One of the most anticipated events of the francophone calendar is the annual competition “Dis-moi dix mots” (literally translated as Tell me 10 words) organised by the French Ministry of Culture and the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF). Launched in 2002, the initiative encourages people to play with and express themselves in the French language.

Participants are expected to create texts, pictures, drawings, videos, songs etc. using a series of ten words around a central theme. The theme and the corresponding words change every year and are chosen by several francophone countries including France, Belgium, Québec, and Switzerland in collaboration with the OIF. The latter represents more than 80 french-speaking states and governments around the world.

The 2016-2017 edition of the competition is entitled “Dis-moi dix mots sur la Toile” and invites participants to discover that French is a constantly-evolving language that knows how to adapt to the digital world which is shaping our daily lives. The words shortlisted for this year’s edition are avatar (avatar), canular (hoax), émoticône (emoticon), favori (favorite/bookmark), fureteur (web surfer), héberger (to host), nomade (the adjective mobile), nuage (the Cloud), pirate (hacker) and télésnober (the act of snubbing someone by focusing on one’s smartphone, laptop etc.). 

Most of the words chosen for the 2017 edition of the competition transpose realities or practices borrowed from the physical world into the digital universe. For instance, the word avatar was initially used to describe the various incarnations of the God Vishnu in Hindu mythology. Today, it has come to denote the virtual representation of self chosen by an Internet user. Similarly, the word pirate harks back to Old French, Greek (peirates) and Latin (pirata) when it meant someone who attacked and robbed a ship at sea. Today, a pirate is far more likely to attack a sea of digital data.

Given the fact that the Alliance Françaises in India and Nepal have an exceptionally strong presence on social media, they are proposing four different possibilities of participating in “Dis-moi dix mots sur la Toile” – 

• Wattpad : creating a text (haiku, news story etc.) using one or several words including the possibility of creating an image, photo, vidéos, cover page etc.

•  Instagram : Uploading photos or small videos evoking the definition or a representation of the ten words. These visuals have to be tagged on the Instagram account of the respective Alliance Française along with the hashtags #dismoidixmots #slff2017 #Frenchbook.

• Serious Games : Creating videos or a comic strip using screenshots obtained via Serious Games (example an Avatar on Sims) illustrating one or several words

• Pinterest : creating a calligram illustrating one or several words

All submissions must be made before March 17, 2017 via the website Frenchbook or your respective Alliance Française within the India-Nepal network. These submissions will be visible here throughout the duration of the competition.

A series of videos made by Yvan Amar on each of these words can be found here.

Siddharth Bhatt

Rédaction, AF Magazine Inde-Népal