Divertissement.

[pachapapa]

This should be a good laugh.

I do love "orthographing".[:P]

http://www.programme.tv/le-tournoi-d-orthographe-2011-3587187.php

France 3 2nite.

[woolybanana]

Yes, whilst it is fun, I still fail to understand why such an exercise in futility and sterility is seen as positive in this Land of the Free. Maybe it helps create generations of rule enforcers!

[BJSLIV]

I think you need to have been 100% educated in the French system to understand the central role of Le Dicte!

(Note I have just lost a serious number of points due to the absence of accents, circumflex etc.......)

To me it embodies so much of their  attitude to the importance of the rules.

You have to know the rules, so that you can either.

1 Bend them when it suits.

or

2 Claim that something isn't possible because the rules don't say it's possible.

 

I had an amusing exchange in our local Simply Market the other day.

When the name changedfrom ATAC  the loyalty cards were reissued, but the barcode / account number was identical. the only thing that changed was the branding and colour of the card.

By accident I took the old card with me.

The old card was unacceptable.They had been told to refuse it, it wouldn't work, why not try?, not allowed.........................

.

[idun]

Friends of mine used to get very excited about Bernard Pivot's Dictee thing every year. Parents and kids would do it. An event in their lives.It appears to be much loved in France.

[Www]You know me I have trouble putting an english sentence together never mind decortiquating english or french[:-))]

[idun]

[quote user="woolybanana"]Yes, whilst it is fun, I still fail to understand why such an exercise in futility and sterility is seen as positive in this Land of the Free. Maybe it helps create generations of rule enforcers![/quote]

 

I thought that was how the 'class' system worked in France, by the level of french. If a person cannot write top notch french then they are of little consequence, and certainly to be looked down upon.