The Department of French, School of Arts and Science, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College celebrated International Francophonie Day on 31st March 2023 by organising a series of academic and cultural activities. Students from B.A. French and other disciplines participated in it in overwhelming numbers. The programme commenced the lighting of lamp by the Dean SAS Dr. S. Muthulakshmi, Chief guest Dr. C. Thirumurugan, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of French, Pondicherry University, the special invitee Dr. Arunkumar Santhalingam, founder of Lingua Mystica and president of All India French Professionals and Researchers Organisation and Dr. Alok Pathak, Head of the Department of French, School of Arts and Science, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College. Dean SAS welcomed and honoured the guests and addressed the gathering. It was followed by a lecture on the relevance of Francophonie Day by Dr. C. Thirumurugan. He explained in a very interactive way the importance of the event. The special invitee, Dr Arunkumar Santhalingam then interacted with all first year students and explained how French can be an effective tool in their professional growth.

The lectures were followed by an enriching presentation on Francophone countries : Belgium, Canada, Morocco and Luxembourg by the students of B.A. French. They also recited the well known French poem “Le cancre” written by Jacques Prévert. The event would have been incomplete without the “French touch”. Students from BCOM, BCA, Biotech and BA French presented various cultural programmes to make the event truly francophone.