rector to students and social affairs and Adam Alhamamda, one of the ILI project students.
Coming from Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Kosovo, Albania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Venezuela, South Korea and Morocco, these 17 students attended classes to learn French on three days of the week throughout the year, on a staggered timetable.
During their course, the students were supervised by Leila Derrouich, ILI project manager for UNamur. "The aim is to train learners in academic French so that they can better integrate into a university or institution of higher education, social advancement or continuing education", she explains.
This year, she was also accompanied by Maxime Barbagallo, a student of French and French as a foreign language at Hénallux, who took part in the course as part of his work placement. "I was able to see for myself the objectives that needed to be defined and the skills that needed to be taught so that these learners could integrate more easily into the academic world", says the student.
In addition to the French course, the ILI project also includes a number of intercultural activities aimed at encouraging intercultural dialogue and creating opportunities for communication between native speakers and people of foreign origin. These activities are organised with partners such as the Forum Universitaire pour la Coopération Internationale au Développement (Fucid ) and Hénallux.
In April 2023, an intercultural week was held at UNamur. What was on the programme? An exhibition, a conference, a photo workshop and a community souk. "During these intercultural activities, we had the opportunity to meet native students. This exchange with native French speakers was an invaluable experience, as it helped me to improve my pronunciation and listening comprehension", says Adam Alhamamda.
An exhibition on the topic of identity
After visiting Quai 22, the UNamur cultural space, an exhibition dedicated to the theme of identity will be on display in the Hénallux Education Department until September 2023.
What's on show? Portraits created by students from various backgrounds, supervised by two professional photographers.
