Taiwan has around 100,000 French speakers. There are now about 10,000 students learning French at leading universities French departments as well as those taking optional French courses in foreign language departments, high schools and Alliance Francaise. With the launching of the second language program by the Ministry of Education three years ago, 4,000 young Taiwanese people decided to learn French language in high schools.
In the pedagogical field, the French Institute in Taipei supports the training course of high schools teachers through scholarship training in France, involving itself in conferences or seminars of didactic, inviting French specialists and scholars, inviting Taiwanese professors to participate to regional seminars on literary or didactic topics, in particular in Bangkok and Singapore.
Taiwan is ranked third in Asia in the imports of French books and third ranked in intellectual property rights purchase. The French Institute in Taipei organizes in partnership, events promoting French books and written works. It also supports French books translation, offering scholarships in France to Taiwanese translators.
Cinabre is a collection published by the French bookstore "Le Pigeonnier" which relates debates between French and Taiwanese scholars or artists. Some of the recent topics discussed included -- "The end of the Liberal Transition," "The historian responsibility", "Poetry and Power." Lire en Fete (English title: "Enjoy Reading"). The operation "Lire en Fete" is organized each year by the Culture and Communication of the French Ministry. This three days event about books was launched for the first time in November 1999 and since then has been very successful. Each year, a different theme is proposed: Enjoy reading, comics books, poetry. Next October, it will be "Literature and Gastronomy." This event is done in cooperation with the French bookstore "Le Pigeonnier" as partner.
The French Institute in Taipei is the partner of France Edition, a French book on export companies. France Edition participates each year at the international bookfair held in Feb at the World Trade Center. Last year, France was the guest of honor. This year the public has been able to visit an exhibition of the "Chalcographie du Louvre," at a German-French booth.
And for the first time ever, an International Francophony Day was held on March 20 this year. It was organized by the French Teachers of Taiwan Association and supported by the French Institute. At this occasion, a book, "Moi, je parle Francais" (I speak French), was published, presenting articles of Francophones Taiwanese VIP.
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