Follows older sister's tracks
Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Apr 06/01) - Rebecca Mahler can sure spell, and in French. That ability earned her a trip to Montreal next month to compete against the country's best.
More than just spelling got her on top. The French competitions include other correct uses of the language, like sentence structure. Even a misplaced accent will send her packing for home at the level she'll be competing at.
"Verbs come easily to me. I'm kind of strange because I like to conjugate French verbs. None of my classmates like to do that," says the 11-year-old Ecole St. Joseph student.
After breezing through La Dictee language competitions at local and regional French and French immersion schools, the Grade 6 student was selected to represent the territory in Quebec. The high-level contest takes place on May 20.
Language talent runs in the family. Rebecca's older sister Kirsten was NWT's representative two years ago.
Kirsten told her sister the competition is really hard.
Ecole St. Joseph principal Flo Campbell is proud.
She recognized Mahler and several other acheivers by gathering the entire school population and staff together April 2 and singling them out.
"It's important to celebrate the great things that kids do," Campbell says.
Vice-principal Carol Forget says "there were some really difficult words" in a workbook that competitors filled for the La Dictee competition.
The cost of Rebecca's trip will be covered by funds from a Quebec-based foundation that aims to narrow cultural gaps between English and French-speaking Canadians.
