Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. Its coverage spans languages of Central Europe, Africa, Asia, America, and Oceania.
It is also informally called Langues’O, an abbreviation for Langues orientales.
History
1669 Jean-Baptiste Colbert founds the École des jeunes de langues language school
1795 The École spéciale des langues orientales (Special School for Oriental Languages) is established
1873 The two schools merge
1914 The school is renamed the École nationale des langues orientales vivantes (ENLOV)
1971 The school is renamed the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales or Inalco (National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations)
1982 Études Océan Indien (Indian Ocean Studies) journal begins publication;
1985 Inalco is recognized as a grand établissement
2010 Inalco becomes a founding member of Sorbonne Paris Cité
2011 Inalco centralizes all of its taught courses under one roof at 65 rue des Grands Moulins in Paris
Teaching and research
Courses
The undergraduate, graduate and continuing education courses offered at Inalco allow students to gain:
mastery of a language and a thorough knowledge of the corresponding civilization over a degree program;
specific expertise to complement other qualifications.
These courses lead to career paths in international business, international relations, communication and intercultural training, language teaching and multilingual computing.
Bachelor's degrees: courses by language and region that can include a professional specialization.
Master's degrees: regional programs targeting a research discipline or professional direction.
Doctorate: PhD research at Inalco's Doctoral School.
Diplomas: certificates, introductory diplomas, language and civilization diplomas, professional master's degrees.
Success and failure
Compared to other French universities, many programs at INALCO show high failure rates, i.e. high proportions of students failing the course in their end-of-year exam (65% of success in the 3rd year, compared to 74% nation-wide). This is particularly true among students specializing in Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Russian and Arabic historically the largest departments of INALCO.
As an example, with approximate student numbers, indicating rates of success and failure in the first, second and third year of the Department of Japanese Studies.
An explanation sometimes given is the difficulty of these courses, or the high level required by INALCO. A more likely cause is the absence of any entrance examination: any student can register in any course, regardless of their true motivation or academic level. But this is not the case of the Japanese Studies Department anymore for more than ten years 2015 (only around 300 of the 1200 to 1300 applicants are accepted to enter the cursus each year).
Many students select a language out of a superficial interest in a country or culture, or due to individual connections, yet without the commitment to thoroughly learning those difficult languages. This issue is particularly acute for first and second year students; those who reach the third year are much more motivated, and thus show much higher rates of success.
Research
Research at Inalco combines area studies and academic fields. Researchers study languages and civilizations that are increasingly in the spotlight – Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and as far as the Arctic – and are central to the major issues of the 21st century. Fourteen research teams, often partnered with other research organizations, PhD programs, and a publishing service form the backbone of research at Inalco. Inalco also has a project management and knowledge transfer service.
The research teams, administration offices and doctoral school are housed in a building dedicated entirely to research, with access to a full range of support functions: assistance in preparing research proposals and grant applications, organizing scientific events, looking for partnerships and funding, publication support, internal funding, and communication.
270 faculty members
300 PhD students
14 research teams
100 scientific events per year
Presidents (from 1914 to 1969, Administrators)
International
Inalco conducts research projects in more than one hundred countries and offers joint programs with foreign universities. This enables Inalco students and their international counterparts to enhance their studies through immersive experiences. Inalco also provides distance learning courses through videoconferencing and online resources, offering instruction in Arabic, Armenian, Burmese, Estonian, Modern Hebrew, Inuktitut, Lithuanian, Malagasy, Quechua, Sinhalese, Slovak, and Swahili.
Inalco is an active member of Sorbonne Paris Cité, with 120,000 students, 8,500 faculty members, and 6,000 technical and administrative staff. Branches have been opened in Singapore, Buenos Aires and São Paulo.
The foundation strives to develop the preservation, study, transmission, development and interaction of languages and cultures in France and around the world with projects involving the institute's expertise: education, research, advancing knowledge and skills in a globalized world.
More than 120 nationalities are represented by Inalco faculty and students. The institute, along with its teachers, students and partners, organizes over a hundred cultural events a year. Inalco also participates in several international film festivals and makes every effort to share its knowledge and expertise with society.
Notable professors and alumni
Doris Bensimon
Luce Boulnois
Louis-Jacques Bresnier
Marianne Bastid-Bruguière
Auguste Carrière
Léon Damas
Luc-Willy Deheuvels
Bernard Faure
Edgar Faure
François Godement
Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer
Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este
Iaroslav Lebedynsky
Pierre Messmer
Jean-Jacques Origas
Trinidad Pardo de Tavera
Patrick Poivre d'Arvor
Dagpo Rinpoche
Olivier Roy
Léopold de Saussure
Aurélien Sauvageot
Johann Gustav Stickel
Princess Fawzia-Latifa of Egypt
Jonathan Lacôte, French Ambassador to Armenia
Nicole Vandier-Nicolas
Hissein Brahim Taha
See also
Colonial School, Paris
References
External links
Inalco official website
Alumni website
Langues et civilisations orientales, Institut national des
Langues et civilisations orientales, Institut national des
1795 establishments in France
13th arrondissement of Paris
Research institutes of Sinology