The Texas French Symposium was started in 1964 at MacArthur High School, San Antonio, as an adjunct to a teacher conference. Beginning with a registration of 200, the Texas French Symposium now has a statewide registration of nearly 800 contestants. We annually welcome up to 35 visiting schools to the competition.
With the goal of motivating students of French to improve their oral and cultural competencies, our competition provides students an opportunity to compete in 24 categories. These include written as well as oral events. Poetry, prose, dramatic interpretation, extemporaneous speaking, sight reading and dictée require keen preparation. There are also competition events in music, art, comic strip, and quiz bowl (Baccalauréat). Students have the opportunity to experience cultural events that include: a French film festival, a chalk art contest, a French t-shirt contest, a pétanque contest, and a scavenger hunt.
Past experience has shown that both students and teachers benefit from attending and competing at Symposium. Trophies and awards are given for achievement to individual student winners, school teams, and the top ten ranking schools. Generous scholarships for study at our partnering French language immersion camp, Concordia Language Villages are awarded each year to the top student. Depending upon the availability, teacher scholarships may also be offered.
The spirit of competition encourages students to work hard during the year and hone their French skills in and out of the classroom.
If you are a teacher and are interested in bringing a team of students, we welcome you! Please contact president@texasfrenchsymposium
If you are interested in serving as one of our valuable judges, please visit our “Judge Area” page or click on the link below.
April 4 & 5
