Berthe Mouchette Poetry Recital Competition 2021
Every year, for over a century, millions of Victorian students, aged 8 to 18, have brought French poetry to life through the Berthe Mouchette Poetry Recital Competition. Held by the Alliance Française, the competition enables students to actively practice their French skills. This year, Mac.Rob was fortunate enough to once again take part in the esteemed competition. Students like ourselves were required to memorise and recite a French poem. Year 9 students were given the opportunity to choose between two poems: Le Ciel Est, Par-Dessus Le Toit and En Me Baladant Sur Les Quais, from which our class chose En Me Baladant Sur Les Quais (While strolling on the docks) by Céline Fuentès. We rehearsed in class but were also given the responsibility of learning the poem by ourselves at home. This assignment integrated speaking French into our everyday lives, which subsequently improved our French pronunciation and fluency with ease. When time came to recite the poem to the assessor, we were all taken over by nerves. Despite this, we all cheered each other on and performed phenomenally. The Berthe Mouchette competition offered a valuable opportunity that allowed us to put our French skills to the test, and as Mac.Robbians we grasped it with everything we had. We cannot wait to continue to participate in the competition in the years to come and wish all of this year's finalists the very best.
Anvi and Ananya (Year 9)
The Alliance Française Berthe Mouchette Poetry Recital Competition involves thousands of students from all over Victoria, memorising and reciting one of a set selection of French poems. Dans mes rêves (In my dreams), the poem I recited, is actually a song by French artist, Seemone. To prepare, we broke the poem down in class to understand the meaning behind it. I spent time listening to the song to memorise the words and learnt where to pause, and what words to emphasise. On the day of the competition, I could see many of the students reciting the poem to each other to reinforce what they had memorised before their turn came. I myself was nervous, but calmed myself as much as I could before I had to recite the poem and thankfully, did not make any obvious mistakes. Congratulations to everyone that participated and good luck to the other finalists!
Emma (Year 10)