French as second language in Cuban universities faces many challenges

HOLGUIN, Cuba, May 4 (acn) The improvement of teachers of French as a second foreign language present in Cuban universities is the main challenge concerning these days the professors from the University of Holguin.

Rita Cepero, French teacher for more than a decade in the house of higher learning, told ACN the need to improve the academic programs, especially in post-graduate studies, because they lack updated bibliography.
Students who are studying English language learn French as a second language, she said, but the level of expertise must be aligned with the parameters set by the European framework for its domain and therefore they need continuity of studies.
The growing relations with French-speaking Caribbean countries, and others like Canada, one of the main markets choosing Cuba each year as tourist destination, demonstrate the need to give French its rightful place in today's world.
She stressed that enhancing courses and workshops that include all grammatical variants of the language is one of the main actions to be undertaken by this institution since many of the study programs only include the specifics of the language spoken in France and Québec, for example, it has other peculiarities.
The foreign language department of the University of Holguin also prepares its inclusion in the World Francophone Agency, to which the Higher Education Centers of Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Villa Clara already belong.