From The Editor's Desk

When I arrived in Paris for the Seventy-Third Annual Convention of the AATF (July 17- 20), held at the Palais des congrès, I had only a vague idea of the synergism that this event and the Tenth World Congress of the Fédération internationale des Professeur(e)s de français (FIPF) would create. But while I was sitting in the Grand amphithéātre it suddenly dawned on me that I was surrounded by nearly 3,000 teachers of French, some seven hundred of them from the United States, and this was an historic occasion! In fact, this millennial meeting was the largest assemblage of teachers of French ever held. Estimates of the number of countries represented ranged from 108 to 130-almost every corner of the earth imaginable. It is hard to describe the emotion of seeing and meeting so many people devoted to the same purpose as one's own, but the themes of the FIPF, "modernité, diversité, solidarité," certainly joined with the AATF's "Le français, un pari sur l'avenir" to provide an apt description of the myriad of topics which ran through a week of what Bernard Pivot was to call "les profs en fête."

Because we were able to meet teachers of French from all over the world, we came to understand that our own material difficulties in bringing the French language and Francophone cultures to our students pale in comparison with those encountered by teachers in the third world. We should take heart in the example of those teaching French on dirt floors, for whom even the thought of a computer must seem like a surrealist vision. In fact, there are places where it is difficult to find even paper or pencils, or that vital commodity, books! We learned once again that all too often the life of a French program, be it that for an entire country or an individual French class, may depend on the fortitude and perseverance of a single individual who is willing to stand up to the bureaucracy. A particularly dramatic case was that of Ingrid Diaz Mellado, the President of the Asociacion de Professors de Frances de Chile, who succeeded in getting the Chilean government to reverse a decision to remove French as an option for students in secondary schools. There are many other instances of this kind of courage, and I am sure that everyone who attended has an equally dramatic story to tell. There were also many moving personal testimonials about why individuals decided to become French teachers. We should never forget that all the long-distance learning programs and computers available to humankind will never replace the individual classroom teacher and should not be allowed to. One encouraging sign is that new associations of teachers of French are being formed all the time, and since 1996 the FIPF (founded in 1969) has welcomed associations from places ranging from Angola to Nijni-Novgorod (Russia). For the first time in the history of the FIPF regional delegations from Algeria participated in this exceptional Congress that was covered by all the leading French newspapers. In a word, this joint meeting allowed us to broaden our horizons in ways we could never have imagined. We now understand that our commitment to the teaching of French must go beyond our own borders and extend to the world at large. We can only benefit from this new vision of our profession.

The convention had more highlights than one could count, but a few events stood out for me. Certainly, seeing and hearing Boutros Boutros-Ghali (cf. National Bulletin of January 1999), former Secretary-General of the United Nations, was inspiring. Taking Bernard Pivot's "Dictée" (no one had a perfect score and the French Review's own Colette Di{c}o was sent scurrying to determine whether or not the word "baba" was invariable!) was exciting and challenging, and the entertainment provided for us during his program, "les profs en fête," taped by TV5, was exceptional. One of the best and funniest performances was by a group which sang a song entitled "L'Imparfait du subjonctif." Another singer presented "une chanson polissonne" reminiscent of Georges Brassens, the original "polisson de la chanson." Pivot also gave us the meanings of the Québecois word, "pitonner," the Swiss word, "papet," the Belgian word "cacaille," and the French-African word, "sapeur."

Jacques Attali, essayist, economist, writer, and "conseiller d'Etat," gave a magisterial and challenging keynote address entitled "Géopolitique de la langue française." Thanks to Alain Braun, President of the FIPF, who secured permission, we will publish Attali's speech in its entirety in the February issue.

Another event worthy of note was the reception held in the gardens of the Palais-Royal. The entire area was closed off to the public and was open to all of the "congressistes" who chose to attend. Apparently, Bernard Pivot engaged the delegation from the Ministère des Affaires étrangères in debate to secure renewed support for the renowned journal, Le Français dans le monde (the first issue appeared in May 1961) soon to be on-line, but whose hard copy edition was to be dropped after the September-October 2000 issue. Though its editor, Jacques Pécheur, and his associate, Françoise Ploquin, have announced their retirement, the tentative plan is to have the FIPF take over the publication of the journal. I hope that you will write to Jacques Pécheur in support of this plan.

We were privileged to have François Nicoullaud, former Directeur de la Coopération internationale et du Développement, and now Conseiller diplomatique du gouvernement, as well as his successor, Bruno Delaye, former Ambassador to Mexico, as guests at the AATF Banquet in the stunning foyer of the Concorde-St. Lazare hotel. We wish François Nicoullaud well in his new position and extend our heartfelt thanks on behalf of the AATF and the French Review for his support in our many endeavors. It is important to note that both the Ministre de l'Education nationale, Jack Lang, and the Premier Ministre, Lionel Jospin, closed the meeting of the FIPF, lending further prestige to the entire "congrès."

Turning to specifically French Review business, I want to take this opportunity to thank Jean-François Brière, an Assistant Editor for Civilization, who is stepping down to devote full time to his research, for his several years of outstanding service in evaluating manuscripts concerning French society and culture. He will be succeeded by Michel Gueldry, who has already contributed to the Review as an author. I also want to welcome Lison Baselis-Bitoun as a new Assistant Editor for Pedagogy. Her energy and enthusiasm will be a real asset to us and a welcome addition from the secondary school ranks, as we extend our recent efforts in this direction.

I want to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Gladys Lipton, outgoing President of the AATF, for all her help and support in setting new directions for the French Review. Gladys's lasting contribution, National French Week, just concluded its second edition, and we are all indebted to her for her unflagging determination in making this now annual event a success and inspiration to all of us. Indeed a number of delegations from other countries present in Paris are beginning to plan their own annual celebrations after hearing about ours. We also want to welcome Jean-Pierre Piriou, incoming President of the AATF, who has already marked his arrival by the successful conclusion of an accord between the AATF and the Brazilian Association of Teachers of French which will lead to significant cooperation between the two organizations and serve as a model for like endeavors in the future.

Christopher P. Pinet