La Francophonie - It's a French-Speaking World! Discover it!

It's a French-speaking world out there... French is spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. A total of 220 million speak it as a first and second language. French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories.

The goal of this Meetup is to make you discover all these communities, one at a time. Not just France and its regions, but Quebec, Haiti, Louisiana, Senegal, Cameroon, Togo, Belgium, Switzerland, etc... If French is spoken there, we can have a Meetup about it. Each Meetup will be organized around a French-speaking region. For example, we might pick Belgium, have a Happy Hour at Brasserie Beck (a great Belgian restaurant in DC) with Belgian beers and some typical Belgian munchies, and a person from Belgium will present his country to us for a few minutes. Or we will have a Meetup at the Embassy of Senegal.

Meetups might be: Happy Hours (most frequent), dinner, joining an already organized event (for example live music or 'La Grande Fête de la Francophonie'), visiting an exhibition, etc... Venues will be cafes, bistros and restaurants, museums, embassies, virtual events, etc... Mostly in DC but some might be in the nearby MD or VA suburbs.

Do you need to speak French? No! However, expect many people to speak French (likely they will be at least bilingual French/English). But it's OK to speak whatever you want as long as you have an interest in the French speaking country/region we will be having the Meetup about.

Will there be a cost? Depends. Some Meetups will be free with a cash bar for example, others might require a payment upfront to secure the venue or a group dinner.

What nationality do I need to be? All nationalities welcome. Each Meetup will focus on a different French-speaking country or region. If you are from that country or region, come and talk to others about it. If you are not, come to learn about it, or just come to enjoy the event and make a few new friends.