Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 12/02) - The name of the game is En Francais, SVP. That translates into In French, Please.

That phrase is also the war cry that rings out in the French immersion classroom where about 40 students are competing to win prizes.

At 11 a.m last Monday morning at Weledeh school, the immersion students from St. Patrick high school receive two tags to pin on their shirts. If one student hears a fellow student speaking English, she cries out "En Francais, SVP!" The guilty party must then relinquish a tag.

French immersion teacher Sylvie Bernard says every year, towards the end of the year, they try to have an event of this sort.

"In the past it's been mostly games. This year I tried to place an emphasis on French culture, Canadian as well as worldwide," she says, adding that at least 350 hours of preparation went into the event.

Participants are made up of Grade 9 to 12 students of mixed backgrounds. Some have one French parent, while a few come from families where both parents are French.

"But the majority are from an anglophone background," says Bernard.

This is a good opportunity for the youth to speak French. Even in the classroom they will sometimes speak English."

Memory test for future

The various activities that are set up -- weather, science, math, music or a reading corner -- are meant to present bits of French information. The idea is that if they come across the name of a French singer in the future, it'll twig recognition.

"Or if they see a flag, they'll remember that there are French-speakers in that country," Bernard says.

Members of the Yellowknife community were also invited to drop in.

"(The students can see it's not just them that speak French, but others in the community do as well," says Bernard.

By 1 p.m. prizes were awarded -- French dictionaries, books, subscriptions to French magazines were among the booty.

Participant Meagan Shouhda says this year's event is much better than last year's.

"She (Mme. Bernard) is more enthusiastic. So we've been more enthusiastic," says Shouhda.

The young woman also says the spirit of competition is a great spur.

"The prizes do cause people to speak French."