La Dictée du Balfroid

On previous Saturday, it was high time to take part to the Dictée du Balfroid. (OK, when I say "take part", I mean taking part while watching the show on telly.) Basically, it's a spelling contest for kids who are currently on the sixth form of Primary School.

This year was the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Dictée, a project that came from the mind of Madame Balfroid (see second picture, next to Jacques Mercier, TV presenter), a retired Primary School teacher. Semi-finals were organised in each of the 5 French-speaking provinces (namely Brabant wallon, Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg and Namur) and in Brussels. More than 800 pupils made it into the finals which took place at the Heysel, a series of huge exhibition halls, not far away from the Atomium.

When I was at Primary School, being the best at spelling, I got to sign up for the semi-finals, then I qualified for the finals… where I didn't win, unfortunately. Of course, I was proud to have experienced it. Back in that time, texts were longer and fairly more complicated. Now, seven years later, I can see that texts are much more easy than they used to. Here's this year's text:

L’urgence de reparler de l’eau (dictée de la finale)

Souvent les entretiens privés et politiques que nous ont relatés les journaux avaient pour objet ce précieux liquide.

Le sujet de l’eau revient en force cette année-ci, car on a enfin constaté, non sans effroi, que celle-ci allait cruellement manquer dans les années à venir.

Certains lacs orientaux sont déjà à sec. Des populations entières, assoiffées d’eau potable, arpentent des distances considérables pour trouver le puits qui les assouvira.

Les nappes souterraines se tarissent et des arbres squelettiques ont été çà et là observés.

Croyons-nous que cette matière ne nous concerne pas, nous les gaspilleurs jusqu’à outrance de cet élément vital que nous n’avons pas apprécié à sa juste valeur ?

Le réchauffement de la planète que l’on craint aura tôt fait de justifier notre angoisse d’une pénurie annoncée et d’une aridité évidente.

Quelles que soient nos appréhensions, il faut que nous gérions d’urgence notre façon de consommer puisque le temps nous est compté.

Of course, I didn't make any mistake: it was too easy. Really. I mean it. Before, you had to write it on two pages, and now on one single page. And there are less difficulties such as the accord du participe passé – a matter that petrified us in that time…