In her capacity as attache for French-language programmes, French Embassy, Bangkok, Anne-Emmanuella Grossi is enthusiastic and determined to promote her mother tongue in Thailand. The outgoing diplomat _ who has been in the Land of Smiles for two-and-a-half years _ says her top priority is to support Thai teachers teaching French language and their aspiring students to be trained properly for career advancement. Grossi is a teacher by profession, and has worked in the education sector for 12 years.
"My work has been very interesting," smiled the down-to-earth personality when asked how she was enjoying her assignment in Thailand so far. "My previous experience was teaching at the University of France and working at the French Embassy in Chicago. Bangkok is my second assignment after Chicago. This is also my first time in Asia, and in a country where I don't speak the language, or at least not well. I am learning a lot culturally and work-wise as well. Bangkok is so international that it is easy to adapt to, the cultural shock is more in terms of work. Here the work habits are quite different, where things here are done in a different way."
Grossi, whose work in Chicago also entailed promoting the French language in public schools, says that during her four years there, she was able to generate an increase of 30% in the number of students taking French in Chicago public schools, which is their second biggest education network in the US after New York.
Her dedication towards her work in Thailand has also born fruit, with a continued interest in Thai students at secondary level taking French. By using social networking she hopes to establish closer links between students and teachers to establish her goal of reaching as many people with knowledge of the French language.
Grossi can be contacted through the embassy language programme Facebook page _ "Oui je parle Francais en Thailande" (www.facebook.com/ouijeparlefrancaisenthailande).
Thailand for this diplomat is "home" _ a place where she says her son was born.
How did you become a diplomat?
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a policy of recruiting non-career diplomats from other ministries, institutions or the private sector for their expertise in the fields of education, cultural affairs and science to fill positions in those specific fields. Having always wanted to work internationally and after teaching at a university in France for five years, I applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was first recruited as education attache for the Consulate General of France in Chicago because of my previous teaching experience both in France and in the US. At the end of my term in Chicago, I was lucky to be offered the position of attache for the French-language programme with the French Embassy in Bangkok.
How did you deal with budget restraints at the start of your term in Bangkok?
What I chose to do was to use the budget a little more differently. I was more in favour of smaller programmes, for example scholarships with shorter-term stays in France so many more students and teachers could benefit from them.
Before we used to send people on scholarships that lasted for many years. When I first arrived there were 12 people with such educational grants in France. They were on full scholarship for many years, so a smaller segment of that particular group was actually benefiting from them.
Despite a drastic cut in our budget (due to the global economic downturn) we had to still keep on going with our programmes. To give an equal chance for everyone to vie for the opportunity to study in France I decided to organise national competitions to pick the right candidates, which would be awarded with scholarships with different themes _ fashion, dance and cuisine to mention a few.
In my first year, we awarded 70 scholarships, and the following year, 90. I hope that this gave more life to the teaching of French in Thailand, and that it generated motivation and incentive between students and teachers because they won it at a national level. This is a joint effort between us and our Thai partners, teachers and professors that teach the French language. We currently have 10,000 Thai students, and the numbers begin to grow, learning French in secondary schools.
What would you attribute this increase in student numbers to?
Apart from greater visibility of French programmes in Thailand today, I would say more incentive to compete for scholarships to study in France could also be another reason. We constantly organise French-language camps and teacher-training seminars. Currently we have 800 Thai teachers teaching French throughout the country. About 500 are in secondary schools and the rest in universities. So they are our partners, the people that I work with closely.
It has also become our priority to generate a fresh batch of teachers to replace ones that are to retire soon.
Do you mostly target students in Bangkok?
We target students from around the country, not just Bangkok. It has been another priority of mine to see that students in the provinces are not forgotten.
Two-thirds of our scholarships go to candidates outside of Bangkok. There has been a particular increase in the number of students taking French in the northeast region. Provinces such as Khon Kaen, Phitsanulok and also Hat Yai have shown steady growth in numbers. Traditionally Bangkok and Chiang Mai made the most number of students.
I believe people perceive learning French as an asset. After English, French seems a way to set yourself apart from the rest of the competition, and to have an added value when seeking a job. It helps in social and career promotion, enough reason for students to want to learn the language.
What is Francophonie?
In its most comprehensive sense, it means endeavouring to promote the French language and the values it conveys regardless of the countries in which these are made. The official day to celebrate this, both the learning of the French language and its culture, is March 20. In Thailand we chose to celebrate Francophonie earlier in March because of the Thai school summer break.
What were the highlights of this year's event?
We had over 3,500 participants this year despite the constraints their schools and universities faced due to the floods. About 1,000 students competed in various competitions to test their knowledge of the French language. The theme this year was advertisement so they came up with all sorts of ads.
Students came from all over the country to attend the gathering. Many took trains and buses to reach Bangkok bright and early. Despite it not being compulsory for them to attend, they seemed eager to be with us. There were a number of fun activities which included karaoke. I was personally very impressed with their dedication to make it to this event.
The Francophonie event has been held in Thailand for nine years now. Twice the number of embassies of French-speaking countries were also represented this year. This was good because we wanted to show how diverse the countries speaking the French language are.
On a personal note, what have been some of the pros and cons of being assigned to Thailand?
First discovering Asia where I had never been before. After working in Europe and in the US, it was a great opportunity to become familiar with a different life and work environment, actually a diametrically opposed one to the kind of experience I had had in Chicago where I was posted before Bangkok. Discovering new people, countries and cultures is what I am most interested in, so that was quite ideal for me.
I can't really think of any cons except maybe the distance from our families back in France and in the US, but that's part of the expat life and of course not specific to Thailand.
From direct experience what advice would you give expats on how to deal with culture shock in Thailand?
First I don't think the culture shock is so big in Thailand. I suspect it is one of the easiest Asian countries to adapt to as a Westerner when you have had no past experience in this part of the world. Bangkok is such an international city that adaptation to daily life is quite effortless (aside maybe from the climate and difficulty to get around because of the traffic).
As far as more personal and work relationships are concerned, I think that it is essential to try and learn as much as possible about the (Thai) culture in order not to misinterpret behaviours and intents, and most importantly to avoid acting inappropriately or being unwillingly offensive to people. But I guess that that would be true anywhere.
How difficult was it for you to assimilate into the Thai culture?
Again it hasn't felt very difficult. I guess what I find the most challenging is not being able to communicate better (in Thai) as I do not speak the language and therefore I feel that I miss out on a lot as far as human interaction goes, especially outside of Bangkok. I have started taking classes but my skills are still embarrassingly minimal!
What major similarities do you find between the French and Thai cultures?
A common passion for good food! Also the conviviality of shared meals and a certain art de vivre.
