Rhonda Johnson, Year 10 – Third prize (16-19 years category)

As part of Le Mois de la Francophonie (Francophone Month) a competition was held at the Institut Français on 8th March known as the Dictée Francophone. E.I.S. is honoured to have three winners who placed second and third in two of the four age categories.

Being brought up by polyglots, I have to say it’s a lot of work to keep up with different languages. It takes a lot of encouragement, reading and practicing to be able to speak and write French, English and Mina; though I believe I still have a lot to learn. Until now, I had never dared to participate in any competition because I was afraid of not making it. The French dictation competition seemed like a great opportunity for me to ‘step out of my comfort zone’ and test my knowledge, so I jumped in, trying not to think twice. Little did I know I would win a prize. I would like to thank my French teachers for making it possible and my schoolmates for their encouragement. I actually had a lot of fun.

Charisma Zannou, Year 9 – Third prize (12-15 years category)

The Dictée Francophone was a competition between many different children and adults on who could make the least errors in a dictation. All candidates were divided into four groups: Poussins (aged 9 – 11), Juniors (aged 12 – 15), Juniors Avancés (aged 16 – 19) and Adults. The experience was thrilling. For those who didn’t win, it shouldn’t discourage them, but should motivate them to continue to try harder because going for a competition like that means that you are brave. Congratulations to everybody who participated!

Marc-Alain Adjahi, Year 8 – Second prize (12-15 years category)

At first, I thought it would be easy. After I entered the class filled with many children and began the dictée, I found that some words were hard, for example: arachnéenne (arachnidan). I am very proud of my second place. I think I did well in this hard competition.