On 27th February 2015, a new branch of Bilingualism Matters opened at the University of Nantes. The French branch is the seventh to open as part of the EU-funded AThEME project; over the next five years researchers at Nantes will be disseminating the results of this major research project around France.
The branch director, Hamida Demirdache, organised an Bilingualism-themed evening entitled “One brain, two languages: an investment for life” to launch the new initiative, with a public lecture from Edinburgh’s own Prof. Antonella Sorace. The event was also attended by Prof. Lisa Cheng of Leiden University, who is leading the AThEME project overall. Prof Cheng said: “staff at Nantes have done a brilliant and impressive job launching this new branch, and I look forward to watching it evolve alongside the AThEME project”.
As part of the launch event, Prof. Antonella Sorace also spoke to Raphaëlle Besançon from EURadioNantes about life, bilingualism, and everything… in French! Très bien! You can listen to the French language interview on the EURadioNantes website.