NOVA SCOTIA STUDENT PLACES FIRST IN NATIONAL FRENCH PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION
Salma Khattab, Grade 12 student at Citadel High School shines bright at National competition
(HALIFAX, Nova Scotia) —Canadian Parents for French, Nova Scotia would like to congratulate all students who took part in the 18th annual Canadian Parents for French National Concours d’art oratoire. The winners of this year’s competition were announced on June 15. The award winning speeches can be viewed at cpf.ca/en/concours-dart-oratoire-2021-video-edition/
This year’s competition took place virtually as travel was a barrier for many provinces and territories across the country. Students were finalists in their provincial Concours d’art oratoire before participating at the National level. A total of forty-five students participated in the final Concours. These finalists competed in 5 categories, ranging from core French to Francophone. Students researched and presented on current topics such as racism, isolation in the modern world, and why an Arts education is important.
Salma Khattab, a late Grade 12 French Immersion student at Citadel High School placed first in the category of Grade 11/12 Late French Immersion provincially and then again at the National level! Her speech focused on how personal interests influence our learning choices. The topic idea came to her one day when she was reflecting on which degree to pursue in university, and what career path she wanted to pursue. She started to notice that she performed better in the subjects she enjoyed. She then started to do some research to see if there is a relationship between if people enjoy what they are studying and if their performance level increases.
Salma has been participating in this public speaking contest since she was in Grade 8. Salma has gained tremendous skills and experiences from her participation. In 2019, Salma won a bursary with Encounters with Canada and travelled to Italy as Canada’s French-speaking youth representative as part of the 75th anniversary of the Italian Campaign of WW2. Her favourite part about Concours is sharing her speech with the audience, but also hearing other contestants’ speeches and learning new things from them.
When asked how this year’s Concours experience differed from previous years, Salma commented “Though I was less nervous presenting my speech in front of a screen and being able to take multiple videos until I am satisfied with my performance, I still missed being able to share my speech with a live audience and hearing the other students’ speeches. This year, I also had to depend more on myself when it came to writing and practicing my speech since I was doing it all from home. I couldn’t practice my speech with my French teacher like I used to. Overall though, I think that CPF did an amazing job hosting the Concours during the COVID-19 pandemic, I still had so much fun participating!”
Salma Khattab will be attending Dalhousie University in the Fall, where she will be pursuing a Bachelor of Medical Sciences with a Minor in French. “Being passionate about medicine but also wanting to keep engaged with the French language, I chose to customize my degree by adding French. In the future, I am hoping to become a Medical Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. With national and international travel, being bilingual is an important asset to a CAF Officer. I am happy that I have a head start!” Salma also can’t wait to come back and volunteer for CPF!
We would like to congratulate Salma on her hard work and achievements at Concours throughout the years, but especially on shining this year in both competitions!
Gagnante Concours National 2021