International French Spell Bee

National French Spell Bee 2015 ( Finals ) at India International Centre; New Delhi

The national french spell bee finale took place at a glittering event filled up with excitement on 25th January 2016 coinciding with the visit of the French President to India from 24th Jan to 26th Jan 2016.

Right from 8 am students and parents along with French teachers started assembling at the sprawling lawns of the iconic India International centre before the CD Deshmukh Auditorium.

The day started with a briefing of “Team Frehindi”- The organisers of the event followed by registrations of about 87 students from across India who came from regions as diverse as Kutch in Gujarat & Siliguri in West Bengal apart from qualifiers from metros like Hyderabad & Bangalore. Students were given placards to wear which had their name; school’s name & a unique number and were asked to proceed to their seating arrangements. Separate seating arrangements were made for parents; teachers and participating students.

Post registrations everyone got settled followed by a warm welcome to all the students; parents & French Teachers by Mr. Haru MEHRA; Director & Chief Organiser of the National French Spell Bee contest in India. Mr. Mehra gave a brief speech on why French Spell Bee is important in a country like India where French is not a native language. This was followed by introduction of Ms. Mayuri Assudani & Ms. Babusha Verma to the audinence by Mr. Mehra. Ms. Assudani who came all the way from Nagpur was the presenter cum pronouncer of the French Spell Bee finale bringing with her about 15 years of teaching experience & as one of the only five TV5 Monde certified French language trainers in India her choice as a pronouncer excited everyone present.Ms. Babusha Verma who is M.Phil in French & is presently teaching at Delhi University was the Judge at the finals along with Mr. Haru MEHRA and bought with her over 10 years of experience in French language training for both French teachers as well as students in India & abroad.

The contest started with Ms. Mayuri Assudani ( now called as pronouncer ) explaining the rules in French & English to the participants which was soon followed by the contest for the Advanced level.

Students ( now called as spellers ) seated on the right hand side of the auditorium were called one after another & were given a word by Ms. Mayuri explaining the word with definition and it’s usage in a sentence. Once the student got the word he or she was supposed to pronounce the same and then spell the word.If the word was spelled correctly ( Supposed to be spelt in French & with all the correct French accents ) the Speller would stay in the contest by taking his seat again on the right hand side of the auditorium. If the speller fail to spell the word correctly then the speller would drop out of the contest and sit on the left hand side of the auditorium. This way the last three spellers ( also the top three ) for each level were reached which went to the finals. In case the three finalist could not be chosen in the stipulated time of 45 minutes then remaining spellers were supposed to go to for a buzzer round where they were supposed to guess the word which the pronouncer would explain by giving a definition or giving various examples to explain the word.Once the word is guessed correctly by the speller then the pronouncer would ask the speller to spell it and if the speller spells it correctly she or he would win that round and be one of the three finalist. The same process was repeated to choose the 2nd and 3rd finalist.

Once we had the finalists for each level following the above process of selection by way of elimination the finalist were asked to come back after the break. The participants along with parents and teachers were treated with some hot coffee/tea & sandwiches at the lawns of the IIC.

After the break we continued with the competition with the debutant level, selecting the final three following the same elimination route followed by the selection of 1st; 2nd and 3rd for awarding the positions.

Following are the positions won by different schools & their students :

Result of the Finals of National French Spell Bee 2015

Débutant Level

Position School Students Name Zone Prize
1st

DPS Gandhidham Aniket Singh
( Favourite sport : Football )

Jaipur Zone Trip to France
2nd DPS Gandhidham Piyush Malik Jaipur Zone Trip to Frehindi Village for 2
3rd The Khaitan School Ayush Jaiswal NCR & Central Delhi Zone Trip to Frehindi Village for 1

Intermédiaire Level

Position School Students Name Zone Prize
1st

Montfort School Vibhuti Badhwar
( Favourite Sport : Badminton )

North-West Delhi Zone Trip to France
2nd Sehwag International School Rishabh Gulia NCR & Central Delhi Zone Trip to Frehindi Village for 2
3rd Mallya Aditi International School Samia Sanjeev Patel Bengaluru Zone Trip to Frehindi Village for 1
3rd BASAVA International School Manya Mehra South-West Delhi Zone Trip to Frehindi Village for 1

Avancé Level

Position School Students Name Zone Prize
1st

Arwachin International School Ridhima Mahajan
( Favourite Sport Net Ball )

North-East Delhi Zone Trip to France
2nd The Khaitan School Pravneet Kaur NCR & Central Delhi Zone Trip to Frehindi Village for 2
3rd Indraprastha International School Khushi Joshi South-West Delhi Zone Trip to Frehindi Village for 1
The above winners were felicitated with prizes and certificates by the Mr. Arnaud Gaspart; 1st Secretary to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium & Mr. Ashwani Goyal; MD of Goyal Publishers and Distributors p Ltd who are also the sponsors of French Spell Bee since it’s inception and this year final prizes were sponsored by Mr. Ashwani Goyal.

Apart from the above grand prizes for the students there was a lucky draw held for the French Teachers whose students qualified for the finals of the National French Spell Bee 2015.

Following are the winners of the lucky draw competition :

Teachers Lucky Draw Contest

School Teachers Name Zone Prize
Salwan Public School Mrs. Neha Kohli North-East Delhi Zone Trip to France
India International School Mr. Manish Agarwal Jaipur Zone Trip to Frehindi Village for 2
G.D. Goenka Public School, Siliguri Ms. Paribrita Basu Kolkata Zone Trip to Frehindi Village for 1
In the last phase of an eventful day trophies were lifted by winning schools and certificates and consolation prizes were distributed by our chief guest to French Teachers and contestants respectively.

The gala contest ended with Mr. Haru MEHRA giving a vote of thanks to all the participants; parents; teachers; guests of honours; pronouncer & judges and last but not the least to all the dedicated team of Frehindi Education which made the event possible & a grand success.

Mr. Haru MEHRA invited all present to high tea and the discussions continued till late in the evening over tea with free flow of selfies; suggestions & smiles all around with a resolve to come back in 2016 edition with more enthusiasm & preparation.

Team Frehindi

Note : Those schools who want to participate in the 2016 edition please mail us at frenchspellbee@gmail.com or call us at 09810129231.

Author: Haru MEHRA

Namasté / Bonjour / Hello, I am Harbinder Singh MEHRA ( Haru ), the President, author & principal blogger & trainer for the LAF's project Inde-Contemporaine under the patronage of the Indian Embassy in Paris. Apart from that, I am also the CEO of Paris & Lyon based Le Frehindi which is an Indo-French organisation licensed by ATOUT-France with associate offices in New Delhi, Mumbai & Dubai in the Middle East. Something about LAF ( L'Association Frehindi ) : The objective of the L'Association Frehindi ( English ) To promote global understanding with special focus on youth of France & Francophone countries with the youth from Indian subcontinent by showcasing a contemporary aspect of both regions in areas of cultural & linguistic integration, appreciating of heritage & getting to know the importance of natural wellbeing via online & offline activities such as workshops, fairs, events, meet-ups, counselling sessions, intercultural workshops in partnerships/collaborations with local institutions, cultural organisations, embassies & companies in both the regions. The association seeks to work in the following areas : I. Events/fairs/conferences/workshops under the patronage of the Indian Embassy in France. 1)To celebrate & promote contemporary India & France with today's youth. 2)To let discover the traditional historic Indo-French strengths, economic opportunities & partnership possibilities. 3)To promote arts & artists from either region. 4) To jointly host events & fairs every year in France, Francophone countries & the Indian subcontinent to promote friendship/partnerships between different regions linking the general population with a special focus on youth. II. Alps-Himalayas Project 1) To increase cultural & economic affinity of youth & businesses between Rhone-Alps & Himalayas regions of India, Bhutan & Nepal. 2) To conduct & promote joint Indo-French expeditions & excursions. 3) To help the tribals & locals in Himalayan regions to preserve the environment by sustainable means. III. Intercultural Activités 1) To conduct linguistic-based inter cultural activités with the help of virtual tours & offline sessions between youth & teachers for both French, Hindi & various other regional languages. 2) To conduct sessions / classes on inter-cultural understanding, ways of doing business, dances & letting discover the rich heritage. 3) To conduct fundraising activities for all such cultural & heritage discovery exchanges. IV. Indo-French youth club : 1) To help the Indian students coming to France to integrate culturally, logistically & linguistically by providing pre & post landing counselling workshops & vice-versa for French students going to the Indian subcontinent. 2) To help the youth discover skill development programs, internships & recruitment opportunities available in all the regions. 3) To work in partnership with local SME'S for supporting & training of the youth of India & France. 4) To enable students & teachers in France to help online & offline the underprivileged children in the Indian subcontinent by imparting training based on languages & soft skill development. 5) To conduct Indo-french youth camps in all Francophone regions with a special focus on Rhone-Alps regions, Himalayas & Auroville in Pondicherry. V. Promoting Natural Wellbeing & boosting immunity naturally : 1) The association will seek to promote the benefits of Yoga & Ayurveda in France among youth & conduct awareness sessions with experts from India & Srilanka. 2) The association will celebrate World Yoga Day & World Ayurveda day by conducting events & workshops for the youth. 3) The association will produce both online & offline content like blogs, books, broachers etc to Promote yoga & Ayurveda. 4) The association will work closely with Bio-shops to promote vegan & vegetarian food among the youth. Come be a part of the LAF growing team & become ambassadors for the Indian subcontinent & its ability to take modernity with traditional values and ethos. Write to us at haru@frehindi.com. All the best. Harbinder Singh MEHRA, President, L'Association Frehindi Lyon VILLETTE GARE IMMEUBLE LE BONNEL 20 rue de la Villette 69003 Lyon Tel : +330601360996