One of the key actors on the local cultural scene is the French Institute, involved in more than 30 events each year which attract approximately 12,000 people.
CULTURE
The varied programme of cultural events includes the Very Short Film Festival and the French-German digital arts festival, Clujotronic, organised in partnership with the German Institute. During TIFF (Transylvania International Film Festival), the Institute becomes its press centre.
The newly-inaugurated Cave is an exhibition venue promoting contemporary artists and designers to the local audience. Fanny Laure’s furniture exhibition and Didier Cottier’s art show ‘Tellurique’ are two of the latest events in the visual arts section. Alongside theatre or dance performances, the Institute hosts public lectures, book launches and conferences with prominent writers: Jean Bofane and Nina Yargekov, to name just a few.
LANGUAGE
The Institute has a rich offer of courses ranging from general French to specialised use in business communication, law, medicine, tourism or secretarial. A Romanian course is available for foreign nationals, whereas companies can receive language training at their office. You learn by interacting with native speakers, individual classes or themes workshops.
The staff of 25 teachers favour the action method as a linguistic approach, based on developing real-life communication skills by means of completing practical tasks. Coursebooks are included in the course fee, while flexible study hours make a huge impact on students who work until 16.00.
As the only certified exam centre in Transylvania, the French Institute organises several testing sessions per year and issues the following internationally recognised diplomas
- DELF – Diplôme d’études de langue française (for A1-B2)
- DALF – Diplôme approfondi de langue française (C1-C2)
- DFP – Diplômes de français professionel (for professional French)
- TEF – Test d’évaluation du français
- TCF – Test de connaissances du français
Readers are welcomed to the media library, where they will find 13,000 books, 1300 films, 1800 music albums, comic book series by famous authors like François Schuiten, Andre Juillard, or Moebius along with 50 magazines spanning topics such as art, music, physics and medicine. The atmosphere is perfect for individual study or relaxation, while the wide rage of materials is sure to suit every taste. There is a special corner for kids, with magazines, comic books and games. Additionally, parents who want to engage their children with the French language from a young age may consider signing up for fun activities like the ‘Story Hour’ or ‘Creative holidays’, during the summer break. New media tools for library members feature PC tablets, e-book readers and video games.
CULTURETHEQUE – AN ONLINE PLATFORM
The most valuable asset of the library is actually the online platform, a treasure trove bringing you 80,000 books, magazines, comics, games, music records, films, and video tutorials to the comfort of your home, accessible on any device.
EDUCATION
The Institute provides formation for high-school teachers in Transylvania, and activities for pupils. Concerning academic partnerships, the Institute is dedicated to strengthening university cooperation in order to support the emergence of a civil society open to contemporary issues. To this purpose, conferences on current issues in academia are carried out with the 13 university specialties taught in French, in Cluj.
BUSINESS INFORMATION:
- Address: Strada Ion I. C. Brătianu 22, Cluj-Napoca 400079
- Telephone: +40 264 598 551
- Website: institutfrancais.ro
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InstitutfrancaisdeCluj/
- Opening Hours:
- Monday – Thursday: 10:00am – 6:00pm
- Friday: 10:00am – 1:00pm
