Operation "Tell me ten words"
The awareness campaign «Dis-moi dix mots» invites everyone to play and express themselves from September to June, in a literary and/or artistic form, around ten words chosen by different francophone partners: France, Belgium, Quebec, Switzerland and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (representing 88 states and governments).
A francophone awareness campaign
« Tell me ten words » as well as the French Language and La Francophonie Week are organized in collaboration with the network OPALE (Réseau francophone des Organismes de Politique et d'Aménagement Linguistiques).
This network is composed of the language management organizations of the French-speaking countries and regions representing the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the France, the Quebec and the French-speaking Switzerland, as well as theInternational Organization of La Francophonie.
These five francophone partners choose together the theme of each edition, as well as the ten words that illustrate it. This theme is intended to convey a message about the French language: the written word, orality, language as a social link, the modernity of the language, the ability of the language to express the intimate, to welcome verbal inventions, etc.
2022-2023: “Say ten words to me every time!”
The words illustrate the richness of the perception of time: long time (light-year), slow time (lambiner) resurgence of the past in the present (déjà-vu), time that gives tempo to our days (dare-dare, rhythm, tic tac), time that models our daily and cultural uses (Wintering), the time of beginnings (foreday). Let us not forget the verbs of time (more-than-perfect).
This theme and these words call us to reflect on our relationship to time: Is it beyond us or do we master it? Is it too fast or not fast enough? Can the joy of the instant be combined with the long time of effort and concentration?
In short, can everyone live at their own pace, when so many elements outside of our lives impose another rhythm on us? Can we still take our time and even lose it, as the demands of the modern world are so pressing and call for immediate answers?
These ten words are an invitation to reflect on ways to reclaim time, to reconcile personal and collective time:
light-year, before-day, dare-dare, déjà-vu, overwintering, lambiner, plus-que-parfait, rhythm, synchrone, tic-tac
Let everyone put in the time they need.
Cultural, social and active actors mobilized
« Tell me ten words » invites everyone to play and to express oneself literary and/or artistic form, from September to June. There are many actors involved, including:
- cultural (media centres, bookshops, museums, theatres, monuments, storytellers, slammers, etc.)
- social services (hospitals, retirement homes, social centres, prisons, etc.)
- educational (kindergartens, schools, colleges, universities, documentation centres, etc.)
These actors are invited to capture the ten words and to organize events around the French language: writing or calligraphy workshops, dictations, poetry competitions, literary meetings, shows, slam tournaments, photo exhibitions, improvisation or eloquence matches, etc.
The operation « Tell me ten words » offers the possibility of creating a social link in a territory by involving in educational, artistic and/or playful projects populations very varied and sometimes remote from cultural practices.
The Ten Words School Competition
A Ten Words School Competition is organized each year, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Youth, for elementary and secondary schools, in France and abroad (AEFE, MLF and LabelFrancEducation networks).
This contest invites the participating classes to create a collective artistic and literary production, based on a linguistic work from the ten words. The productions take very varied forms: notebooks, frescoes, screen prints, rap songs, contemporary choreographies, tales, stop-motion videos, newspaper, board game, investigative game, etc.
The classes work on their project from September to the end of January; the juries deliberate in February; the winners are invited for an award ceremony at theAcadémie française during the French Language and La Francophonie Week .
The school competition is open!
You will find all the modalities on the site Eduscol.
Calendar : registration on Simplified procedures until 27 January, winners announced on February 17 and awards presented during the French Language and La Francophonie Week from 18 to 26 March 2023.
The Ten Words Challenge for Prisons
Organized by the Ministry of Culture and the department of justice, this new operation is aimed at persons under the control of justice and socio-cultural animators of penitentiaries.
This challenge invites participants to create, individually or collectively, a 30-second to 3-minute audio disc (song, onomatopoeia, argument, sound effects, sound effects, music, etc.) around the ten words of the edition in order to bring their voices outside the walls.
This challenge aims to favor speaking and eloquence and value the work of the French language as a creative tool in prisons.
Entry to the contest is possible until February 3, 2023, by sending your project to the national cultural policy referent Margaux Velten (margaux.velten@justice.gouv.fr) through the platform France Transfert. Participants will be rewarded at the French Language and La Francophonie Week (from 18 to 26 March 2023) after deliberation by the jury.
For more information: