In a beautiful building located boulevard de la Tour Maubourg in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, the grand finale of the Dicos d'Or Campus competition took place this Thursday, May 19.
In a relaxed atmosphere, students from Madagascar, Morocco and France, spelled and defined a certain number of words from a screen, broadcasting their performance live in front of a jury composed by Paul de Sinety (general delegate for the French language and languages of France), Pascal Hostachy (co-founder of the project and of the Voltaire Foundation), Antoine Dole (author of the Mortelle Adèle series), Diane le Feyer (illustrator of Mortelle Adèle), and Nassurdine Hassani (founder of Alchimie words).
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The objective of this contest?
"To promote the French language throughout the Francophonie"
, explains Charles-Henry de la Londe, president of the Voltaire Foundation.
The principle is therefore simple: a list of 150 words (this year around the theme of great travels) is given to registered students by their French teacher, and they have a few months to learn their spelling and their meaning.
The test then consists of the members of the different teams having to spell and define 4 of the words on this list and 1 other which is not part of it.
A sharp increase in participation which delights the organizers
70 young people from classes ranging from sixth to second managed to qualify for this final.
It was a question of testing the knowledge of each team on lists of words adapted to their level (“nostalgia”, “floriture” for example for the sixth and “pleiad”, “abyssal” among others for the third).
The prestigious jury was unanimously impressed by the level of the candidates, despite some stammering.
It must be said that the stakes were high since the winners of each level received a check for 1000 euros to organize the cultural outing of their choice.
When the results were announced, the atmosphere was “festive” to use Paul de Sinety's expression.
And for good reason, as explained by the students of the second class of the Sainte-Ursule high school (Tours, Indre-et-Loire), winners in their category, the preparation requires “a lot of work”.
The team made up of young volunteers, overexcited at the announcement of their victory, is already thinking about the use of their prize: the discovery of Futuroscope, a stay in Paris or a visit to the museums of Touraine are the different options at the 'study.
From Morocco to Touraine, the winners embody the Francophonie
Notably, among the qualified and victorious teams, Morocco is over-represented (around 50%).
This is explained according to Charles-Henry de la Londe by "the love for the French language" shown by this country and by "the search for excellence of teachers who are proud to make the Francophonie prosper".
This third edition was therefore a great success for the organizers.
18,500 students have registered in 50 different countries, compared to 8,000 in 2021 and 4,000 in 2020. For Charles-Henry de la Londe, this success is explained by “the sharp increase in participants from the French-speaking world, the support of partners such as Read literary magazine and the Ministry of Culture, and the establishment of digital tools».
The committee is now preparing "with enthusiasm" the 2023 edition which will be called "Les mots en or" and whose final will perhaps be played in the Cité Internationale de la Langue Française which will open its doors at the Château de Villers-Cotterêts this fall.