Champs Elysées turned into a "testing ground" as 5,000 people took part in a massive dictation contest in Paris
2023-06-07 17:34:39
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4日，巴黎著名的香榭丽舍大道成了一座巨大的“考场”，因为当地在举行史上规模最大的“听写大赛”。
对于热爱文学的法国人来说，“听写”是他们基础教育中不可或缺的一环，同时由于法语的读音和语法非常复杂，即便是成年人也不能保证都拼写正确。这场“听写大赛”由香榭丽舍委员会倡议举办。清场后的6600平方米空间里摆满近2000张书桌，凯旋门下还搭建起一个巨型黑板。主办方表示，他们要让这条举世闻名的大道变成记录独特时刻的舞台。
报道称，此次听写大赛从下午一点开始，连考3场，每场约1700名考生，总共参加人数超过5000，没有任何语法错误的考生可获得奖励。考题由法国著名作家和记者朗读，担任“监考官”的法国小说家哈希德·桑塔基认为：“将人们带回到写作之中，才是最典型的法国式学习。”
Not to be outdone by US-style spelling bee extravaganzas, Paris' most famous street was transformed into an open-air mass "dictation" spellathon on Sunday, pitting thousands of France's brainiest bookworms against one another.
▲ Participants attempt to beat the record for the "World's Biggest Dictation" on Champs-Elysees Avenue, Paris, on Sunday. ALAIN JOCARD/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Revealing a very French love affair with words, over 50,000 people applied to participate in the event at the Champs-Elysees — a world first — in which hopefuls attempted to faithfully and without error transcribe a text read to them.Over 5,000 applicants aged 10 to 90 were chosen to participate in three sessions led by novelist Rachid Santaki.With 1,779 desks laid out on Paris' most famous boulevard in each session, organizers had sought to break the world record for a dictation spelling competition.In the first round, an excerpt from La Mule du Pape by renowned French writer Alphonse Daudet was read by journalist Augustin Trapenard of Libraries Without Borders.Silence fell when the first session started. But for 10-year-old Samson, the dictation was "too fast", so he gave up.Top student Antoine, who is in his final year of primary school, attended it with his father. But despite being a star pupil, he had struggled to fill his page."It was impossible," he said. "The dictation was for adults."His father Adrien Blind, 42, was equally relieved when the session wrapped, saying he "was in a state of stress and worry".But 65-year-old retiree Touria Zerhouni was more upbeat."I only made two mistakes," she said. "I expected it to be much harder."The competition went beyond the French classics, with a sport-themed round read by rugby player Pierre Rabadan, and another with a contemporary flavor read by writer and journalist Katherine Pancol.Marc-Antoine Jamet, president of the Champs-Elysees Committee that hosted the dictation, said the event went beyond spelling."Dictation helps us to live together," he said. "It's unifying."
