annual competition<\/a>, organized by Canadian Parents for French (CPF), draws thousands of students across the country. Students research a topic of their choice, then write and deliver an original 3- to 5-minute speech in French, before answering judges\u2019 questions on the spot.<\/p>\nJudges evaluate organization, language quality, pronunciation, fluency, delivery, and how students respond to questions in French.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents are not simply reciting a memorized speech,\u201d said Jennifer Simon, principal and coordinator of French programs for SD42.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are communicating ideas, thinking critically, and responding spontaneously to judges\u2019 questions in French. Those are very different skills, and Elizabeth demonstrated all of them with confidence and skill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sali moved from competing at the classroom level to school, district, and now the provincial level, where she went up against 200 other students and won gold.<\/p>\n
\u201cReaching the provincial level represents a very high level of oral proficiency, preparation and confidence,\u201d said Simon. \u201cWinning gold at the provincial level is an exceptional accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sali\u2019s speech explored infant sleep safety, including three common sleeping positions, their pros and cons, and recommendations from professionals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI practiced every day by presenting my speech to my friends and family members,\u201d Sali said.<\/p>\n
At school, she had guidance from French district helping teachers Sandra Turbide and Pooja Pabari. At home, she had help from her mother, who is also a French teacher.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re so proud of her,\u201d said Pabari. \u201cShe worked hard and we worked hard with her to ensure she had all the components of a great speech\u2026. It\u2019s such a great accomplishment!\u201d<\/p>\n
Pabari and Turbide worked with Sali and other students over six sessions to build their speeches and work on refining pronunciation, pacing, fluency, expression and preparation for the question period.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic speaking is a difficult thing to do. Imagine doing it in a second language,\u201d said Turbide. \u201cThe personal benefits are immense, it builds confidence, improves communication skills, develops critical thinking and reduces anxiety \u2013 fear and anxiety \u2013 over time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sali has seen some of these benefits in her French language skills already.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helped me a lot to improve my pronunciation in the French language and to [expand] my vocabulary,\u201d she said. \u201cIt also made me feel more confident talking in French.\u201d<\/p>\n
The benefits of the competition go even further, added Simon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concours gives students an authentic reason to use\u00a0French\u00a0in a way that is personally meaningful, and that is when language learning truly comes alive,\u201d Simon explained. \u201cIt gives students an opportunity to discover that their ideas and their voice matter. That is incredibly meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn French, we say \u2018bon courage\u2019 rather than \u2018good luck,\u2019 because courage is what it truly takes to step into something challenging and grow through the experience. That feels like exactly the right phrase for what the concours asks of every student who steps forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows School District student has earned top honours at the provincial Concours d\u2019art oratoire, a French public speaking competition that gives students across Canada a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":2903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2904,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902\/revisions\/2904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/laityview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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