Thousands of people turned out to participate in 'The World's Biggest Dictation' on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Organisers of the event expected around 1,700 participants to take part in the challenge last weekend.
It set a Guinness World Record for the world's largest dictation competition.
The Comité des Champs Elysées in collaboration with the City of Paris and Ubi Bene organised an event for the general public in Paris, France, on 4 June 2023 🇫🇷
The organisers transformed the Champs Elysées in Paris into an open-air classroom, overshadowed by stunning historic… pic.twitter.com/coctE6w14q— Guinness World Records (@GWR) June 6, 2023
The papers were marked on spelling and punctuation.
Lara Marlowe, Paris-based journalist and author, told Moncrieff it was quite a sight to see.
"It was actually a lot more than a spelling bee," she said.
"They arranged 1,779 desks in formation on the Champs-Élysées, which was closed to traffic.
"The photographs are amazing; it's very incongruous to see the Champs-Élysées turned into a classroom.
"There were three sessions in the afternoon - at 2, 4 and 6pm - they had 50,000 people apply to participate in this contest.
"Only over 5,000 were chosen to do it".
People participate in 'The World's Biggest Dictation' on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France on June 4th, 2023. Picture by: Abaca Press/Alamy Live NewsThe three different texts were read out by a TV presenter, a novelist and a rugby player.
Ms Marlowe said the results showed how difficult the language can be.
"It shows you how difficult the French language is: that of the more than 5,000 people who participated, not a single person had a faultless copy," she said.
"The best anyone did was one mistake.
"You have to remember in French spelling, the accents count.
"Not only that, you've got have to have the past participle and the adjectives in agreement with it being masculine or feminine," she added.
Mon Dieu...
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