The Fort Worth Press - Spell it out: Paris' Champs-Elysees hosts mass 'dictation'

USD -
AED 3.673025
AFN 70.776276
ALL 86.345824
AMD 388.622254
ANG 1.80229
AOA 916.999714
ARS 1172.723296
AUD 1.542341
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.699618
BAM 1.722337
BBD 2.017172
BDT 121.386112
BGN 1.72474
BHD 0.376989
BIF 2971.775791
BMD 1
BND 1.287658
BOB 6.918233
BRL 5.644101
BSD 0.999075
BTN 84.275461
BWP 13.565233
BYN 3.269517
BYR 19600
BZD 2.006781
CAD 1.38054
CDF 2870.99985
CHF 0.823085
CLF 0.024619
CLP 944.749762
CNY 7.271598
CNH 7.196005
COP 4250.12
CRC 505.305799
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 97.102726
CZK 21.957964
DJF 177.90498
DKK 6.57953
DOP 58.790894
DZD 132.754999
EGP 50.715598
ERN 15
ETB 133.372815
EUR 0.88174
FJD 2.24775
FKP 0.753297
GBP 0.750725
GEL 2.739552
GGP 0.753297
GHS 13.886663
GIP 0.753297
GMD 71.500226
GNF 8654.836863
GTQ 7.694069
GYD 209.017657
HKD 7.750025
HNL 25.946017
HRK 6.6419
HTG 130.527057
HUF 356.525019
IDR 16431
ILS 3.614895
IMP 0.753297
INR 84.280103
IQD 1308.793096
IRR 42112.489175
ISK 129.319947
JEP 0.753297
JMD 158.460658
JOD 0.709303
JPY 143.872496
KES 129.130237
KGS 87.450025
KHR 4005.988288
KMF 434.491204
KPW 900
KRW 1371.219773
KWD 0.30659
KYD 0.832548
KZT 516.762802
LAK 21609.792612
LBP 89516.181586
LKR 299.27348
LRD 199.815068
LSL 18.29598
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.454626
MAD 9.216943
MDL 17.203998
MGA 4464.796795
MKD 54.267018
MMK 2099.564603
MNT 3572.990228
MOP 7.97543
MRU 39.653032
MUR 45.409789
MVR 15.40998
MWK 1732.376381
MXN 19.58805
MYR 4.195167
MZN 63.99992
NAD 18.29598
NGN 1604.379949
NIO 36.766325
NOK 10.39352
NPR 134.840386
NZD 1.670634
OMR 0.385008
PAB 0.999075
PEN 3.646603
PGK 4.081723
PHP 55.673503
PKR 281.336533
PLN 3.766599
PYG 7985.557659
QAR 3.641671
RON 4.38843
RSD 103.209898
RUB 80.505034
RWF 1414.909075
SAR 3.750441
SBD 8.340429
SCR 14.21778
SDG 600.497529
SEK 9.641165
SGD 1.288695
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.789776
SLL 20969.483762
SOS 571.000837
SRD 36.825013
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.742019
SYP 13001.866678
SZL 18.288054
THB 32.895498
TJS 10.390295
TMT 3.5
TND 2.989565
TOP 2.3421
TRY 38.58372
TTD 6.786139
TWD 29.213502
TZS 2697.503248
UAH 41.54172
UGX 3653.736075
UYU 41.92682
UZS 12902.998547
VES 86.73797
VND 25957.5
VUV 121.092427
WST 2.778524
XAF 577.655762
XAG 0.03084
XAU 0.000302
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.72166
XOF 577.655762
XPF 105.023997
YER 244.649959
ZAR 18.311135
ZMK 9001.197294
ZMW 27.548765
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    4.2100

    67.21

    +6.26%

  • CMSC

    -0.0490

    22.051

    -0.22%

  • RYCEF

    0.0700

    10.42

    +0.67%

  • NGG

    -0.0600

    71.62

    -0.08%

  • AZN

    -0.3600

    72.08

    -0.5%

  • RELX

    0.0790

    55.099

    +0.14%

  • GSK

    -0.0900

    38.98

    -0.23%

  • SCS

    -0.0050

    10.135

    -0.05%

  • BTI

    0.3650

    43.535

    +0.84%

  • BCC

    -0.8750

    95.275

    -0.92%

  • VOD

    -0.0450

    9.565

    -0.47%

  • RIO

    -0.0900

    59.61

    -0.15%

  • JRI

    -0.0150

    13.055

    -0.11%

  • BCE

    -0.3450

    21.105

    -1.63%

  • CMSD

    -0.0050

    22.315

    -0.02%

  • BP

    0.5550

    28.675

    +1.94%

Spell it out: Paris' Champs-Elysees hosts mass 'dictation'
Spell it out: Paris' Champs-Elysees hosts mass 'dictation' / Photo: © AFP

Spell it out: Paris' Champs-Elysees hosts mass 'dictation'

Not to be outdone by US-style spelling bee extravaganzas, Paris's most famous street the Champs-Elysees was transformed into an open-air mass "dictation" spellathon Sunday, pitting thousands of France's brainiest bookworms against one another.

Text size:

Revealing a very French love affair with words, over 50,000 applied to participate in the event, a world first, in which hopefuls attempt to faithfully and without error transcribe a text read to them.

Over 5,000 applicants aged 10-90 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, organisers had sought to break the world record for a dictation spelling competition.

In the first round, an excerpt of 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". He gave up.

In his final year of primary school, top student Antoine attended with his father and, despite being a star pupil, he had struggled to fill his page.

"It was impossible! The dictation was for adults," he said.

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! I expected it to be much harder," she said.

The competition went beyond the French classics, with a sport themed round read by rugby player Pierre Rabadan, and another with a contemporary flavour read by writer and journalist Katherine Pancol.

Marc-Antoine Jamet, president of the Champs-Elysees Committee which hosted the dictation during , said the event went beyond spelling.

"Dictation helps us to live together. It's unifying," he said.

H.Carroll--TFWP