On 2 February, we, Talia Rubin and Rámya Bart, took part in the annual Joutes Oratoires (French debating) competition, hosted by St Paul’s Girls’ School. This year was the first time that this competition has been held online, but despite the unusual circumstances, the exceptionally high level of debate remained the same. After attending weekly practice sessions since the beginning of the year with Madame Janin, and debating controversial topics such as the principle of French secularism, we were well prepared and extremely excited to take part. Three topical motions were debated in French, covering a range of current issues:
L’intelligence artificielle est-elle une menace pour l’humanité? (‘Is Artificial Intelligence a menace for humanity?’)
La croissance verte est un leurre. (‘Green growth is a lie.’)
En période de crise sanitaire, les gouvernements doivent avoir toute latitude de restreindre les libertés individuelles. (‘During a health crisis, the government should have full power to restrain individual liberties.’)
We placed second in our pool, after an evening of fierce and exciting debate.
This competition was a genuine learning experience, helping with the development of not only debating skills but also how to express oneself eloquently in a foreign language. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed both the preparation leading up to the event and the competition itself, and eagerly anticipate participating next year.
