Yves Bigot: "French can be a major language of the twenty-first and twenty-second centuries"

With more than 300 million Francophones in the world, French is a juggernaut in the global linguistic landscape.

Its influence is no longer to be discussed, even if the challenges and limits to the growth of the Francophonie are numerous.

The TV5MONDE television channel is part of this growth, since it is available in nearly 354 million homes in 198 countries, including North Korea.

Its president, Yves Bigot, explains why the Francophonie is the future of the French language.

LE FIGARO.

- How would you define the Francophonie of the 21st century?

Yves BIGOT.

-

By putting it in the plural, first of all.

We must talk about Francophonies.

At TV5MONDE, we have been practicing it for a long time.

Three years ago, the President of the Republic was at the Institut de France, he affirmed that France would henceforth consider French within the framework of plurilingualism, alongside other international languages, such as English, Chinese, but also national or regional languages, as we find in Francophonie.

Certainly in France, French is the only language, but among our French-speaking neighbors, Switzerland, for example, has four languages, Belgium has 3 and Canada, two.

In fact, Francophonies are in the DNA of TV5 Monde.

We never consider French or the Francophonie as colonialist objects.

Originally, if this is the case, the fathers of independence chose to use French to make it an international language, connected to the world.

354 million households have access to TV5 Monde.

Where are you the most watched?

We are the most watched in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also in Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon.

We find among the top ten countries: Morocco, Romania, Vietnam and India, for two years.

It is very interesting, because there is very little Francophonie in the latter country.

However, more and more Indians are watching our programs because we offer English subtitles.

If we had the budgetary means, we would like to be able to subtitle these programs in Hindi in order to reach more audiences.

Quebec series are the most popular.

There is a link, which undoubtedly belongs to the Commonwealth of Canada and India, since there is a relatively large Indian emigration to Canada.

French, Quebec, the Francophonie benefit from all of this.

“We have a teaching role, which is quite rare in French television channels.

When you watch a program with subtitles, in the process you learn elements of language »

Do your programs vary by country?

The programs vary by region, we have eight generalist channels in different parts of the world: France, Belgium, Switzerland;

TV5 MONDE Europe, TV5MONDE Maghreb-Orient;

TV5MONDE Africa;

TV5MONDE United States;

TV5MONDE Latin America;

TV5MONDE Asia and TV5MONDE Pacific.

We have 13 subtitling languages ​​and in addition to these generalist channels, a youth channel which was launched in the United States in 2012 as well as in Africa, in 2016, and which is hugely successful: 22 million viewers .

We also have the project, by the end of 2021, to be able to launch this channel in the Arab world.

Finally, we have a channel dedicated to the art of living called TV5MONDE style, in addition of course to our TV5MONDEplus platform which is available free of charge worldwide.

We are the channel of the Francophonie and the Francophonies.

60% of the people who watch you do not speak French.

However, thanks to the 13 subtitle languages, they consult your programs.

Do the latter participate in learning French?

Yes, this is one of our missions.

We have a teaching role, which is quite rare in French television channels.

When you watch a program with subtitles, you learn elements of language in the process.

Our youth channel which targets 4-13 year olds is crucial in this regard.

If you are a young African, and we hope tomorrow, a young North African, and you watch cartoons, you will learn French.

Just a year ago, we launched a Learn French application with TV5MONDE.

It has already exceeded one million downloads.

A sign, if one was still needed, of the influence of the Francophonie ...

Yes, there is a real appetite for learning French.

This can also be seen in the United States, where the American elite want to learn French.

This is a "plus" in the face of competition, especially when looking for a "top job".

The Alliance Française de New York is unable to meet the demand for students in French because there are so many!

And then, in China, which is not a French-speaking country, French remains very important.

We give courses there in a remarkable and very expansive way, since the country has to send companies and employees to French-speaking Africa.

The Semaine de la francophonie opened this week in particular with the launch of the Dictionary of Francophones.

What do Francophonisms bring?

We are partners of the Dictionnaire des francophones.

At TV5MONDE, we speak the French of France, Switzerland, Belgium, Quebec, but also that of Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Rwanda, Morocco… This is what enriches the language.

It is the external contributions, the humor, the intelligence which guarantee the future of French.

They show that the language is able to modernize and adapt to the local conditions where it is spoken.

French will thus have the chance to be one of the major languages ​​of the twenty-first and perhaps of the twenty-second centuries.

On the occasion of this Week, you have created many events, including "Bilingualism, the great Canadian utopia" and "I speak French".

How is French doing in this country?

Yes, but the situation of French is very delicate in Canada.

It is fought by the Anglophones who are in the majority.

They try to make the fight against French a political and electoral argument.

The situation is therefore very tense.

This, while Justin Trudeau is perfectly bilingual and his wife is a true Quebecer, francophone.

His government and Mélanie Joly, Minister of Official Languages, are fighting to support French.

But even in Montreal, French is heckled by Anglophones.

When you enter a business, you are told: “Hi-hi!”… The government of Justin Trudeau would like to impose bilingualism in Canada, but they meet a lot of resistance fighters.

"The future of the Francophonie is on the African continent"

You also offer web series: “Let's talk little, let's talk well”, “Un point c'est tout”… Are these formats that will come back, apart from the Semaine de la francophonie?

We are highlighting these programs during the Semaine de la Francophonie, but they are available on our channels as well as on our platform, all year round.

We produce a lot of web series that don't necessarily revolve around language.

We cultivate all genres: fiction, humor ... We are also launching at the end of the week: Mélody, the victory in songs, the first musical from French-speaking Africa and co-produced by TV5MONDE.

You produce and invest in particular in the production of African series.

Are you going to step up these efforts with a view to estimating a demographic boom in Africa in 2050?

We are already doing it, since we have known these figures for about five or six years.

This is why we produce a lot of African cinema and series, but also programs around health, the economy and sustainable development.

We will do it all the more exponentially when we have the budgetary means to do so.

We can clearly see that the future of the Francophonie is being made on the African continent.

This is where the Francophonie of the 21st century is truly shared.

It is not a movement from the North to the South, but from the North with the South, together.