A massive dictation event takes over the iconic Champs-Élysées in Paris
The iconic Champs-Élysées in Paris was taken over by writers on Sunday in perhaps the world’s largest-ever dictation event.
Instead of car traffic, the famed boulevard was covered by some 1,779 desks organized into rows for the more than 5,000 applicants chosen to participate in the exercise, the AFP reported.
The dictation was run by novelist Rachid Santaki, who began an initiative in 2013 called La Dictée Geante — or the Giant Dictation — to improve literacy across France.
“It’s about bringing people together, having fun around spelling and the French language,” Santaki told RFI in 2018. “I often talk about the pleasure of reading, of writing, and that means having fun, we take the drama out of it, turn the experience upside down.”
On Sunday, applicants ranging in age from 10 to 90 and equipped with a pen and paper attempted over three rounds to transcribe excerpts of text read aloud by three different people: Libraries Without Borders journalist Augustin Trapenard, writer Katherine Pancol and rugby player Pierre Rabadan.
“It was impossible! The dictation was for adults,” said primary school student Antoine, according to AFP. “I only made two mistakes!” retiree Touria Zerhouni, 65, told the outlet. “I expected it to be much harder.”
Guinness World Records, which sent a representative to the event, confirmed that it set the record for the most people taking dictation simultaneously.
Spell it out: Paris’ Champs-Elysees hosts mass ‘dictation’
From: AFP
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.
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, said the event went beyond spelling.
“Dictation helps us to live together. It’s unifying,” he said.
生词记录
iconic 受欢迎的，偶像的，非常出名的
dictation 听写
famed 出名的
boulevard 大道，大街
literacy 识字，读写能力
equipped 有能力的，受过训练的；装备齐全的
transcribe 转录
rugby 橄榄球
simultaneously 同时地
not to be outdone 不服输，不甘示弱
spelling bee 拼字比赛
extravaganza 盛大展示，盛大表演
spellathon 描述长时间的拼写比赛
pit sb against sb 使竞争
bookworm 书迷
love affair 挚爱，热爱
renowned 闻名的，受尊敬的
wrap 用···包裹
upbeat 乐观的，快乐的
