Alliance Française Gainesville

Cafe C --- Presentation at Main Public Library
2024-01-27 15:00 - 17:00 UTC | Main Public Library – Downtown
Bonne Année tout le monde !
Come to our first Café Conversation of 2024 on Saturday, January 27, 3 PM at Alachua County Library Headquarters, 401 E University Ave, Meeting Room B. We welcome especially UF grad students interested in Francophone and Francophile community! Easy parking, but attention: the library closes at 5.
Past VP Haydée Britton will update us about her 25 children in Kinshasa, DRC. Her non-profit Les Petits Okapis has been a personal passion for decades and is now led by the adults she saved from the streets and supported from primary school through college. Come enjoy pictures from her July visit with them. She will have Congolese handicrafts for sale to benefit her group (cash or checks appreciated, and Haydee’s website, okapis.org, takes charitable contributions.) Following Café C, the “convo” can continue at a downtown restaurant.

February 12 is the week that our Spring Sesion begins. Students can register on our Website under Courses. This time around we are offering:

Beginning French Level 1 with Maria McGrey (Wednesday, Zoom, 6:30 – 8 pm)
Beginning French Level 2 with Maria (Thursday, Zoom, 6 – 7:30 pm)
Advanced French Level 1 avec Elie Pinta (Lundi, en présentiel, 17h à 18h30)
Advanced French Level 2 avec Elie (Lundi, en présentiel, 18h30 à 20h)

Contact us if you completed a Beginning level in the Fall of 2023 and want to continue a series of private lessons with Dayana Georgieva. Also let us know if you are interested in Intermediate level instruction, which can be arranged with one of our instructors, even though it is not currently advertised on our website.
Additionally, if you have professional expertise and would like to offer a themed course about any aspect of French or Francophone language, literature, or culture, please send us your proposals.

The Taste of Things (Best Director award at Cannes Film Festival, 2023) is coming to the Hippodrome Theatre February 14 – 23. Weeknight screenings start at 8:30 pm, so it could be a nice after-class activity, as well as a potential topic at our next Café C.
Next Café C dates:

Sunday, February 25 OR Sunday, March 3 (open theme and venue TBA)
Saturday, March 30 OR Sunday, March 31 (Marice Caballero, Second Language Acquisition, venue TBA)

Visit our Media Gallery for a glimpse of January 6 with “La Fête des Rois” banquet, a resounding success attended by 50 AFG members. Thank you to all who came! A special Merci ! to the dozen hard-working volunteers who shopped, cooked, set-up, served, spoke & sang between courses, and cleaned up that night and the next day. Everyone’s participation made the event inoubliable ! We said farewell to Chef Jacques and Pamela, now in Japan, but thanks to their inspiration, conversations are already bubbling about more feasts in the future.
Here’s to another fun and educational year together!
Cordialement,
Elizabeth et le comité directeur
president@afgainesville.com
afgainesville.com

September 2024 Events
2024-09-01 08:00 - 2024-09-30 17:00 | FL
Bonjour tout le monde!
We hope your summer was full of exploration and friends. We last saw each other for la Bastille on July 14. Many of you who were out of town sent warm greetings — much appreciated!
Save the dates for two upcoming events:

Thursday, September 5, from 6 to 8 PM, rendez-vous at Superette, 1511 NW 2nd Street, for a meet-and-greet over appetizers with fellow Francophiles. Enjoy sampling the eatery’s “planches.” No charge. Buy your own drink at the counter. Carpooling and walking together encouraged. Extra parking available nearby. Kindly reply to this email ASAP if you plan to attend this gathering so we know how much food to order.

Saturday, September 28, 3:30 – 5 PM, presentation at Milhopper Branch Library by Jonita Stepp-Greany, “Enhancing Communicative World Language Teaching and Learning.” Jonita will show strategies for both students and teachers of second languages to negotiate the tasks of acquiring and facilitating complex language skills. This program will be open to the public.

For learners of French language, please register now. Paid up AFG members qualify for 10% reduced fees. Some courses (group classes) already show the name of the teacher, day and dates, while others are still being arranged. We offer online, in person, and hybrid at all levels. Fall 1 will run once a week from Sep 16 – Oct 18; and Fall 2 picks up from the week of Oct 21 – Nov 22. Contact us with any questions.
We look forward to seeing you soon. A bientôt au restaurant ou/et en classe !
Bien cordialement,
AFG Board (Bernard, Elizabeth, Helene, Janice, Jonita)
president@afgainesville.com
Alliance Francaise de Gainesville
P.S. As a chapter of Alliances Francaises Federation USA, AFG members can enjoy many online events in addition to those we sponsor locally.

January 2025 Outings and Announcements
2025-01-01 08:00 - 2025-01-31 17:00 | FL
Dates of our “ecolo” outings:

Wednesday, January 15, 8:30 AM, Sweetwater Wetlands Park with Alachua Audubon Society; attn: pay $5.00 to park, binoculars and telescopes provided!
Sunday, January 19, 9 AM, Bolens Bluff at Paynes Prairie Preserve (to site wildlife, a longer hike through forest and then a flat trek to the observation tower; attn: pay $5.00 to park, bring your own binoculars (tes jumelles). THIS HAS BEEN CANCELLED. CHECK BACK TO FIND THE RESCHEDULED DATE AND TIME.
Thursday, January 23, 10 AM, Leveda Brown Environmental Park-Recycling Center. Due to limited space, please preregister for guided tour with David Hastings, Sierra Club leader, at 727-692-7795

Carpooling (le co-voiturage) encouraged if possible! For any questions, email us back.

Wildlife recently seen at Bolens Bluff, photo by Marie Fishman.

Oiseau en vol sur la Paynes Prairie. Photo par Marie Fishman.

Notre reine de la galette
Nous l’avons celebree un peu en avance. Merci a tout le monde d’avoir participe. C’est Maryvonne qui a eu la feve et du coup a recu la couronne! Ci-dessus, trois sorties ecologiques proposees par elle ce mois.
Happy Kings’ Day which the French celebrate all month! And thank you to all who came to our Fete des rois last Saturday. The galettes were all delicious. Maryvonne Devensky got the “bean”, a whole almond hidden in one of the samples, so she got to wear the crown. She volunteers for the Sierra Club, and encourages us to go “eco” this month by choosing from the activities listed above. Of course we will talk in French as much as we can as we walk!
Cinema Talk, Books, and AFG Courses

Remember to watch Emilia Perez (director Jacques Audiard, 2024) this week and register (same link) for the discussion with critic Peter Debruge on Monday, January 13, 7 PM (event sponsored by Federation des AF, in English).
Volunteer to finish our lending library: this Sunday January 12, 2- 4 PM. Email Elizabeth for details.
AFG courses (all levels) will be posted and registration will open around February 3 (to start week of February 17). Heads up: Bernadette’s advanced course will study Illusions Perdues (realisateur Xavier Giannoli, 2021).

Cordialement,
AFG Board
president@afgainesville.com
Allilance Francaise de Gainesville

Cafe-Conversation on January 4, 2025
2025-01-04 15:00 - 16:30 | Sun Center East, 101 SE 2nd Place, #201-L, Gainesville, FL, 32601, United States
BONNE ANNEE!
Happy and Healthy New Year!
Bring a home-baked or store-bought “galette des rois”, or just come with your tastebuds for a bite! Recipes vary, and hot chocolate or tea will be on the house! In the Catholic tradition, this joyful day for French children commemorates the Epiphany (January 6), the day the traveling Wise Men (les rois) arrived bearing gifts at the stable in Bethlehem.
This first Cafe-Conversation of 2025 will be Saturday, January 4, 3 PM to 4:30PM, at the Sun Center East, 101 SE 2nd Place, Suite 201-L (second floor, same place as last month’s pre-holiday gathering). Come practice your French. Frenglish also welcome–we are patient and encouraging!
Encore des annonces:
Jan.13, 7 – 8 PM: Online discussion of awarding-winning Emilia Perez (2024) (watch film via streaming beforehand, and AFG members wishing to participate for free, register here).
Jan.18, 9 AM (tentative): Weather permitting we will hike together on Bolens Bluff, Paynes Prairie, exact date & time TBA in a separate mailing.
February, TBA: Cafe with Bernadette Cesar-Lee (topic: compare / contrast EU and USA government systems).
March, TBA: Program with Deborah Idowu and le Cercle francais-UF (topic: la Francophonie).
Students and Teachers of French:
Course registration for mid-February will open soon!
Are you interested and qualified to teach French? We welcome your applications!
Meilleurs voeux et amities,
AFG Board
Alliance Francaise de Gainesville
president@afgainesville.com

September 2025 Events
2025-09-05 08:00 - 17:00 | FL
A la une ! French Film Festival is here!
Thanks to a grant and sponsorship from various diplomatic and cultural French institutions, as well as partnership with Alliance Francaise de Gainesville, the UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA is bringing six French films to Gainesville. The first one, Vingt Dieux (Holy Cow!), will be shown on Friday, September 12, 7:30 PM, at the Hippodrome Theatre, 25 SE 2nd Place. A “pre-screening toast” will take place in the bar area – 6:30 PM. Click here for the full schedule of viewings.SEATING is limited (76), and all tickets are FREE, available at the Hippodrome Box Office starting at noon on Friday, September 5. The Hippodrome Box Office hours are: Wednesday through Sunday from 12 – 5 PM or 15 minutes after the last event starts (of any day).
Cafe C, Courses, and an AF-USA Cookbook!
We had a good crowd at Curia last Sunday — merci d’etre venu.e.s. ! Our next Cafe C for conversation in French (and English whenever needed) will be Sunday, September 28, 3:30 – 5:30 PM at the pavilion of Alfred A. Ring Park, 1801 NW 23rd Blvd. Parking is near the Elks Lodge. Those who wish (or are curious) may gather around a table to discuss Vingt Dieux, while others can enjoy mingling and practicing their French language on other topics.Registration is open for Fall classes (group) and lessons (private and semi-private). The webpage will be updated soon with specific dates, but the payment buttons are always active. Email us for help finding the right level and learning situation for you.
The national Federation of AF chapters is asking for French and Francophone recipes! Submit yours on this attractive page, https://www.afusa.org/blog/federation-of-af-usa-livre-de-cuisine/ , and help put AFG on the culinary map of the USA! It is a good cause to support, and it could make an original holiday gift!Cordialement pour la Francophonie du monde,
Le comite directeur de l’AFG (photo of us)
Alliance Francaise de Gainesville
president@afgainesville.com

Bastille Day Celebration!
2026-07-12 13:00 - 16:00 | FL
Select your admission type: Member, Non-Member or Family (up to four):

Member $20
Non-Member $25
Family $60
