During April and May, Barbreck’s l’Équipe French group are working towards an important goal in their French learning – to participate and present in the 2023 Alliance Française Berthe Mouchette Competition!  

Around 15 l’Équipe students have taken the pledge to represent St Catherine’s by learning and memorising a French poem. The participants will then recite the poem, from memory, in front of a visiting French examiner from l’Alliance Française de Melbourne during June. Our l’Équipe members will be judged upon their ability to memorise the poem, correct pronunciation of each French word and ability to present the emotion of the poem to the examiner.  

Any students who receive a ‘perfect score’ of 20/20 will attend the Berthe Mouchette finals at l’Alliance Française de Melbourne in September. 

For over 100 years, the Berthe Mouchette Competition has provided an opportunity for students all over Victoria to connect with the French language and culture. This year’s Competition follows the theme ‘la verité,’ or ‘truth,’ with poems about a wide range of topics including whales, moonlight, dugongs, chameleons, Earth and even Heaven! This leads to many interesting opportunities to discuss vocabulary during our Tuesday l’Équipe sessions, held weekly during term at 8.00am.  

If you would like your daughter to represent St Catherine’s in this Competition, please contact me at agold@stcatherines.net.au . Please note to be eligible to participate, students must join l’Équipe, and regularly attend sessions on Tuesdays leading up to the Competition.  

Image: Students Junya and Elva Jiang rehearse their chosen French Poems during a l’Équipe Tuesday morning class.