About TFS

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 state wide registration of nearly 1,000 contestants. We annually welcome over 40 visiting schools.

With the goal of motivating students of French to improve their oral and cultural competencies, our
competition provides students an opportunity to compete in 29 categories. These include written as well as oral events. Poetry, prose, dramatic interpretation, guided speaking, and sight reading require keen preparation. There is also competition in music, art, video, comic strip, scrapbook, and dictation. Students are also given the opportunity to experience cultural events. Some of the planned events include: a chalk art contest, a French t-shirt contest, pétanque contest, a digital media contest, and a French 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 in Francophone countries are awarded each year to the top students. 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.org.

If you are interested in serving as one of our valuable judges, please visit our Judge Area.