L'Institut français d'Oak Park

09/09/2026

Join us for an apéro à la française as we celebrate our 10th year of bringing French language and culture to Oak Park and our surrounding communities.

On Saturday, September 19, from 1–3 PM, current and former students, friends, and members of our community are invited to gather at l’Institut français d’Oak Park for an afternoon of wine, snacks, and live music.

Come hear the vintage swing of Swing 33 as on va partager un verre, quelque chose à grignoter, et du jazz. We hope you’ll join us, whether you stop by for a quick visit or stay for the entire celebration. Everyone is welcome!

09/04/2026

Fall 2026 is almost here! Classes begin in less than two weeks, and there is still time to find the course that fits your current level of French.

Whether you are continuing with us or joining l’Institut français d’Oak Park for the first time, now is a great time to reserve your place for the new session.

Learn more and register here: https://www.frenchinstitute.net/fall-2026-september-14-november-19

08/31/2026

Our 10th Anniversary Celebration is getting a little more Parisian!

We’re excited to welcome Swing 33 to l’Institut français d’Oak Park on Saturday, September 19, from 1–3 PM for an afternoon of live vintage swing as we celebrate our first ten years.

Swing 33’s music pays homage to legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club style that captivated European audiences beginning in the 1930s. Their repertoire draws on the distinctive sound of vintage swing, with influences from American jazz, Parisian musette, and traditional folk music.

It’s the perfect soundtrack for an afternoon celebrating French language, culture, community, and ten years of l’Institut français d’Oak Park.

🎉 10th Anniversary Celebration
📆 Saturday, September 19, 2026
⏱️ 1:00–3:00 PM

08/24/2026

New date for our Fall Open House! 🇫🇷 Join us Tuesday, September 1, from 6–8 PM at l’Institut français d’Oak Park.

Meet Stacy Fifer, learn more about Fall 2026 classes, browse instructional materials, and ask questions about the course or level that may be right for you.

📍 11 Harrison Street, Oak Park
📅 Tuesday, September 1
⏰ 6–8 PM

Fall classes begin September 14!

08/20/2026

A unit of measurement can become so familiar that its history disappears. A meter seems less like a human invention than a neutral fact: fixed, universal, and independent of politics. Yet the meter emerged from a particular historical moment, when revolutionary France attempted to replace a confusing inheritance of local measures with a standard grounded in reason, nature, and equality.

Before the Revolution, France did not measure with a single uniform system. Units could vary by region, city, trade, and even by the object being measured, creating practical problems for commerce, taxation, land surveys, and administration. Calls for reform appeared in the *cahiers de doléances* of 1789, where grievances about weights and measures joined a broader demand to make public life more consistent and less dependent on inherited privilege.

Read the latest Art de vivre, Inventing the Meter: https://www.frenchinstitute.net/art-de-vivre/inventing-the-meter

08/14/2026

Thinking about taking a French class this fall? Come see what L’Institut français d’Oak Park is all about. 🇫🇷

Join us for our Fall Open House on Tuesday, August 18 from 6–8 PM. Meet Stacy, learn more about the fall courses, browse instructional materials, and ask questions about the class or level that may be right for you.

Whether you’re new to French or looking for the right place to continue your studies, stop by and learn more before the Fall 2026 session begins.

We hope to see you there!

08/07/2026

Fall 2026 registration is officially open! 🇫🇷

Classes run September 14 through November 19, with six course levels available from A1 through B2/C1.

Whether you’re beginning French for the first time or continuing to build your fluency, courses focus on meaningful communication, grammar in context, and French and Francophone language and culture.

Explore the fall courses and register here: https://www.frenchinstitute.net/fall-2026-september-14-november-19?utm_source=chatgpt.com

08/01/2026

Save the date! 🎉

L’Institut français d’Oak Park is celebrating 10 years of French language, Francophone culture, shared discoveries, and lasting connections.

10th Anniversary Party
Saturday, September 19, 2026
1:00–3:00 PM

We look forward to celebrating with current and former students, friends, and members of our community. Additional details will be shared soon!

07/24/2026

Votre automne commence en français.

Fall 2026 registration opens Monday, August 3.

A new season is a new opportunity to begin learning French or continue building the skills you already have. Classes are available for beginning through advanced learners, with an emphasis on meaningful communication, guided conversation, and French and Francophone culture.

Explore course levels and prepare for registration at:
https://www.frenchinstitute.net/

07/23/2026

A famous image can eventually become difficult to see. Familiarity reduces it to a few recognizable elements: a raised flag, an advancing crowd, a woman personifying Liberty. The image is understood almost instantly, before the details of the painting have been examined or its historical contradictions considered.

Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People has undergone precisely that transformation. It is now frequently treated as a universal illustration of revolution and is often mistakenly associated with the storming of the Bastille in 1789. Yet Delacroix did not paint an event from the first French Revolution. Nor did he simply record what happened in the streets of Paris in July 1830. He created something more complicated: a modern history painting in which eyewitness experience, classical allegory, political aspiration, and artistic calculation were deliberately combined.

Read The Political Life of an Image at the link!

📸 Liberty Leading the People, Eugène Delacroix, 1830. Musée du Louvre. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

A famous image can eventually become difficult to see. Familiarity reduces it to a few recognizable elements: a raised flag, an advancing crowd, a woman personifying Liberty. The image is understood almost instantly, before the details of the painting have been examined or its historical contradicti