Berthe Mouchette Poetry Competition 2024
Creativity. Passion. Self expression. These are all characteristics that Mac rob students beautifully displayed as they participated in the Berthe Mouchette poem competition on May 24th.
The Berthe Mouchette poetry competition is an initiative run by the Alliance Francaise organisation within Australia. In this competition, students from Grade 3 to Year 12 rehearse a poem that is selected as per their Year level and then recite it to the organisation's examiners. We are very fortunate to participate in this competition as it not only helps us develop our French skills, but also connects us with so many other French students across Australia! What’s even more amazing is that the Alliance Francaise organisation has been running worldwide for 130 years!
Our poem’s theme this year was ‘Les jeux Olympiques’ which translates to ‘The Olympic Games’! This makes perfect sense as France is the host of the Olympic Games this year. One interesting thing I learnt from this competition, is that the Olympic motto is “Plus vite, Plus haut, Plus fort,” which means “Faster, Higher, Stronger”. This especially fascinated me because “Faster, Higher, Stronger” is the name of my Physical Education elective at school!
For me personally, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach days before the recitation! I wouldn’t say it was a feeling of stress, but more a strong feeling of strong hope to see my French development in comparison to last year. However, I felt very prepared for the recitation as we had begun preparing for the competition months beforehand. This involved rehearsing collectively as a class, practising in front of our mirrors at home, and for some of us, even chanting with our friends on public transport! In addition to this, we had a private poem recital with our class teacher so she could give us some feedback for the big day.
Another moment I exquisitely remember, is when I was sitting outside the examination room and reminding myself to “stay calm and take a deep breath.” Luckily all my fear flushed away the moment I set my inner French heart free and began reciting my poem to the very encouraging examiner.
Overall, I believe this competition is very beneficial as it helps students reflect their own personality through a recitation, develop more skills in a foreign language and of course have fun as they prepare for their recitation!
We were pleased to find out that Mac.Rob performed exceptionally at the competition this year. Next month, more than 10 selected students from our school will do another recitation for the finalist round of the competition. The day may seem far away, but it will be here in no time! Wish us luck!
Antara A (10F)