February 24, 1997

French Language Foundation Contest Held at Middlebury

College

The annual International French contest of the French

Language Foundation will be held Saturday, March 1, at 10 a.m.

at Middlebury College. The contest has two sections: one junior

and one senior. Junior participants were selected to represent

their schools at a preliminary contest held in November. The

senior section is open to U.S. citizens aged 18 and over, free

of charge, (as of March 29, 1997). Interested persons are urged

to pre-register by calling Middlebury College faculty member Nancy

O’Connor at 443-5722. The French Contest is part of the Dictée

Internationale de Français, with prizes in excess of

$60,000. The highest junior and senior scorers for this state

will be the contest’s state champions and will win an all-expense

paid trip to Québec City.

All seven junior and seven senior champions from

New England and New York will travel to Québec City on

April 4-6 to participate in the international phase of the contest.

They will compete in the Dictée Internationale de Français

with persons from North and South America, Europe and Africa.

This event will be held in the Assemblée Nationale, the

Québec parliament building, and will be televised worldwide

by satellite on TV-5, the international French-language network.

The French Language Foundation is a non-profit organization

founded and based in Manchester, N.H. The foundation seeks to

promote the study of French and the development of exchanges with

French-speaking nations and regions. This is the 44th year of

the contest. For more information about the French Language Foundation,

please call (603) 627-0505.