ABSTRACT

The Russian language has sought its place in the multilingual space of France since the end of the 18th century. Among all the languages viewed as “exotic” it is the most frequently studied language at school and in tertiary education. This chapter explores the role and status of Russian in French society, looking into the life of the Russian community in different parts of France, provides a glimpse of the contexts in which it was used in the past. It analyzes the functions of the Russian-language press and online resources, as well as various cultural events organized by members of the Russian-speaking community. As in other diasporic groups, these play an important role in the maintaining of Russian culture and language today. Later we will discuss pedagogical issues demonstrating specific features of Russian-language teaching in contemporary France (private language-learning groups, schools, and universities). Finally, this chapter gives a brief overview of the most frequent errors of French-Russian bilinguals.

The data drawn from literature, the author’s own pedagogical experience and participant observation of the community’s cultural life, clearly point to the need for a closer study of the new generation of French-Russian bilinguals and innovating methods of teaching them their heritage language.