In Pics | Paris hosts 'World's Biggest Dictation'
Spellathon receives thousands of applications
Over 50,000 applicants had applied to take part in the spellathon that was hosted in Paris on June 4. Over 5,000 candidates aged between 10-90 were chosen to participate in the competition. The competition consisted of three sessions which were all led by novelist Rachid Santaki.
First session
Nearly 1,779 desks were laid out in each session on the Champs-Elysees Avenue Organisers. In the first round, an excerpt of La Mule du Pape by renowned French writer Alphonse Daudet was read by journalist Augustin Trapenard, of Libraries Without Borders.
Sports and contemporary themed rounds follow
However, the competition was not confined to French Classics. The next round was based on sports and was read by rugby player Pierre Rabadan. The other round, a contemporary round, was read by writer and journalist Katherine Pancol.
Pupils enjoy the spellathon
A 65-year old retiree Touria Zerhouni was thrilled to be a part of the competition. Her thoughts about the competition were very positive. She reportedly said that "I only made two mistakes! I expected it to be much harder".
A state of stress and worry?
However, few of whom participated in the competition could not keep up with their pace. A ten year old Sampson found the dictation competition to be 'very fast'. His father, Adrien Blind was also in a 'state of stress and worry' during the competition. Adrien was relieved when the sessions ended.
It's unifying
The organisers had hosted the event in an attempt to break the record of the world's biggest dictation. The president of the Champs-Elysees competition, Marc-Antoine Jamet, while sharing his views on the competition stated that 'dictation helps us live together. It's unifying'.
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