Two o’clock the bell rang as if to announce the end of recess. Laughter breaks out and the last latecomers hastily settle on the “desks” installed at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe, Sunday, June 4. All very concentrated, pen in hand and eyes turned towards the large blackboard, the more than 1700 participants, young and old, are ready to compose under the curious gaze of Parisians and tourists, crowded along the barriers that delimit the room giant class.
“Who hasn’t seen Avignon in the time of the Popes hasn’t seen anything. For gaiety, life, animation, the holiday train, never a city like it. At the first words of the extract from La Mule du pape taken from Lettres de mon moulin by Alphonse Daudet, uttered by their teacher for a day, the cultural journalist Augustin Trapenard, a few amused gasps are heard on the Champs-Élysées, but the seriousness of the participants remains essential. Indeed, the objective of this first dictation is great: to enter the number of participants in the world record book. Two dictations for the pleasure of writing will follow in the afternoon: writer Katherine Pancol will read “today’s dictation”, before finishing, as a little nod to the Paris Olympics next year, by a “sporting dictation” set out by former rugby player Pierre Rabadan.
Do not worry, however, for the most distracted, the “dictation of childhood” will be reread three times, recalls the journalist Ruth Elkrief, at the top of the stage, in the middle of the old furniture from the school of yesteryear. The first reading allows you to soak up the text, the second is dedicated to the writing work, the last finally allows you to check your copy. The “mistress of ceremonies” confided shortly before to Le Figaro “to be very attentive to the spelling, even if it should not become a brake, because it can inhibit some people”. The world record of participants was announced at the end of the afternoon by the organizers. After counting and checking the copies, 1397 participants were approved by Guinness World Records.
“We write with the blue pen, we correct with the green pen.” A forgotten refrain, which revives the memories of the little school for the participants. Among them, 60-year-old Dalila came to the event with her 20-year-old nephew François: “I’m delighted! When I was a child, I always had 10/10 at dictation, I wrote with the inkwell. I like the language, the exercise has its place in French schools, young people no longer know how to write…” An observation shared by Mireille, 80, who could not finish the exercise under the sun of lead, which caused many to lose concentration: “I was very good at school. At my age, I am the one who corrects the memoirs of my grandchildren, who make lots of mistakes.
A remonstrance heard by Cédric, 46, seated just in front of Mireille, who wore a dunce’s cap, a bit arrogant, even before the correction on the board: “I am a dunce”, is having fun he faces the joyful faces of the walkers on the other side of the barriers, even if he admits to being actually good at spelling. An example not to follow, therefore, for the young Antoine, seated on a desk a little further. The eleven-year-old schoolboy explains that he made “three dictations in the year”, the last of which last week. His mother remembers those of Bernard Pivot on television. The exercise is very French, it is quite rare in the English-speaking world, she explains.
“Period.” Under the crushing sun, the ephemeral pupils put down their pen, more or less satisfied with their copy. Some even wonder if they should buy a Bescherelle for the occasion. And for good reason, when reading the correction aloud by the other “master of the ceremony”, Rachid Santaki, a writer committed to fighting illiteracy, the participants discover the subtlety of the French language and unknown words, sometimes witnesses the past. Among which, the grave accent to “pilgrimage” or the “f” to “fife”.
In any case, this did not frighten the literature teacher, Manon, 27, who “adores the French language for its richness”. Quite happy with her composition, she claims to have made only two mistakes, to “questors” and “lices”, but did not let herself be trapped by the end “Ah! happy times! the happy city!”, which does not impose capital letters, considered as a single and unique sentence. She was able to give her copy to the “teachers”, who corrected the copies with less than four faults, a small gift was even given to the “perfect copies”. It was in a good-natured atmosphere that the first dictation ended, the participants all left with a book by Hector Malot, Sans famille, and remembered the words of the president of the Champs-Élysées Committee Marc-Antoine Jamet: “Even the Emperor Napoleon III would have made 75 mistakes” at the famous dictation by Prosper Mérimée.
