French competition opens dreams

We live in a global village and ought to arm ourselves with   dynamic skills, which include learning a new language.

Lynn Deon Ansasiire believes she will make a good High Court judge in future, as she eyes grades that will enable pursue Law at university. Ansasiire scored 97 per cent at Delf A2 junior exams. She emerged as one of the top winners thus winning a tablet that will further help her during her studies.

The Diplôme d’études en langue française (DELF) is a degree of French-language abilities for non-native speakers of French administered by France Education International for France’s Ministry of Education.

The student at Mt St Mary’s College Namagunga is one of the 16 winners of the 2023 Njogera Francais competition.

“I attribute my success to God and my amazing teacher Madam Margaret Nalutalo and my parents who financially sponsored my French journey. I thank the French Embassy too who make the opportunities possible for the youth. I revise to become conversant with the language,,” she says, urging her fellow youth to follow their passion.

“If your passion is in French, it is a rich language and connectivity (the power of networking) is very important for one to climb the professional ladder. Encourage your parents or guardians to facilitate you,” she says.

Ansasiire notes that French is more than a language she studies. It is something she is passionate about and hopes to upgrade to level B1 next year.

“French will take me places in terms of pursuing a job and hopefully, I will work at the International Criminal Court,” Ansasiire shares.

She received a laptop among other prizes at Alliance Francaise de Kampala (AFK) on Saturday, after the launch of the third edition of Njogera Francais. This is a Delf schools’ competition that aims at motivating and inspiring French teachers and learners. It also strengthens Francophone ties with Ugandan public and private schools and universities.

Wins

May Mirembe, 11, from Galaxy International School Lubowa, Year 6 , who won a Lenovo IdeaPad among other prizes, attributes her score to self-belief, paying attention in class and  revision .

“It was a bit hard, especially the comprehension element but I found the rest easy, especially the speaking element,” Mirembe says.

Joseph Obale, a teacher at Ndejje Secondary School who won a trip to France, says although the school did not emerge with the top students, he is happy most students scored 80s. Obale says this means they learnt and appreciated the language. He believes the trip to France will help enrich the way he will be teaching the students when he returns.

Teaching methodologies

Obale says: “I will return a better teacher of French in relation to the social, cultural and other aspects of France that I did not know before the trip.”

He believes this will boost his capacity as a trainer to help students excel, in the Delf exam or the new national curriculum which follows almost the French way of studying.

Lydia Nakindu, a teacher, says French needs practice. She does this with students and creates extra lesson, especially when exams approach. They revise past papers.

“We also teach the students songs, plays that they get to act and listen to native speakers to grasp the accent easily,” Nakindu says.

Charles Kahigiriza, the head teacher Ndejje Secondary School, says since the competitions started, more students are picking interest in learning an extra language which is good for their communication and how they relate with different people.

“I encourage parents to allow their children to sit these international French language proficiency tests because it will benefit them in future,” Kahigiriza says.

With the motto changing to ‘boost your study and career opportunities’, the 2024 competition will onboard surpassing the 790 who participated last year.

Karim Cwinya’ay, the course coordinator and Njogera Francais project manager at AFK, says they will go beyond the central region and reach other districts including southwestern, western and West Nile.

Beyond French 

According to Eric Touze, the director of AFK, the institute not only derives happiness in developing the teaching and use of the French language, but also promotes diverse cultures while embracing the local ones as well in both the young and old.

“We also teach English, Spanish, Luganda and Swahili. We offer cultural events, concerts, exhibitions, and conferences as we try to offer everyone a space for culture and exchanges, open and inclusive,” Touze says.

Lapaire, the new addition to the sponsors of the competition is offering  free eye tests to the participant schools believing students need healthy eyes to read for better grades.

Other sponsors include Total Energies, MTN foundation and CFAO Motors.

Summary
winners include
 •Delf Prim A1.1: Jinal Shah Aarav aced 99.0 and Aaron Elisha Chebrot 96.0 both from Aga Khan Primary School; Venice Agwang Hillside Primary School Naalya scored 96.0 and Ladji Waters Kamiel of Ambrosoli School scored 96.0.  
• Delf Prim A1: Ahmed Sobhi Layla scored 93.0, May Martha Mirembe 79.5 and Maleith Athiei Kuol Deng 79.0 of  Galaxy International School.
• Delf Prim A2: Carine Kabuyahia Menge Nguru aced 98.5, while Delf Junior B1: Grace Enzizu Adjua made 85.0 of Galaxy International School
• Delf Junior A2: Lynn Ansasiire of Mt St Mary’s College Namagunga scored 97.0 and Samara Noronha of Galaxy International School of Uganda made 94.5.
• Delf Junior A1:  Amanda Nairuba of Galaxy International School scored 95.5  and Abraham Kisakye Uganda Martyrs SS, Namugongo 95.0.