Le concours national: French classes compete
Freshmen in Ms. Leah Hunt’s French three class take the National French Contest. The contest consisted of 60 multiple choice questions with a listening, reading, and grammar section. Many students believed the test contained content they had yet to learn and had to guess frequently. Photo by Jenna Bao.
Society’s love of competition can be seen everywhere, from sports championships to science fairs, and that opportunity to compete with peers has been extended to global language students. This week, French students are taking the National French Contest.
“I think it’s really amazing that we can take these contests. They give you a good perspective on where you lie compared to the rest of the country. It’s nice to feel like the language we are learning is useful and worth the effort,” freshman Yasmine Guedira said.
Teachers are taking advantage of the block scheduling from PARCC testing and OGTs to allow students to finish the test in one sitting.
“It was very difficult, as I’m pretty sure I guessed on more than three-fourths of the questions,” freshman Ryan Tufts said.
The National French Contest, or Le Grand Concours, is presented by the American Association of Teachers of French, or AATF. Students in all levels of French will take the exam.
“The purpose goes far beyond ‘winning’ or receiving national recognition. [The contest] provides a solid class activity; it also provides a national ‘guide’ to help teachers determine how their students perform…based upon major grammatical concepts, reading comprehension, aural comprehension, and cultural topics,” the AATF said.
