“French is the language that turns dirt into romance” said Stephen King. Being amongst the top 20 most popular languages in the world, Dubai Scholars showed its appreciation for this
beautiful language by conducting its first ever ‘French Week’. The French Department led by Mrs. Manal Benabbas, played a huge helping hand in making the week a success. The week consisted of inter-class debates, plays, dances as well as a visit to a French themed restaurant. |
The week commenced with the whole of seventh grade paying a visit to a French cuisine restaurant. “They played French music and asked us to sing along because we knew the song. They offered us salad with a side of baguette for a starter and later on gave us our main course which was chicken with a side of sour cream and offered us drinks as well. After the meal, they took photos of all of us and even recorded the students speaking in French. I personally enjoyed the experience”, says Aara Saqib of year 7.
Throughout the week in Year 9, there were debates between 9B and 9C on the topic of ‘la vie en campagne vs. la vie en ville’ (life in the countryside vs life in the city). |
The week concluded with a program formulated and executed by senior school students. This program was even attended by two officials from the DELF (Diplôme d'Etudes en Langue Française) Institution. The show began with a short student made film featuring clips of the different events that took place throughout the French week. It showed the visit to the French restaurant as well as the inter-class debates. It even had two special clips: one of Mahamid Hassan of Year 10 narrating the news and the other of Zaara Ali Zain and Shania Misquitta who played the part of two youtubers doing a question and answer video. The best part? All of this spoken consistently in French. The next part of the program included two plays performed by students from the ninth grade to the eleventh grade. The first play was taken from the works of Molière, a famous French playwright also known as the Shakespeare of France. This play was about how a man presented all his plays in front of kings. There came a point where he became so sick that he couldn’t recognize his own wife and saw her as a terror to him. His doctor and his wife warned him against presenting a play for the king since he was so terribly sick. However, the man refused and put up his play for the king. This led to his last performance where he breathed his last breath as he laughed. |
The second play was written by Alicia Kunte of Year 10. Before the play featured a monologue
from Mikhaila and Roxanne of Year 11 who played a mother and a daughter arguing over which channel to watch until they decide to watch the play. The play showed the story of five friends who were part of the dance team. Before the big dance competition, one of the friends broke their leg and as a result of no option, the team included a new student of the school into the team which they were initially not in favor of. They ended up winning the competition. The moral was to prove how people should be given a chance and not shutted away before knowing what they’re truly capable of. “It was very eventful and there was a lot going on and I’m sure all of us, especially the viewers enjoyed it. There was something new being shown every single time and it wasn’t boring for a split second. That’s what made it so special”. This was the first French day that Dubai Scholars has hosted and its safe to say that this event was more than a success. The DELF officials enjoyed the program and so did the students and teachers watching. Most of all, it showed appreciation for the teachers of the French department as well as the beauty of the language, French. |
Written by: Shinelle Leo
Photos by: Madhushri Jayakumar
Web Design by: Lamya Butt
Photos by: Madhushri Jayakumar
Web Design by: Lamya Butt