Franco-German Reading Aloud Contest 2024-2025

This contest will take place in two rounds. The first round will be online. Participants will need to create a video of their reading, and their teacher must submit it by 14.02.2025 at the latest. The final round and the award ceremony will take place in person on 08.05.2025 at the Goethe Institute in Helsinki.

For classes coming from outside Helsinki, travel expenses will be covered for the finalists and one designated adult, either a teacher or a parent, accompanying the students to Helsinki for the final. Parents and friends are welcome, but their travel costs will be at their own expense.

Contest Procedure:

Phase 1: Registering my students for the reading contest (see the form below). Indicate the number of students and their level (beginner/intermediate) by 14.01.2025. Once your students are registered for the first round, we will send you a selection of texts corresponding to their class and level.
Phase 2: Submitting the reading videos (by 14.02.2025).

Procedure:

Teachers must make their students’ video submissions available (the participant must be clearly seen and heard reading).
Upload the video via a hosting service (e.g., WeTransfer, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.).
Send the link to cours@france.fi.

Do not send the video as an attachment via email, please.

Phase 3: Announcement of the finalists on 14.03.2025 (I have until 21.03.2025 to confirm my finalist’s participation).
Final Round: On 08.05.2025 at the Goethe Institute with an award ceremony.
It will bring together 18 finalists (3 per category). The train tickets for the selected finalists will be covered by the French Institute and the Goethe Institute.

Who can participate?

The contest is open to all students from grades 4 to 12, whether beginners or advanced in French or German.
Three age groups will be distinguished (grades 4-6: 10-12 years old, grades 7-9: 13-15 years old, and grades 10-12: 16-18 years old) in two main levels (beginners and intermediate/advanced), making a total of 6 categories.
Only teachers can register their classes or selected students for the contest.

Among the proposed texts, students can choose the one that best suits them. We offer a wide selection of texts (between 4 and 6 options per category). In this selection, they can choose their preferred text from various types of texts (excerpts from novels, poems, etc.) of different lengths.

Why participate?

Enhancing language skills: Reading aloud helps improve pronunciation, intonation, and fluency in a foreign language.
Cultural discovery: Each student will have the opportunity to read excerpts from French and German literary works, encouraging the discovery of new literary horizons.
Spirit of competition and sharing: This contest is also an opportunity for your students to challenge themselves against other learners while sharing their passion for reading.

How to participate?

https://forms.office.com/e/SVNS40tr37

Registration is only possible through the teacher for all or part of their class. Only French teachers (for the French contest) in Finland can register their classes. No individual registrations or registrations from outside Finland are accepted.

After registration, teachers will receive the texts by email for their students to prepare for the first round. The texts will be available as soon as your registration is processed.
For the final round, the choice of text is free: participants can choose any text they like, as long as it does not exceed one page.

This reading contest is organized in partnership with: