History of the DéFLE-Lorraine

The « French language course for foreigners » at the University of Nancy 2 was founded before World War II. Several professors developed it further in 1970, to make it a transversal university service. They forged links with many foreign universities (in Switzerland, Poland, Brazil, etc), paying particular attention to the quality of student reception. It became the DeFLE (French acronym for Department of French as a Foreign Language) on June 17th 2003.

The DeFLE is now a department of the UFR LANSAD (French acronym for Training and Research Unit in Language for specialists in other subjects). Member of the Collegium « Interface » in the University of Lorraine, the LANSAD aims at developing language teaching techniques. Since 2019, Nicolas Molle has been the director of UFR LANSAD.

Studying in the DeFLE means : 

• Studying in the University of Lorraine, learning with other students and having access to its cultural offerings ;
• Accessing the university resources : libraries, sport and recreational activities, language centres, cafeterias, dining halls, student centres, career and study guidance…
• Living in the heart of the Grand Est area : Paris, Strasbourg, Luxembourg less than 1h30 away by train ;
• Discovering a rich cultural and architectural heritage.

The DeFLE-Lorraine has been awarded a label « Qualité FLE » by France Education International with the maximum score in each item.

Studying at DéFLE-Lorraine, a great European experience!

Article published in Le français dans le monde n° 446, May-June 2023, written by Alexandra Liski, teacher in DéFLE-Lorraine

One hour and a half away from Paris in high-speed train, DéFLE-Lorraine stands in two cities with a rich cultural and historical heritage. Metz, the ancient gothic city of Lorraine shares since 2010 collections with the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Sixty kilometres from there stands Nancy, famous for its historical monuments from Renaissance. Built during the 18th century, world famous for the « Place Stanislas » and the ensemble of the squares listed as an UNESCO Wold Heritage site, Nancy has also been popular thanks to the Art Nouveau of the early 20th century.
From Nancy you can easily travel to the Vosges department, in less than one hour and a half. There, you can reconnect with nature by wandering through forest, mountain hiking and sliding down ski slopes. Students can enjoy the holiday season magic with the fairytale-like atmosphere of Metz Christmas market and the St Nicholas Day celebrations in Nancy, both listed to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The students who register at DéFLE-Lorraine choose our cities, Metz and Nancy, for their proximity to four European borders. During the semester, they can easily travel to Luxemburg, Germany and Belgium.

Learning at DéFLE-Lorraine is also a great European experience!

DéFLE-Lorraine in numbers