For the last seven years, the French & Italian Studies Department has participated in the annual community French Fest, a celebration of Francophone cultures held at the Seattle Center. The French Fest involves the Seattle French-American Chamber of Commerce, the French consular services, and associations such as the Seattle-Nantes Sister City Association and the Alliance Française, as well as a number of local French schools participate.
This past March at the 2019 French Fest, Hélène Vilavella-Collins of French & Italian Studies offered a Dictée (dictation and spelling competition) for beginning and experienced students of French. The FIS dictée celebrates at the Fest a beloved tradition of the French educational system, and echoes the national, regional and city dictées competitions that happen all over France every year. At the Fest, the dictée is attended by nearly one hundred participants of all ages, who come to compete and earn a participation certificate, or a prize (this year’s children dictée’s prize was Saint-Exupéry’s classic Petit Prince, while older competitors won Molière’s Malade imaginaire.) We hope you will test your skills in the dictée at French Fest next year!