Coinciding with the Angoulême Comic Book Festival (the largest in Europe), the students explored the rich world of comic books. They also got hands-on experience by creating comic book panels (pages).
On Wednesday, CILFA students visited their professor’s home for a comic book workshop over coffee and pastries. After discovering classic French and Franco-Belgian comics such as Asterix, Tintin, and Lucky Luke (which some students were already familiar with), as well as lesser-known titles (such as Les Bidochon, Aya de Yopougon, and historical comics), they practiced French as a foreign language using pages from humorous comics depicting everyday life. The students also discussed the role of comics in their respective countries.
In French classes at CILFA, the textbooks used often include language activities based on comic books, but during this workshop, the students were able to take it a step further by practicing drawing, onomatopoeia, and humor. Some of the comic strips were very well done, and the storylines were very funny—congratulations to all the students!
The CILFA Resource Center has a large collection of comic books (Asterix, Tintin, Lucky Luke, Les Bidochon, stories about Annecy, Chamonix, and Mont Blanc, *Aya de Yopougon* for learning about daily life in French-speaking Africa, etc.) that students can borrow to take home. CILFA’s free services and workshops: https://www.tezdev.cilfa.fr/services-et-ateliers-gratuits/
To have a good time at a place in Annecy that specializes in comic books, you can head to the BD Fugue Café (where you can buy or borrow comic books while enjoying a drink) right in the heart of Annecy, in the Bonlieu neighborhood: https://www.bdfugue.com/librairie-bdfugue-annecy
The Angoulême International Comics Festival (held every January): http://www.bdangouleme.com/
A comic book festival that takes place every year in October in Chambéry (50 km from Annecy): http://chamberybd.fr/
Other activities offered by the CILFA: https://www.tezdev.cilfa.fr/activites-pedagogiques/
Are comic books popular in your country?
A photo recap of Wednesday’s educational activity:
