23 Apr 2019

French-speaking Fijians good for tourism: Alliance

10:19 am on 23 April 2019

The director of Allliance Francaise in Fiji, Thomas Feldstein, says Fijians learning to speak a foreign language is good for the tourism industry.

Students of Ratu Navula College in Fiji can now learn to speak French.

Students of Ratu Navula College in Fiji can now learn to speak French. Photo: Supplied

Schools in Fiji have started teaching French with Ratu Navula College the first school in the western division to offer the subject to its students.

Students at Suva Grammar and Marist Brothers High schools in the capital are already learning the language.

Mr Feldstein said this is a good opportunity for the children because there is no other foreign language taught in the Fijian school system.

"French people or French-speakers, more precisely coming from New Caledonia, from Polynesia, French Polynesia of course. But also from Canada, Belgium, from other parts of the world where French is spoken. That is interesting for Fiji and the Fijian tourism industry to have people speaking French."

Thomas Feldstein is director of Alliance Francaise, the French government's language and cultural centre in Suva.