Student awarded ‘jury’s favourite’ in Joutes Oratoires

Two A Level French students – Josh and Aidan – qualified for the final of the Joutes Oratoires, French debating competition which was held at the French Institute in London. 

They had to prepare for the two debates: 

• « La numérisation des œuvres rend l’art accessible à tous. » (Digitizing works makes art accessible to everyone.)

• « Les conférences internationales devraient déterminer les actions en matière de protection de l’environnement. » (International conferences should determine actions for environmental protection.)

Aidan and Josh lost their first round but came back to win their second debate. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to qualify for the final round.  

Despite not getting through to the final round, Aidan was awarded the “coup de cœur du jury ” prize (jury’s favourite) and both students did extremely well to get through to this final stage of the competition. Well done. 

Aidan says of the competition, “After a tough regional round in February, I was delighted to be able to take part in the Joutes Oratoires national final for a second time, this time winning a special recognition award from the judges – the coup de cœur prize

“Debating in a foreign language really has been an invaluable opportunity: the thrill of being assigned your side of the debate only seconds before beginning adds to the excitement. 

“Throughout both the regional and national rounds, we debated a series of complex issues from the role of international conferences in dealing with climate change to the legality of surrogacy in France, also providing me with a chance to improve my awareness of global issues.

“I was especially pleased with our success not only given the tough motions we were given for the final but also because, taking part during my mock exam week, I was not expecting to win an award having felt slightly underprepared! It was a pleasure to take part in what will sadly be the last time I will represent the school – I would strongly encourage any students with an interest in French to do the same!” 

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Open to all Sixth Formers in the UK, the Joutes Oratoires French debating competition is above all a good way for students to gain confidence in speaking French and to address current and captivating topics. It consists of several months of regional heats, with the finals taking place at the French Institute in London.