French Civilisation

What is French Civilisation?
A few years ago, during a French class, a student asked me what French Civilisation was. I explained that it was one of the four pillars of the mastery of a language with vocabulary, conjugation and grammar. But, before going ahead, a strange word came to my mind, and this word was "humus".

Rather than developing a complexe theory, I asked each one to tell me what the civilisation of their own country meant for them.

Civilisation as "humus"

After a very interesting debate, I asked them to give me some synonyms for the word "civilisation" So, I got: national heritage, cultural asset, knowledge, ... and only at the end of this list I proposed my word "humus", explaining what humus was: the progressive building up, in the course of thousands and thousands of years, of the successive layers of vegetation that compose soil, a fertile compost on which other vegetation can flourish.

Because Civilisation is not a museum of knowledge, but rather a rich and fertile base from which new civilisations can be created. Humus, soil, culture, earth, fertility, creativity, are all words of nature, rich words.

It is in this state of mind that French Civilisation classes generate real knowledge but equally creativity.

French Civilisation classes, if one can call them classes, are an essential complement to the study of a language. They enrich and stimulate the knowledge of all the areas of the life of a region or a country: human, scientific, technological, litterary, artistic, géographical, historical, economic, gastronomic, ... The list is as long as the imagination and creativity of men and women, and each one of you can complete it.

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